diff --git a/lib/nori.rb b/lib/nori.rb
index 7854a37..8abe667 100644
--- a/lib/nori.rb
+++ b/lib/nori.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 require "nori/version"
 require "nori/core_ext"
 require "nori/xml_utility_node"
+require "facets/date"
 
 class Nori
 
@@ -19,11 +20,14 @@ def initialize(options = {})
       :delete_namespace_attributes  => false,
       :convert_tags_to              => nil,
       :advanced_typecasting         => true,
-      :parser                       => :nokogiri
+      :parser                       => :nokogiri,
+      :time_zone                    => nil
     }
 
     validate_options! defaults.keys, options.keys
     @options = defaults.merge(options)
+
+    update_timezone(@options.delete(:time_zone))
   end
 
   def find(hash, *path)
@@ -46,6 +50,10 @@ def parse(xml)
 
   private
 
+  def update_timezone(tz)
+    ENV['TZ'] = tz if tz
+  end
+
   def load_parser(parser)
     require "nori/parser/#{parser}"
     Parser.const_get PARSERS[parser]
diff --git a/lib/nori/xml_utility_node.rb b/lib/nori/xml_utility_node.rb
index 1b68946..cd6de47 100644
--- a/lib/nori/xml_utility_node.rb
+++ b/lib/nori/xml_utility_node.rb
@@ -72,9 +72,9 @@ def self.available_typecasts=(obj)
     self.typecasts = {}
     self.typecasts["integer"]       = lambda { |v| v.nil? ? nil : v.to_i }
     self.typecasts["boolean"]       = lambda { |v| v.nil? ? nil : (v.strip != "false") }
-    self.typecasts["datetime"]      = lambda { |v| v.nil? ? nil : Time.parse(v).utc }
+    self.typecasts["datetime"]      = lambda { |v| v.nil? ? nil : parse_time(v) }
     self.typecasts["date"]          = lambda { |v| v.nil? ? nil : Date.parse(v) }
-    self.typecasts["dateTime"]      = lambda { |v| v.nil? ? nil : Time.parse(v).utc }
+    self.typecasts["dateTime"]      = lambda { |v| v.nil? ? nil : parse_time(v) }
     self.typecasts["decimal"]       = lambda { |v| v.nil? ? nil : BigDecimal(v.to_s) }
     self.typecasts["double"]        = lambda { |v| v.nil? ? nil : v.to_f }
     self.typecasts["float"]         = lambda { |v| v.nil? ? nil : v.to_f }
@@ -250,6 +250,14 @@ def to_html
 
   private
 
+    def self.parse_time(input)
+      if (input =~ /(((\+|\-)\d\d(:)?(\d\d)?)|Z)\Z/)
+        input.to_time
+      else
+        input.to_time(:local)
+      end
+    end
+
     # TODO: replace REXML
     def unnormalize_xml_entities value
       REXML::Text.unnormalize(value)
diff --git a/nori.gemspec b/nori.gemspec
index 24d084b..a9c0a04 100644
--- a/nori.gemspec
+++ b/nori.gemspec
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.add_development_dependency "rake",     "~> 10.0"
   s.add_development_dependency "nokogiri", ">= 1.4.0"
   s.add_development_dependency "rspec",    "~> 2.12"
+  s.add_development_dependency "pry"
+  s.add_dependency             "facets"
 
   s.files         = `git ls-files`.split("\n")
   s.test_files    = `git ls-files -- {test,spec,features}/*`.split("\n")
diff --git a/spec/nori/nori_spec.rb b/spec/nori/nori_spec.rb
index 7c84320..2e35515 100644
--- a/spec/nori/nori_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/nori/nori_spec.rb
@@ -7,6 +7,57 @@
 
       let(:parser) { parser }
 
+      context "when parsing times" do
+        let(:time_in_utc) { Time.new(2013,06,01,11,00,01, '+00:00') }
+
+        context "when timezone is given" do
+          it "it respects notation +01:00" do
+            xml = '<time type="datetime">2013-06-01 12:00:01 +01:00</time>'
+            parse(xml).should == { 'time' => time_in_utc }
+          end
+
+          it "it respects notation +0100" do
+            xml = '<time type="datetime">2013-06-01 12:00:01 +0100</time>'
+            parse(xml).should == { 'time' => time_in_utc }
+          end
+
+          it "it respects notation +01" do
+            xml = '<time type="datetime">2013-06-01 12:00:01 +01</time>'
+            parse(xml).should == { 'time' => time_in_utc }
+          end
+
+          it "it respects notation -01" do
+            xml = '<time type="datetime">2013-06-01 10:00:01 -01</time>'
+            parse(xml).should == { 'time' => time_in_utc }
+          end
+
+          it "it respects notation Z" do
+            xml = '<time type="datetime">2013-06-01 11:00:01Z</time>'
+            parse(xml).should == { 'time' => time_in_utc }
+          end
+        end
+
+        context "when timezone is not given" do
+          before(:each) { ENV['TZ'] = 'Europe/Minsk' } # its +03:00, no DST :)
+          it "treats the input as local time" do
+            xml = '<time type="datetime">2013-06-01 14:00:01</time>'
+            parse(xml).should == { 'time' => time_in_utc }
+          end
+
+          it "accepts passing timezone via options" do
+            xml = '<time type="datetime">2013-06-01 14:00:01</time>'
+            Nori.new(time_zone: 'Asia/Dushanbe')
+            ENV['TZ'].should == 'Asia/Dushanbe'
+          end
+
+          it "treats unknown timezone as UTC" do
+            xml = '<time type="datetime">2013-06-01 11:00:01</time>'
+            Nori.new(time_zone: 'Incorrect Timezone').parse(xml)
+            parse(xml).should == { 'time' => time_in_utc.utc }
+          end
+        end
+      end
+
       it "should work with unnormalized characters" do
         xml = '<root>&amp;</root>'
         parse(xml).should == { 'root' => "&" }
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index dadf6cb..ab112a5 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 require "bundler"
+require 'pry'
 Bundler.require :default, :development