Why on earth hadn't I read The Time-Traveler's Wife before? I distinctly remember it getting recommended to me--and yet, it took a coworker loaning me her somewhat battered copy to bring this book properly to my attention.
And wow, I'm glad for that, because this was a wonderful read. The idea of the book is simple: Henry DeTamble has a genetic condition which causes him to inadvertently shift where he is in time and space. Rather like earlier incarnations of the Doctor, only without the hard-to-control TARDIS. ;) He can't control when or where he will shift, or how long he will be gone. Needless to say, this means he has a very strange life and has to struggle to have as normal an existence as possible.
What holds him together is the love of his life, Clare. The relationship between Henry and Clare is the driving force of this book, and given Henry's unusual condition, it means that the two of them have an extremely non-linear relationship: for example, Clare meets Henry for the first time when she is 6 and he is 36, but Henry's first meeting of her is when he's 28 and she's 20. Niffenegger does a marvelous job nevertheless jumping forward along the track of Clare's life as Henry jumps in and out at differing ages, with occasional sideways glimpses at Henry's jaunts when pertinent to the development of their relationship. You have to work a little to keep track of what Henry knows when, but that's part of what makes it all fun. And that Niffenegger cheerfully has Henry cross his own path multiple times during the convoluted course of his life makes it even more entertaining.
The ending is not surprising, as it is telegraphed well in advance, but it flows very naturally and very poignantly from what has come before. And it brought a tear to my eye when I was done. Highly, highly recommended. Four stars.
And wow, I'm glad for that, because this was a wonderful read. The idea of the book is simple: Henry DeTamble has a genetic condition which causes him to inadvertently shift where he is in time and space. Rather like earlier incarnations of the Doctor, only without the hard-to-control TARDIS. ;) He can't control when or where he will shift, or how long he will be gone. Needless to say, this means he has a very strange life and has to struggle to have as normal an existence as possible.
What holds him together is the love of his life, Clare. The relationship between Henry and Clare is the driving force of this book, and given Henry's unusual condition, it means that the two of them have an extremely non-linear relationship: for example, Clare meets Henry for the first time when she is 6 and he is 36, but Henry's first meeting of her is when he's 28 and she's 20. Niffenegger does a marvelous job nevertheless jumping forward along the track of Clare's life as Henry jumps in and out at differing ages, with occasional sideways glimpses at Henry's jaunts when pertinent to the development of their relationship. You have to work a little to keep track of what Henry knows when, but that's part of what makes it all fun. And that Niffenegger cheerfully has Henry cross his own path multiple times during the convoluted course of his life makes it even more entertaining.
The ending is not surprising, as it is telegraphed well in advance, but it flows very naturally and very poignantly from what has come before. And it brought a tear to my eye when I was done. Highly, highly recommended. Four stars.
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