Handbags of Time

About the Book

The past holds secrets. The future depends on who discovers them.

Dr. Jane Gresham has devoted her life to understanding the past. But when an extraordinary encounter sets off a chain of inexplicable events, everything she thought she knew begins to unravel.

Drawn into a mystery stretching back thousands of years, Jane and her two daughters embark on a journey through ancient landscapes, hidden chambers, and discoveries that challenge humanity’s understanding of its own history.

What begins as a search for answers becomes something far more dangerous. A powerful organization has been pursuing the same secrets, determined to control not only the discoveries themselves, but what the world is allowed to believe about them.

As the danger intensifies, Jane must confront impossible questions, shifting loyalties, and the unsettling possibility that humanity’s greatest mysteries are connected. But the stakes are deeply personal. With her family caught in the center of an extraordinary struggle, Jane must decide what to trust, what to protect, and how far she is willing to go for the truth.

Because some discoveries cannot be owned. And the most important answers may depend on the choices we make.

Handbags of Time blends archaeological mystery, suspense, first-contact intrigue, and the enduring power of family into a story about history, human connection, and the courage to question what we think we know.

The Real Mystery Behind the Title

The “handbag” in the title isn’t invented. Bag- or bucket-shaped objects with handles appear in ancient art from very different places. At Göbekli Tepe in Turkey, carved more than 11,000 years ago, Pillar 43 shows a row of three bag-like shapes. Assyrian palace reliefs show winged apkallu figures holding a small bucket, which scholars usually read as a vessel for ritual purification. A similar object appears on Olmec Monument 19 from La Venta, Mexico. Researchers disagree about what these objects meant, and that open question is where the story begins.

About the Author

Carrie Krieg is the author of Handbags of Time, an archaeological mystery and first-contact thriller inspired by her fascination with ancient civilizations, consciousness, unexplained phenomena, and the enduring questions of human existence.

Her storytelling brings together historical intrigue, scientific curiosity, suspense, and deeply human relationships. Through ordinary people confronting extraordinary circumstances, Carrie explores the boundaries between what we know, what we believe, and what we have yet to discover.