Book Discoveries: The Time Traveler’s Wife

The Time Traveler’s Wife
Audrey Niffenegger

It’s a bit of an unsung hero for those who have read it. It was recommended to me as a good plane book and while I read it on both my connecting flights, I had someone comment on how much they loved it each time. I also find myself doing the same if I hear anyone mention it. I can’t help it; I just start to ask questions: “Don’t you love it?”; “Isn’t that exactly what it would be like if someone could time travel?”; “How far are you in the book?” I just convulse with happiness that someone else is reading this book and I want to bond with them over our mutual reading.

In short it is a love story. It follows the relationship between Clare and Henry. Henry is a time traveler, whose genetic structure can send him through time at any moment to any place without any warning (or clothes). Clare first meets Henry when she is 6 and he is 36. He comes back for visits throughout her life and by the time they actually meet in ‘real’ time, Clare knows all about Henry and Henry feels like he is meeting Clare for the first time and, technically, he is. While the elements of a fantastical novel are there, I felt that it wasn’t just a one hit wonder. There were strong elements dealing with the general challenge of time and the encouragement of love in the face of adversity. Yes, it’s a story about a man who can time travel and it would be really easy to just skip over it because you “aren’t into that kind of stuff,” but you’d be missing out on a very well written and gracious book that charms you into its world. I absolutely loved that all the characters were flawed. It’s such a relief to read a ‘modern’ story where the characters actually seem modern. The stresses in their lives and their arguments are quite relatable, while still being fantastic. I also enjoyed that this book was written, in part, by accident. I read an interview with Niffenegger where she says that she had no intention of writing this novel, but did it as a side project while creating her picture novel The Three Incestuous Sisters (which, by the way, I own and it is totally bizarre).

The Time Traveler’s Wife has story development, momentum, pendulum swinging: the whole shebang. In college, I worked in a book store (surprise, surprise) and I remember a woman won an auction for 100 dollars in the store. She looked at me and was like, “Any suggestions?” After clapping my hands together in pure glee, I set off and piled on her lap several books: Ada, The Blind Assassin, The Unbearable Lightness of Being and…..The Time Traveler’s Wife.

Lucky for you, the book has been out for a while so you can probably find it used or borrow it from a friend. So, I am recommending your summer be sprinkled with an enjoyable, relaxing read that, for all extensive purposes, will take you on a ride.