Book Review: The Time Traveller's Wife

The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
(Originally read June 28, 2006)

Clare and Henry rank with Mr. and Mrs. Max DeWinter as my favorite couple of all time, and this is by far the best book I've read all year. The love between Clare and Henry is so real and so strong, and it somehow develops naturally, despite the strange time-travelling disorder that brings them together.

Audrey Niffenegger impressed me with her organization -- I can't imagine how she kept track of all the pasts, presents, and futures! (which makes me wonder how she wrote the story -- linearly or as it's presented in the book?) -- but where she really shines is in the language. She's funny, subtle, and it brings the characters to the forefront. The time traveling is such a foreign concept, so weird and different that it could easily overshadow everything else, becoming a distraction. But Niffenegger manages to make Henry's exits and entrances simple. The reader is aware these leaps are happening, but is so caught up in the relationships and interactions that the time travel almost takes a backseat.

My favorite passage was one of the shortest entries: Wednesday, July 12, 1995 (Clare is 24, Henry is 32), on page 103. So much was communicated in so few lines...

Overall, I cried much more than I laughed, but I didn't want the story to end. I'll be keeping an eye out for other novels by Niffenegger. Meanwhile, I'm going to hit the bookstore and get a hardcover copy -- this book is definitely a keeper.

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