The time traveler’s wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Summary
The story of Clare, a beautiful art student, and Henry, a librarian, who have known each other since Clare was six and Henry was thirty, and were married when Clare was twenty-two and Henry thirty. 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.

Comments
Snippets of time filled with highly charged emotions deliver us the life-long love story of Claire and Henry. This story highlights themes of deep, unconditional love, loss, loneliness, abandonment and grief. Complex characters and a love story spanning years from childhood to adulthood draw the reader into the world of time travel and lives lived in secret.
Claire and Henry have a unique love and a trust that many relationships never fully develop. But this is often overshadowed by the sudden departures and reappearances of Henry as he battles with his “gift”. The deep connection these two share isn’t without it’s issues. The time travel raises issues of loss, abandonment and ultimately grief.
It is a world unfamiliar and surreal to those of rational thought, yet the detail and development of the story line, transport the reader with Henry on his journeys and back into the arms of “his” Claire with ease.
This was a most enjoyable read, however, attention needs to be paid to the dates, times and ages of the travel. Made into a major motion picture starring Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana, it made for the perfect  prelude to a girls movie night.

Rating – 7/10

Read by – Cultcha Club Book Club