Book Review: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

MacAdam/Cage, 2003; 518 pages; ISBN  1596921536
My Goodreads Rating: 4 stars

It took me forever and a day to get through this, but I did, and I'm glad. First off I was confused half the time just trying to figure out which Henry was time traveling, if he was going to the past or to the future, and if there were two of him walking around. The little date and age notations the author included were helpful, but also confusing because sometimes I would go back and see what had already happened to find out if there were clues given to foreshadow what was happening in the present (confusing, I know). The story centers around Henry, a time traveling librarian who meets Clare when she is just a little girl on one of his time travels.  The way he travels is not really up to Henry and this affects the relationship he has with Clare.  But nonetheless both of them love each other and accept the time traveling as inevitable and expected.  There are subplots and minor characters, but I can't possibly explain what else goes on in the story - it is something that you just have to experience as a reader. 

Since I knew of the movie (but hadn't watched it yet when I read the book), and the actors who portrayed Clare and Henry, I couldn't really separate their images from the characters as I read the book. This proved to be OK though once I watched the film (which I did right after I finished the book). I thought the film was cast really well, and although many key components were missing from the film's storyline, I thought they did a great job of capturing the novel on screen. I really enjoyed the love story aspect of Clare and Henry's story and all the twists that appeared. I cried near the end and thought it was so unfair that they didn't get a longer time together. I enjoyed this one much more than Her Fearful Symmetry, see my review for that one here.  The Time Traveler's Wife is not a book to read beach side with a strawberry daiquiri by your side, but more like a book to read on a rainy night in cuddled up to a fire and sipping on some Earl Grey tea.  There really isn't anything else I've read that compares to this book.

Here's the movie trailer (have your tissues ready)

Photo: From Goodreads.com website