The Time Traveler's Wife

Audrey Niffenegger

The blurb on the back cover is a good introduction to this book: "When Henry meets Clare, he is twenty-eight and she is twenty. He is a hip librarian; she is a beautiful art student. Henry has never met Clare before; Clare has known Henry since she was six..."

Henry has a genetic disease that causes him to suddenly time travel. He often doesn't know when it is going to happen. He can't take anything with him - so he appears some strange places naked and displaced. After he meets Clare, he includes her childhood home as one of his unwilling destinations.

Clare fell in love with Henry while still a child. So when she finally meets him when she is an adult, he doesn't know her. He falls in love with her, and knows she isn't afraid of his abnormality. The two of them now have to learn what secrets the other doesn't know and shouldn't know until it happens. Henry learned early that he couldn't change what did/will happen.

The Time Traveler's Wife is an excellent book. I found it poignant, funny, and moving. Henry has the frustration of knowing what will happen or that he can't change was has happened. He started time traveling when he was five and continues until he dies. Clare has the loneliness of waiting while he's gone, never knowing when he'll be gone, and picking up piles of clothes when he disappears again.

Niffenegger makes Henry's condition sound plausible. Other than that aberration, Henry is a normal person and this is a normal romance/family saga. The characters come to life and I often found myself wrapped up in the story, not wanting to surface. (Thank goodness I was home recuperating when I was finishing this book.)

Notice: Strong sexual content