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The Night I Borrowed Time
- Author
- Iqbal Hussain
- Narrator
- Esh Alladi
- Publisher
- Penguin Random House Children's UK
- Publish Date
- 1 January 2026
- Run Time
- 6 hours 23 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Genre
- Children’s / Teenage general interest: Time travel / Time slip, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Family and home stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Action and adventure stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Magical realism / Magical fantasy, Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Divorce, separation, family break-up
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What to expect
Brought to you by Puffin.
A funny, heartbreaking and uplifting tale about family, bravery and living in the here and now, perfect for fans of Time Travelling With a Hamster and Wonder.
I’m going back in time to save this family.
Eleven-year-old Zubair is a seventh son. This means a LOT of big brothers. But when Zubair’s granny arrives from Pakistan and gives him a mysterious amulet, he discovers it means something else, too: he has inherited a gift. The seventh sons in his family have the ability to time-travel.
With his dad a shadow of his former self since his car accident, and his mum always tired and angry, Zubair has a genius idea. He’ll use time-travel to fix things between them.
But each trip comes at a cost. If he changes something small in the past, it can have a huge effect on his future. And if he gets it wrong, the results could be devastating . . .
'Spectacular' Sophie Anderson
'I loved it' Ross Welford
'Funny, exciting and tense . . . A wonderful, wonderful read' Phil Earle
'Will break your heart and make it soar . . . A triumph' Rashmi Sirdeshpande
'Witty and poignant' Louie Stowell
'Refreshingly inventive and gorgeously written . . . I could not put it down' Clare Harlow
'Astonishing . . . A beautiful book' Philippa Leathley
© Iqbal Hussain 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026
Critics Review
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Funny, touching, thought-provoking . . . Richly imagined and deeply inventive
Guardian
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The Night I Borrowed Time gives a fresh, affectionate twist to the usual time-travelling dilemmas . . . Sweet and sparky
The Times
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Winningly told
Financial Times
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Funny . . . Moving
Observer
See more reviews See fewer reviews
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This funny, bittersweet story of a family’s past shaping its present is superbly well told
Daily Mail
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Tender . . . Imaginative
The i Paper
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Tender and engaging . . . Blends time travel with a contemporary story of love, loss and the endurance of family
Bookseller
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It takes immense talent to blend the fantastical and the everyday so effortlessly, but Iqbal Hussain delivers on every page. Funny, warm and tense, The Night I Borrowed Time is a wonderful, wonderful read
Phil Earle, author of When The Sky Falls
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I loved it
Ross Welford, author of Time Travelling With a Hamster
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Spectacular - beautifully woven, full of warmth, wit and wisdom, and characters who live on long after the last page is turned
Sophie Anderson, author of The House With Chicken Legs
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Iqbal Hussain
- Narrator
- Esh Alladi
- Duration
- 6 hours 23 minutes
- Release Date
- 1 January 2026
- ISBN
- 9780241824238
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Penguin Random House Children's UK
- Genre
- Children’s / Teenage general interest: Time travel / Time slip, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Family and home stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Action and adventure stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Magical realism / Magical fantasy, Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Divorce, separation, family break-up
Synopsis
Brought to you by Puffin.A funny, heartbreaking and uplifting tale about family, bravery and living in the here and now, perfect for fans of Time Travelling With a Hamster and Wonder.I’m going back in time to save this family.Eleven-year-old Zubair is a seventh son. This means a LOT of big brothers. But when Zubair’s granny arrives from Pakistan and gives him a mysterious amulet, he discovers it means something else, too: he has inherited a gift. The seventh sons in his family have the ability to time-travel.With his dad a shadow of his former self since his car accident, and his mum always tired and angry, Zubair has a genius idea. He’ll use time-travel to fix things between them.But each trip comes at a cost. If he changes something small in the past, it can have a huge effect on his future. And if he gets it wrong, the results could be devastating . . .'Spectacular' Sophie Anderson'I loved it' Ross Welford'Funny, exciting and tense . . . A wonderful, wonderful read' Phil Earle'Will break your heart and make it soar . . . A triumph' Rashmi Sirdeshpande'Witty and poignant' Louie Stowell'Refreshingly inventive and gorgeously written . . . I could not put it down' Clare Harlow'Astonishing . . . A beautiful book' Philippa Leathley© Iqbal Hussain 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026
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