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The Night I Borrowed Time

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The Night I Borrowed Time

By: Iqbal Hussain
Narrated by: Esh Alladi
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About this listen

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

 Growing Up & Facts of Life Literature & Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy Heartfelt Tear-jerking Funny Witty

Critic reviews

Funny, touching, thought-provoking . . . Richly imagined and deeply inventive
Tender and engaging . . . Blends time travel with a contemporary story of love, loss and the endurance of family
Moving
Time-travel fascinates children, but as this clever, warm novel warns, the consequences of tweaking history can be dangerous . . . Exploring Partition, arranged marriage and ambitious dreams, this funny, bittersweet story with memorable characters and a realistic family dynamic packs an emotional punch
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)
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)
I loved it (Ross Welford, author of Time Travelling With a Hamster)
Witty and poignant, this wonderful time travel story explores what it means to change your fate, and to accept it and let it change you (Louie Stowell, author of Loki)
Warm, funny, tender (Patrice Lawrence, author of Orangeboy)
A beautifully constructed time travel adventure that will break your heart and make it soar. It's funny, evocative, immersive and so sensitively written . . . Iqbal Hussain is an astonishing new voice. A triumph (Rashmi Sirdeshpande, author of Hari Kumar: Ultimate Superstar)
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