A Review of The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

In anticipation the release of the movie of the same name, I decided to read The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. TheTime Traveler's Wife is about a man named Henry DeTamble that has a genetic disorder that causes him to time-travel spontaneously. Henry cannot choose to where or when he travels, but often the places and times he goes have a certain level of emotional poignancy to him. Clare is the time traveler's wife and titular character. Clare meets Henry when she is 6 and he is 36, and Henry first meets Clare when she is 20 and he is 28. As Henry ages, he visits Clare at different points in her childhood.

That's all that I'm going to say about the plot of The Time Traveler's Wife. I don't wish to deprive anyone interested in the book or movie of any enjoyment. The novel is told in mostly chronological order, from our perspective.

The Time Traveler's Wife can be confusing due to multiple leaps in time and space. A character might know something that, a few pages later, he or she no longer knows. It's difficult. I recommend this book only to patient readers, because it requires the ability to go back and reference past (or future) events, and the story does drag at some points. The Time Traveler's Wife is fairly long, as well, at almost 600 pages.

The story is captivating though, though tragic. Throughout The Time Traveler's Wife are themes of loss, longing, waiting, determinism, and fatalism. It's impossible for Henry and Clare to have a "normal" relationship due to Henry's time-traveling - as is often noted in the book, Clare never had a chance at a "normal" life. At its heart, The Time Traveler's Wife is a love story. In some ways, The Time Traveler's Wife is cliched. Clare is the wife that waits patiently for her husband to return. Direct mythological references to Penelope and Odysseus are made. Despite the fact that the story feels very familiar, it is still engaging and interesting, due to the use of time travel as a framework.

Although it is, at times, complex and difficult, The Time Traveler's Wife is a worthwhile read on the border of sci-fi and romantic genres. I recommend it for patient readers that have a background in philosophy, because there is a lot of philosophy and metaphysics to digest in this book. Whether you love or hate The Time Traveler's Wife, it is memorable and unique.

Have you read The Time Traveler's Wife? What did you think? Feel free to share your thoughts in the form of a comment.