Merle is 18 and ahead of her time in 1978.  Head strong but a drifter at heart, art school seems like the perfect path out of her isolated Appalachian upbringing.  But she flounders, drops out, lives in poverty and steals spray paint to graffiti her Radiant Days tag around town.  Her sexuality is explored, but is not the intent of the novel.  Instead, readers are introduced to Arthur Rimbaud circa 1870– Merle’s cosmic twin.   Hand switches to writing in 3rd person as readers look through a window into the poet’s turbulent teen life.  Chapters then switch back and forth between Merle’s 1st person voice and Rimbaud’s 3rd until the two finally meet.  Driven together by a magic key and a lock house, the two learn about each others art and ultimately about themselves in the course of one night in which they cross between 1978 and 1870.  Leaping through that mystic void of time allows each to see that they have a purpose in their own lives that will focus their art.  Hand’s writing is very lyrical and allows for introspective opportunities for the read as well.  A daunting novel to attempt, this is a heady work that artsy high school students will grapple with and most likely enjoy.