Greta Forzane, a hostess at the R&R center, is the novel's protagonist and narrator. Greta defines herself with economy in The Big Time's first paragraph: "Twenty-nine and a party girl would describe me." On the surface at least she is the ultimate good-time girl, attractive, witty, and full of energy, a bit of a cynic, a U.S.O. poster girl come to life. There is, however, a very good brain behind Greta's wit, as well as emotional endurance, and an enormous capacity for thankless hard work. More than just a dance partner or prostitute, she is a trained nurse and a talented therapist. She and the other people who work at the R&R center have been recruited from quite literally all space and time to take care of time-traveling soldiers on leave. Among her fellow works are Sidney Lessingham, the center's proprietor, an Elizabethan Englishman...