This Time Next Year

Minnie wakes up, realizing she fell asleep while trapped in the bathroom. She calls for help, and a stranger outside the door agrees to find a master key. The stranger lets her out. He is a man about Minnie’s age, and she is immediately struck by his good looks. Unbeknownst to Minnie, the stranger is Quinn Hamilton, whom Minnie has been hearing about for her entire life. Their mothers met while in labor, and he received a large cash prize for being the first baby born in London in 1990, while Minnie was born a minute later. Quinn’s mother named her son the same name that Minnie’s mother had planned to use for her daughter. Because of this, her parents quickly chose the name Minnie, which Minnie has always hated due to its pun on the popular car model Mini Cooper.

Minnie awkwardly thanks Quinn for inviting her to the party when she realizes he is Lucy’s boyfriend. He takes a tense phone call. After his call, Quinn is upset when Minnie discloses her hatred of the holiday and surprised further when she explains that they share a birthday. When Minnie realizes that he is Quinn, she becomes angry, recalling her mother’s resentments, and declares, “You stole my name” (16).

The narrative shifts back to 1989 and switches to the point of view of Minnie’s mother, Connie, who is in labor. The hospital is overcrowded, so Connie shares a room with Quinn’s mother, Tara. Connie is immediately insecure about Tara’s more polished appearance and obvious wealth, but she tries to coach Tara through her contractions after learning that she has been in labor for two days.

Connie hopes her baby will be the first one born in 1990 and win a £50,000 prize from a newspaper, which could change her family’s modest circumstances. Connie continues to coach Tara through birthing positions, and the women become friendlier. They discuss baby names, and Connie says she has chosen Quinn after her grandmother’s maiden name because “she never knew a Quinn who didn’t lead a charmed life” (22). The two women eventually separate to give birth privately. Connie’s husband, Bill, says they had the first baby of 1990, but Connie is focused only on her newborn daughter.

The narrative remains with Connie, who greets her husband and son, Will. She is shocked when Bill tells her that Tara’s baby was born first and is named Quinn. Bill suggests they find another name since Quinn Hamilton is now a minor celebrity. The following days are unhappy for the family, as “the name [Quinn] [feels] spoiled now for Connie, the newspapers taunting her with the money she might have won” (26). She cries while watching the news interview Tara about her family’s good fortune.

The narrative turns back to Minnie and Quinn in the present day. Quinn is happy to meet Minnie and thinks their chance encounter is serendipitous; his mother has a positive memory of her encounter with Connie. Minnie feels entitled to her dark mood given her family’s unhappiness after her birth: “The way her mother told the story, this was the boy who’d stolen her name and, with it, her good fortune” (27). Minnie is prone to mishaps and disasters on her birthday, and Connie still tells the story of her birth to acquaintances, insisting often that Minnie’s misfortunes are due to her name.

Quinn is surprised by the depth of Minnie’s feelings, and when she turns him down for breakfast, he expresses a desire to stay in touch. When he helps her with her coat, Minnie experiences a flash of unwanted attraction. As they part ways, it begins to rain.

Minnie arrives home soaked and realizes that her apartment keys are missing. She reminds herself that “it [is] her birthday, [so] nothing [will] go right today” (31). Minnie takes shelter with her best friend, Leila, and Leila’s boyfriend, Ian. Leila is exuberant, with outfits and brightly colored hair to match her strong personality. After Minnie dries off and changes her clothes, Leila tries to persuade her to have a celebratory lunch. Minnie describes meeting Quinn and his alternate version of their births. Leila immediately focuses on whether he is attractive, while Minnie disparages his obvious wealth and privilege to avoid answering the question at length. Minnie leaves to meet her landlord.

Minnie’s landlord, Mr. Buchanan, is unhappy that her heat has been turned off for nonpayment. When he informs her that he will not be renewing her lease, she frantically begs him not to deliver her more bad news on January 1, to his confusion. Minnie decides to ignore all calls and cancel her plans with Leila. She takes a sleeping pill, desperate for her day to end.

The narrative turns to 2015, on Minnie and Leila’s last day of a relaxing vacation to India. Minnie befriends a stray dog, realizing too late that she has picked up its fleas. At the airport, a wrapped gift from Leila in Minnie’s luggage sets off the security check. The gift turns out to be a vibrator, which violates local obscenity laws. Minnie misses her flight, as she must fill out forms when she cannot afford the accompanying fine.

Leila and Minnie spend the night in the airport, discussing their goals for the future. They decide to start a pie business together called No Hard Fillings.

In the narrative present, Minnie arrives at the No Hard Fillings kitchen feeling hopeful, as her birthday is now over. Alan, her delivery driver, is a middle-aged former ship’s captain. Fleur is an aspiring influencer and app designer in her early twenties, more interested in Instagram than her work as a receptionist. Beverly, the assistant chef, is distracted by her depression and her worries about climate change.

Minnie realizes that Beverly burned the pies Leila made the previous day, and she sets to work on new pies. Leila arrives and is furious about the burned inventory. She is also annoyed by Minnie’s refusal to make plans for her birthday. As they all work on the new pies, Leila regales the team with Minnie’s encounter with Quinn, whom she dubs Minnie’s “love twin,” to Minnie’s consternation. Leila notices that Minnie has changed her Facebook profile picture, implying she wants to capture Quinn’s interest. Minnie attempts to remind everyone that she and Greg are still together but notices that Quinn has left her a Facebook message with his phone number.

Alan bursts in to report that the city has impounded his delivery truck. Minnie calls Greg for help, but he is angry at her after the New Year’s Eve party, believing she intentionally left the party to avoid socializing. When the call drops, Minnie calls back and promises sexual favors, only to realize her second call somehow reached Quinn. Quinn offers to help with her deliveries, suggesting she “consider it restitution for stealing [her] name” (61).

The narrative turns back to 2015, now from Quinn’s point of view. He is on the same beach in India as Minnie, but he is staying at a luxury resort and planning a romantic evening with his girlfriend, Jaya. He is able to go on vacation because his aunt is visiting his mother. Quinn feels both relieved and guilty for his absence. Jaya has been obsessed with introducing him to her family and now is documenting their evening for social media.

Jaya is anxious since she has not met Quinn’s mother, and Quinn privately reflects that he has told his mother he is vacationing with friends. To Quinn’s horror, he realizes that Jaya expects him to propose. He sees the same stray dog Minnie befriended and leaves the table, claiming he will return the dog to the beach huts where it belongs.

Minnie anxiously waits for Quinn, drawing teasing from the others when she takes care with her appearance. More pies burn while she is doing her makeup. Quinn arrives, and Minnie rushes him away when she senses that Fleur is attracted to him.

Quinn shows up in his well-maintained Bentley, which Minnie is too intimidated to drive. Quinn offers to drive so that she can complete the pie deliveries. As they drive, Quinn explains that the car was once his mother’s but that she no longer drives. The two tease each other, and Minnie is charmed by his laugh and his ability to befriend her clients. However, she reminds herself that “it’s easy to be charming when you’ve led a charmed life” (78).

At the end of their deliveries, Minnie hands Quinn a pie to thank him for his help. Quinn is suddenly awkward, telling Minnie that he would like to take the pie to his mother, who wants to meet Minnie. Minnie is anxious at the prospect, feeling it might be disloyal to her own mother, but she decides that she cannot deny Quinn after he has come to her rescue.

As they approach Tara Hamilton’s home, Minnie realizes they are in Primrose Hill, the nearby, more affluent neighborhood to her childhood home of Chalk Hill. Tara’s home, like her car, is luxurious and well maintained, with a large garden and multiple stories. Quinn looks at her strangely when she mentions the nearby youth club, which he also remembers.

Tara greets them warmly, though she seems ill at ease. Minnie is struck by her peaceful demeanor and warmth with Quinn, which contrasts with her own mother’s harsher manner. Tara says she regrets losing touch with Connie and is distressed by the idea that Connie resents her for naming her son Quinn. She clarifies that she gave him the name to honor Connie for her help. Minnie promises to give Connie Tara’s contact information.

They are interrupted by a call from Leila, who is concerned that their business will fail after a recent funding source fell through and the bank is demanding total repayment on a prior loan. Leila and Minnie plan to tell the others that the business is closing on Monday.

Minnie tells Quinn she needs to leave. When she discloses her business troubles, he offers her advice, but she insists that he cannot understand due to his wealthy background. She then accidentally breaks a lamp, causing Tara to have a panic attack. Minnie leaves, dismayed by her disproportionate anger and confused by Tara’s behavior.

Several days later, Minnie arrives at her parents’ home for their traditional Sunday dinner. Minnie’s father has repaired hundreds of clocks, which all hang in the family home. Minnie’s mother, Connie, instantly criticizes her haircut and despairs that Minnie has not brought a pie for dinner. As Minnie lets her father show off his newest working clock, she is privately dismayed at the idea that she will soon be living with her parents again.

When Minnie reveals that she has met Tara and Quinn, Connie is taken aback, saying, “I don’t need you rewriting history, Minnie, no one wants this all raked up’” (99). Minnie gives Tara’s contact information to her mother anyway.

Minnie tells her parents about the business failure. While her father is sympathetic, her mother says that she expected this given Minnie’s lack of formal education. Minnie’s mother insists that this is the same as her father’s previous gambles in real estate during the Great Recession, which destroyed the family finances. The mounting negativity leads Minnie to wonder, “How could her parents spend so much of their time fixing things and fail to see what was broken right in front of them?” (101).