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The Time Traveler's Wife

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The Time Traveler's Wife

By: Audrey Niffenegger
Narrated by: Fred Berman, Phoebe Strole
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Clare and Henry have known each other since Clare was six and Henry was 36. They were married when Clare was 23 and Henry was 31. 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 from his life, past and future. His disappearances are spontaneous, his experiences unpredictable, alternately harrowing and amusing.

Clare and Henry's story unfolds from both points of view, depicting the effects of time travel on their marriage and their passionate love for each other. They attempt to live normal lives, pursuing familiar goals: steady jobs, good friends, children of their own. All of this is threatened by something they can neither prevent nor control, making their story intensely moving and entirely unforgettable.

©2003 Audrey Niffenegger; ©2005 HighBridge Company; (P)2003 BBC Audiobooks Ltd. Classics Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Science Fiction Time Travel Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Romance
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Critic reviews

  • Alex Award Winner, 2004

"Highly original first novel....Niffenegger has written a soaring love story illuminated by dozens of finely observed details and scenes....It is a fair tribute to her skill and sensibility to say that the book leaves a reader with the impression of life's riches and strangeness rather than of easy thrills." (Publishers Weekly)
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Don't give up if you find the story hard to get to grips with, due to the time travelling.
Persevere and you will be rewarded.

Beautiful story, wonderfully read.

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I saw the film before realising it had been adapted from a book. The film was good, the book fantastic!

Pure brilliance!

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Reminiscent of HG Wells’ Time Machine and Dr Who, Henry, flits back and forth in time. He is supposedly suffering from Chrono-Displacement Disorder in which his genetic clock randomly resets. Ignoring this biologically implausible explanation for time-travel, the time shift device is an imaginative way to tell the story of his relationship with Clare from when they first met when she was 6 and he 36. In real time their age difference is 8 years.

Clare’s age correlates with the actual date but Henry's increases and decreases so that the age disparity and who is the older varies from meeting to meeting. Gradually the story of both their lives is told, but the randomness of their ages when he re-appears breaks up the flow of the narrative. There are some interesting, thought-provoking philosophical topics buried in this long book but mainly it’s lots of domestic encounters between the couple and at times the story drags.

I felt the book was too long with many of the encounters being repetitive and without much interest. The story did pick up towards the end of the book.

Not a gripping book, but interesting enough for me to finish it.
Having two narrators livens things up, though, at times, the female voice grates.

Imaginative, but too long love story

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One of the best books I've ever listened to. I highly recommend it. The romance held my attention, but the soft sci-fi aspect is what really appealed to me.
I enjoyed the movie, but the book is in another league.

One of the best books I've ever listened to.

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A good love story but a bit slow in parts. Very romantic but sad too.

Good Love Story

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