The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

I just finished The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I must admit that I was reluctant to read it. Why? Well, to start with, it’s on the bestseller lists. The last time I picked up a book on the bestseller lists (Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian), I struggled through half the book before finally deciding that life is too short. Secondly, a friend who read it said that she cried. I don’t want to cry when I read a book! I want to laugh! Life provides enough tears! So, why did I pick up a copy? Same friend said she couldn’t put it down, and my son wanted to read it for his English class. Occasionally, I like to read something that my kids are reading, so we can discuss it. This gives me some insight into their weird little brains. And, honestly, most of the classics they read in school are sooo boring.

Niffenegger instantly draws the reader into Clare and Henry’s story. She simply, yet brilliantly handles what could be a confusing timeline by using dates as well as Clare and Henry’s ages to let us know when we are and when the characters are. Another author might have bristled at the straightforward simplicity of this technique and left the reader to struggle over when the characters are. But Niffenegger is a storyteller, and as such, she allows nothing to get in the way of the story, not even an author’s ego.

No, I couldn’t put it down—at least not until end when I had to put it down to deal with the overwhelming emotion Niffenegger wrung out of me. It’s one of those books that haunts you long after you finish it. Kudos to Niffenegger for effectively using two points of view, Clare’s and Henry’s, in first person. I’m not a real fan of first-person point-of-view, but when an author does it well, as Niffenegger does, I love it.

So, would I recommend this book? Yep. I give it four out of four bookworms.