Audrey Niffenegger’s innovative debut, The Time Traveler’s Wife, is the story of Clare, a beautiful art student, and Henry, an adventuresome librarian, who have known each other since Clare was six and Henry was thirty-six, and were married when Clare was twenty-three and Henry thirty-one. Impossible but true, because Henry is one of the first people diagnosed with Chrono-Displacement Disorder: … Disorder: periodically his genetic clock resets and he finds himself misplaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity in his life, past and future. His disappearances are spontaneous, his experiences unpredictable, alternately harrowing and amusing.
The Time Traveler’s Wife depicts the effects of time travel on Henry and Clare’s marriage and their passionate love for each other as the story unfolds from both points of view. Clare and Henry attempt to live normal lives, pursuing familiar goals–steady jobs, good friends, children of their own. All of this is threatened by something they can neither prevent nor control, making their story intensely moving and entirely unforgettable.
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Page 391 of The Time Traveler’s Wife. Doesn’t matter how many times I’ve read this book… I sob so hard every time.
I recently read “The Time Traveler’s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger. I really enjoyed it but it left me with many unanswered questions. Is there a sequel to this book?
This book kept me up two nights in a row until 4 a.m. If there actually was the word “unputdownable” this book would be the picture for that definition.
If you get confused with time travel, just enjoy the story! backwards, forwards, all that matters really is the love we share. I did love this book even if I had to figure out the comings and goings.
The first time I read this novel I could not put it down. The second time I read this novel I couldn’t put it down. The third time I read it … you get the idea. This story is about a man who has the ability to travel throughout the time span of his wife’s life and her acceptance of this strange anomaly. The narrative is out of chronological order so rereading helps pick up details missed during the first reading.
I love everything about this book. One of the few I reread every few years. The writing and character development are sensational. The world-building is completely believable – you simply don’t question that Henry can time-travel – it just IS and you believe it. The love is intense and tragic. Clare is strong, independent, and brilliant.
Some readers have said they find the initial meeting triggering because of the age difference; I didn’t find that at ALL, yet I respect everyone’s own reactions of course. He’s incredibly shy about it. Nothing about this book offends me. It’s beautifully told and wonderful.
The movie version sucks. If you think it’s a fair substitute, you’ll be incredibly disappointed (and I adore the cast, too). The book delves so much deeper! Sigh. SUCH a great, original story.
Excellent time travel novel that remains fresh and haunting. A poignant exploration of how our lives become intricately linked with those we love most. While there are some lighthearted and absurdist moments, this is not a romance for the faint of heart, and be forewarned that the ending will haunt you.
I’m not sure what I expected when I got this book, but it ended up being the sort of book that sticks with you for a long time. It reminded me just a bit of the “Somewhere in Time” movie starring Christopher Reeves. It was not light and happy, but gut wrenching and poignant, and yet still somehow magical. Although it might break your heart, read it anyway. It’s worth it.
OMG! This will be one of my all-time favourites. I laughed and I cried. What a beautiful love story.
I am in the process of re-reading this wonderful novel. The narrative switching and jumbled time frames make for a very interesting read. Clare is the wife forced to travel “the long way” through life, while Henry leaps around like Sam Beckett. Her non-linear meetings revolutionizes her life in some timey-wimey ways. It’s just a joy . The movie was not bad either, but the book is definitely better.
This novel had been on my to-be-read pile for a long time. I enjoyed the movie before reading the book, but as is always true, the novel was more satisfying and complex. It’s such a human story despite having this huge fantastical element to it. And at the center of it is Clare and Henry’s love story, which I found to be beautiful, tragic, and entirely enchanting.
A friend recommended this book. I am normally not a fan of things like time travel–far-fetched and corny. This book is certainly the exception.
Remarkable and Soul Changing. Its hard to describe the feeling when you read a story, a creation from another’s imagination and talent, and your soul yearns. For what, I am still unsure to what exactly but this novel changed me. In ways I am unable to express.
This is a story like no other I had come across. It was intelligent, it was precise in keeping the plot cohesive. A group of character that you have known your whole life. Each was as real as my best friend, or the mother I have known for decades.
The novel dove into science, possibilities, fiction, and non-fiction to carry it through start to finish.
It is truth and it is fantasy. Real and fake. While each get to contradict each other.
This is a novel easy to read, full of wonder, emotions, and such a unique read. I highly recommend it.
This book is an emotional rollercoaster ride that had me swiping through pages at breakneck speed to find out how things end.
Spoiler: Not well. This is NOT a formula romance novel. (It’s more of a Shakespearean tragedy, so don’t sit down to read it without having someone nearby to hug—you’re gonna need it.)
The middle drags a bit (with the “afflicted” child), but picks up again pretty quickly.
Full disclosure: I hated the ending. Absolutely felt like ripping the pages out and rewriting it myself. In my opinion, that’s what makes it such a great book: you care SO MUCH about the characters.
This one’s a keeper.
~ D. L. Orton, author of the award-winning Between Two Evils series (Book 1: Crossing In Time: A Dystopian Love Story (Between Two Evils Book 1) )
Kind of sad how she’s force to wait for him, but that’s the way of military women. But it’s a good story and kept me reading.
I have read this book several times. The love story between the two main characters is both sweet and a bit odd given the circumstances of how they met. Enjoyed the parts that were in Chicago, made me want to visit those sites.
Beautifully written and heartbreaking. I cannot understand why the film was so dull with such material as a basis. Ignore the film, read the book.
I sobbed on the airplane like a two-year-old when I reached the end of this book. Just big, red-eyed ugly cry. It was embarrassing. What a wonderful, romantic and devastating book.
One of my all time favorite books!
After I finished it I immediately read it again . One of the few books that made me cry.
The story is told in a matter of fact manner but the characters and the plot are intricate and entwined and the premises is do original and unlike any other.
Do not miss this!
I listened to this book and maybe became confused by the story line moving to different times.