The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

I feel like there are no words that I can say that can adequately describe The Time Traveler's Wife...but I'll try. Within the first few pages of the book, I knew that this would be one of the most emotionally gripping books that I have read. It proved to be not only that, but also the most powerful portrayal of love that I have read in the printed form.

Audrey Niffenegger has written a novel that comes around only once so often. Her words encapsulate and embody the true essence of passion and the raw and honest emotion in intimate human relationships. The Time Traveler's Wife is the story of two lovers, Henry and Clare. The story is beautifully told through alternating vignettes from both Henry and Clare's point of views at different times in their lives. Henry is a librarian and Clare is an artist. Henry is also a time traveler. Clare first meets Henry when she is 6 and Henry is 36. At this point in time, Henry is already married to Clare in his present to give you an idea of how this works. There lives carry on in this fashion with brief moments shared until their paths cross in each other's present times when they can form a life together and their time together becomes more stable and regular. But Henry's time travels continue leaving Clare to worry while he is away.

The spontaneity of Henry's appearances facilitate an intimacy between Clare and Henry that is pure beauty. Every second spent together is meaningful...nothing is wasted. There are other relationships between these characters...Henry and his father who was once an amazing violinist and is now an alcoholic who suffers from the loss of Henry's mother - a once famous opera singer. Clare and her mother - a mentally ill woman who is an elitist yet is a fragile poet behind closed doors...Gomez and Charisse, Clare and Henry's best friends who have been through everything with them....but in the middle of all of these relationships, Henry and Clare are still in the center.

Niffenegger paints a portrait that is real and raw in this novel...funny how a novel based on a time traveler can hold so much truth. There are moments of pure pain and heart ache..there are moments of pure joy...there's everything in between. There's passion, tears, fights, secrets, bruises, and smiles. I found myself overwhelmed at times when reading this novel. It begs the reader to become vulnerable...open yourself up...feel these emotions.

There are certain scenes that will haunt me, but in a good way...scenes powerful with love. Scenes that involve wings, scenes that involve Thai food, scenes that involve curling up together on a sofa. I've found myself doing quite a bit of self reflection since reading this book and just being amazed at how lucky I am...at the love that I have, the relationship I have...it may not be perfect, but no relationship is. But there is beauty in any relationship - in the tiny things..the little things that we forget to cherish...the little things that Clare and Henry cherish because they learn to cherish each moment.

As I said earlier, this novel has stayed with me all throughout the day while I have read it and I'm sure it will stay with me for days. This is one of the best books, if not the best, I have read this year. I can't believe it has been sitting on my shelf for so long. It makes me wonder what other treasures may be sitting there undiscovered.

I look forward to the rest of Niffenegger's career. She can count on me to buy her next book, Her Fearful Symmetry, which she is currently writing. You can check the FAQ on her website to read about it. She has two illustrated novels out as well that look interesting that you can find on Amazon. They've been described by many reviewers as similar to Edward Gorey. I may check those out. The first is The Three Incestuous Sisters and the second is The Adventuress.

Henry in the Prologue:

"And Clare, always Clare. Clare in the morning, sleepy and crumple-faced. Clare with her arms plunging into the papermaking vat, pulling up the mold and shaking it so, and so, to meld the fibers. Clare reading, with her hair hanging over the back of the chair, massaging balm into her cracked red hands before bed. Clare's low voice is in my ear often.

I hate to be where she is not, when she is not. And yet, I am always going, and she cannot follow."


Other Reviews:

Chris (Book-a-Rama)