The Time Traveler's Wife: Summary and book reviews of The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, plus links to an excerpt from The Time Traveler's Wife and a biography of Audrey Niffenegger.
The Time Traveler's Wife
by Audrey Niffenegger
Hardcover: Aug 2003,
518 pages.
Paperback: May 2004,
560 pages.
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: 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.
Publishers Weekly
It is a fair tribute to her skill and sensibility to say that the book leaves a reader with an impression of life's riches and strangeness rather than of easy thrills.
Kirkus Reviews
Mainstreamed time-travel romance, cleverly executed and tastefully furnished if occasionally overwrought: a first from fine newcomer Niffenegger....A Love Story for educated, upper-middle-class tastes.
Library Journal - David A Beron
The whole is skillfully written with a blend of distinct characters and heartfelt emotions that hopscotch through time, begging interpretation on many levels. Public libraries should plan on purchasing multiple copies of this highly recommended book.
Betsy Burton, The King's English, Salt Lake City, Utah
Clare, wife, lover and artist, is the true fulcrum of this complex and endlessly surprising tale, reminiscent of Time and Again, yet unique - and quite wonderful.
Alex Pippard, BookPeople, Austin TX
I finished the second half of The Time Traveler's Wife alone in a long-since gone cold bathtub crying to myself even as I smiled. The pruney toes and red eyes were worth it - Niffenegger has done that miracle of good writing - opened a rift we all fall into, naked and scared, into a real world.
Geoffrey Jennings, Rainy Day Books, KS
A funny, often poignant tale of boy meets girl with a twist: what if one of them couldn't stop slipping in and out of time? Highly original and imaginative, this debut novel raises questions about life, love, and the effects of time on relationships. What is normal? For Claire and Henry, it's one day at a time-not necessarily in the same order.
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by Cloggie Downunder Wonderful The Time Traveler’s Wife is Audrey Niffenegger’s second novel. This is the story of Henry DeTamble (the Time Traveler) and Clare Abshire (the Time Traveler’s Wife). Clare first meets Henry when she is six years old and he suddenly appears, naked,... Read More
Rated of 5
by Dayna! AWESOME This book I had to do for a book report, and let me tell you the movie doesn't do any justice!
Rated of 5
by Camille L. The Dynamics of Time Traveling! Since Henry was a boy, he has been different. He has what will be called “Chrono-Displacement Disorder.” This disorder causes him to travel through time; he can go forwards or backwards in time, but often finds himself returning to the same... Read More
Rated of 5
by Fun Girl A Love Story of Confusion Whoa! I love love stories but truly, you get sooo caught up in the different times zones, that you can't appreciate this couples' love for each other.
It got so caught up in him traveling back and fourth, but mostly when you see him in... Read More
Rated of 5
by Beetch WONDERFUL! Best book I ever read! Next to twilight series. And I hate reading so it must have been a good book to keep me reading! Love it! Can't wait for the movie.
Rated of 5
by Nicky Head A fantastic read I am absolutely hopeless at reading books, I get bored very easily so I usually take months to fully read a book. I read 'The Time Travelers Wife' in less than a week! It is beautifully written and had me laughing and crying in equal measures. I... Read More
A tour de force of metaphysical reality, powered by two remarkable characters: a teenage boy who runs away from home to escape a gruesome oedipal prophecy, and an aging simpleton.
A novel packed with wit, substance, and emotional depth, Snakewoman of Little Egypt delivers Robert Hellenga at the top of his form.
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Betsy Burton, The King's English, Salt Lake City, Utah
of 5
by Cloggie Downunder
of 5
by Fun Girl
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