Time Traveler's Wife

By: Audrey Niffenegger

    “Science fiction? No,calm down . .  it's a classy and tasteful romance."   

    The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger is a truly captivating love story. It is, strangely, somehow as unconventional as it is conventional. The plot is based around Henry and Clare DeTamble- two lovers separated by a great barrier. This is the conventional, Romeo and Juliet, part of the story. The unconventional part of the story comes in when we find out that this great barrier that separates the two of them is the fact that Henry is able to travel through time. What?! This is a science-fiction novel?! No, no… calm down… it is very much a classy and tasteful romance. The whole time-traveling aspect is taken on as a serious, unusual, and dangerous character trait of Henry’s.

    Henry’s time traveling is the hardest thing about their lives, together or apart. However, it is hard to tell which one of the couple struggles with this the most. Henry has to deal with many aspects of this hardship. For example, he cannot control anything about his time traveling. He can’t control when, where, how, why, or anything about it. Therefore, he often leaves at very inopportune times, arrives in exceedingly strange circumstances, and is regrettably forced to leave just when things are getting good. Henry is also unable to take anything with him, coming or going, including clothes.  So, as you can imagine, he is often left in extremely awkward and unexplainable situations.
   
    Clare, however, is left on the other side of this time traveling dilemma. She is left waiting… and waiting... and waiting… and waiting. Besides the time she actually spends with Henry, her whole life is spent waiting on him. In some ways, Henry’s life is actually more normal than hers. She knew him when she was a child and he was a middle-aged man, and at random other points and ages in their lives before they are finally together as a couple. Henry, however, meets Clare for the first time when he is 28 and she is 20 (their actual ages- no time traveling here). So, while Henry’s life is very unlinear in some ways, it is more actually more continuous than Clare’s in other ways.

    Wow… yes, I am, in fact, aware of how confusing all of that sounds. Trust me, it’s ten thousand times harder to explain in just a couple of paragraphs than it is to understand while you’re reading it. The Time Traveler’s Wife is a novel full of romance, suspense, adventure, and tragedy… not to mention a surprise ending that is simply brilliant! Just give it a try. I bet you’ll like it.

-Abbey H.

"You'll laugh and cry and fall in love with Henry and Clare."

    If you’re looking for an exciting, romantic, and downright interesting story, look no further than The Time Traveler’s Wife. The combination of suspense and passion makes this bestseller extremely hard to put down, which in my case indicates the discovery of an incredible book.

      The story is told from two different points of view. Henry DeTamble, a time traveling young man who falls in love with his soul mate Clare Abshire, whose life is completely normal aside from the fact that she falls just as hard for a man who disappears randomly and reappears at a different age in a different time.

      One reason the book is so fascinating is its connections between complete fantasy and believable reality. Henry and Clare both can be easily compared with ourselves or our peers, but the situations they must face and overcome are filled with excitement as well as fear. Niffenegger describes the suspense and terror of the story vividly in the inevitable time travels Henry undergoes, giving the plot a new sense of wonder and curiosity. As the book’s subject itself is quite different than any other subject I personally have ever read about, the emotional rollercoaster of ups and downs the characters go through leaves you never knowing what will happen next. I found myself excited about the next page before I was even done with the one I was reading, which just clarified my hypothesis: I had found a new favorite.

     Niffenegger tells the love story with deep compassion and uses heart-wrenching dialogue to stress the importance of love and happiness in one’s life, no matter how screwed-up or messy it is. Henry’s entire purpose in life is to be with his love, his one-and-only, his Clare. Clare is patient and kind with his recurrent absences and reappearances, and wins the reader over with her loving ways. Henry is portrayed as adventurous, but always seems to be calmer and more gentle when he is around the person that makes him the happiest man in the world.

      Next time you are looking for a good read that connects the harsh realities of everyday life with a little fantasy and time travel, pick up The Time Traveler’s Wife. You’ll laugh and cry with the ups and downs of a couple you’ll fall in love with instantly.

-Olivia C.

"hilarious and heart-wrenching, anything but sappy"

     The Time Traveler’s Wife is not your typical book about time travel.  It has none of the cliché time-machine-breaking-down or I’m-stuck-in-a-different-time-zone type plots; it's an intriguing and entertaining story that keeps the reader deeply engaged throughout the entire novel.  From the very beginning, The Time Traveler’s Wife grips your attention with the complicated, but interesting, storyline and complex characters.

      The plot line in this book is exceedingly creative and attention-grabbing.  Henry, one of the main characters, has been involuntarily time traveling since he was a child.  He can’t control when he travels, or to what time, and he can’t take any belongings with him, not even clothing.  This makes for some very interesting scenarios, some hilarious and some heart-wrenching.   Through this time travel, Henry meets his wife, Claire.  This book relates a new and fresh love story, in which Henry and Claire must continue to love and support each other, even when time threatens their relationship.

            Besides the engaging plot, this novel has some very well developed characters.  Throughout the course of The Time Traveler’s Wife, the reader gets to know Claire and Henry.  Niffenegger, succeeds in creating characters with depth by relating their pasts as well as providing a lot of dialogue.  Through Henry’s inconvenient episodes of time travel, the reader gains insight into who he really is and also who Claire is.

            Although this book could very well be categorized as a romance novel, the kind of love shared by the main characters is anything but sappy.  Claire and Henry go through a lot together, but remain crazy about each other.  Even with the fictional element of time travel, the kind of love displayed by Claire and Henry is very realistic.  They may fight and disagree, but that’s life.  That doesn’t mean they will ever love each other less.

            If you are looking for an exciting, romantic novel, but one that is not over the top, then this is a good one for you.  Niffenegger’s new take on the downside of time travel provides the book with a new and interesting edge that keeps the reader intrigued.  Not only will The Time Traveler’s Wife provide you with an exciting new read that will keep you enthralled, it also presents a new perspective about a commonly used theme in a way that keeps you wanting more. 

Laura H.

"See the movie this fall, but the book is always better."

 
     The Time Travelers Wife catches love in young, old, and somewhere in between stages.  Henry, a time traveler who works as a librarian, and his artist wife, Clare, are two lovable characters you can’t help but get excited for. They have the kind of real love everyone hopes to find. The story is even more romantic when Henry is older and time travels to meet Clare when she is younger. They are in love then, even with a 30+ age difference. Clare is patient and will wait for him because of her deep love for him. 

     The book is very easy to follow. Every time the scene changes or Henry time travels Niffengger lets you know the date, how old Henry and Clare are, and who is speaking.  This setup makes it easy to follow through Henry’s time traveling adventures and makes you want to be able to meet your future husband just like Clare. At times the book can get slow and it feels that it says the same thing for 200 pages in a row.  Yes we understand that Henry time travels to see Clare when she is younger and that they are in love even then.  I want to know what happens next.  Even though I felt it could have been written in about 300 pages instead of 530, it is still a great read everyone should read, especially girls who love romantic stories. 

     The Time Traveler’s Wife also deals with many issues such as love, growth, marriage, children, loss and death, friends, childhood. The novel is set in many different places, including Clare’s house and the meadow and Chicago, where Henry and Clare meet for the first time in real life and live for the rest of the novel.  I would recommend this book to anyone who has a free weekend and wants to be lazy and sit in front of a fire with a good book.  The movie is coming out this fall and with Rachael McAdams as Clare I can’t wait to see the movie.  But if you do watch the movie read the book too because the book is always better.

-Anna C.