Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger - Book Review

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger has characters you will love, a plot like none other and a love story that is timeless. It is intelligent and touching. The Time Traveler's Wife is worth reading and sharing.

If you read the back of The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger you may wonder whether it is science fiction or romance. It is neither. This is not your average time travel fantasy involving a machine and scientists eagerly trying to break the space-time continuum. In fact, Henry DeTamble wishes he did not travel through time. He does so involuntarily, and when he does, he wakes up in another place and time, naked, nauseous and ravenously hungry. Henry's time travel drives the story, but is not really what the story is about.

The Time Traveler's Wife is about love. It is not, however, a romance novel, or anything close to it. The novel pushes on philosophical questions of meaning and purpose. It is built around connections and longings. At the center, there is love, but there is also a lot of real life description--family tensions, punk rock shows, jobs, friendships. Niffenegger describes the world so realistically that you will find yourself believing that some people are actually plagued with involuntary time travel. If you are like me, you'll also wish Henry and Clare were your friends.

One of the best things about The Time Traveler's Wife is the way it is told from two perspectives. It also does not follow linear time. The structure mimics the lives of the main characters. In doing so, it enhances the empathy you feel for them.

I highly recommend The Time Traveler's Wife for anyone who wants a compelling read that will give you much to think about and feel.