This is science fiction. Maybe it shouldn't be, at least not mentally.

The novel is about a space voyage to Alpha Centauri, the nearest solar system to our own. It starts as a high tech voyage, and then becomes much more than that. It links up with a future that is moving backwards. It also comes upon a present that has no future, but for which a future is created that opens up a sphere without limits for humanity. 

Of course, being able to 'travel' to wherever one might want to be has certain social advantages, and also challenges. Of course, politically, this capability has even greater challenges attached.

Some people say that we will never have the kind of capability that enables us physically to go wherever we want to be at an instant, a blink of an eye. They might be right. But shouldn't we have that kind of capability mentally in the world of science, romance, and spirituality where no real inertia can hold us back? Behind the scene, that's what is threaded through the novel. 

You may find that when you 'return' you will have left some of the old limits behind.