"The Time Traveler's Wife" Book Review

"It's hard being left behind." Clare is always being left in the present while Henry time travels. Although time traveling is not always pleasant for Henry, Clare has a harder time. All she can do is wait. Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife amazed me.


The author's writing style is very unique. There is not just one narrator, so the point of view chages throughout the story. Part of the story is told by Clare and the rest is told by Henry.

Henry is a time traveler. In this book time traveling is a genetic disorder. Henry cannot control when he travels or where he goes. Sometimes he goes into the past, and other times he travels into the future. Clare is Henry's wife. She is very patient.

The Time Traveler's Wife takes place in Chicago, most of the time. The author does an excellent job of making the reader picture the setting by using many vivid details.

In the story Clare meets Henry when she is six. So Clare knows Henry almost her whole life. Henry does not meet Clare until he is 28. When Henry is older he time travels back to see Clare when she was a little girl. Clare and Henry get married because they are meant for each other. They have a complicated marriage though, because Henry is always leaving and cannot control when he comes back. One time he is gone a very long time, so to make it up to Clare he wins her the lottery. They use the money to buy a big, wonderful house and decide to start a family. They try many times buy keep having miscarriages. Finally, in an unconventional way, they succeed and have a girl. She is a time traveler too but is a little better at time traveling than Henry is. Henry continues to time travel and eventually runs into trouble.

This book was similar to a few other books I have read because the point of view changes. I loved this book, but I do not recommend The Time Traveler's Wife to anyone immature.

536 pages