Ever woken up naked, with no idea where you were or with no clue of the current date in time? Wondering if you can find any clothes or food without getting caught and explaining the state your in? I thought you hadn't. Well Henry has, way too many times to count. Suffering from Chrono-Displacement, a rare genetic disorder, Niefenegger's novel chronicles the lives of Henry DeTamble and Claire Abshire. Time travelling from a young age Henry appears in and out of Claire's life while she is young. He confusingly appears at different times whilst Claire grows up most times remembering her, sometimes forgetting her and once having never met her before. Claire's infatuation for Henry simmers he whole teenage life as she waits for him to return two years later as he has warned. However this begins to have an effect on the life of this young girl whose friends begin to think is into girls.
''I'm Claire Abshire. I knew you when I was a little girl...I'm at a loss because I am in love with a man who is standing before me with no memories of me at all. Everything is in the future for him.''(4)
The story becomes remarkably fascinating once Claire is an adult searching for Henry the librarian, the man of her dreams who feels just as strongly toward her. Niefenegger's thoughtful realism and detail to the pairs relationship will leave you yearning for hope toward the couple. The juvenile manner she illustrates Claire with in her youth, is obvious
once juxtaposed with her detailed description of adult Claire.
''When Clare draws she looks as though the world has fallen away, leaving only her and the object of her scrutiny. This is why I love to be drawn by Clare: when she looks at me with that kind of attention, I feel that I am everything to her.''(104)
Not only does Henry time travel but he works as a librarian who cannot be trusted since being discovered naked in the aisles one too many times. The extremity of the live's and relationship of Claire and Henry is in jeopardy whenever they attempt to lead a normal life which proves difficult when Henry disappears, sometimes for days, to another time. Planning a wedding and attempting to have children both exist as problematic throughout the start of their lives together. With two Henry's from two separate times constantly bumping into each other, it can get tedious for Henry making up lies which are not plausible . But he has bigger fish to fry when he accidently
goes to the future and finds out bad news he could have lived without knowing.
''Because I am a time traveller, I jump around a lot from one time to another. So it's like if you started the tape and played it for a while but then you said Oh I want to hear that song again, so you played that song and then you went back to where you left off but you wound the tape too far ahead so you rewound it again but you still got it too far ahead. You see?'(45)
Written with care, Time Travellers Wife is a must read due to its unique stance on a literal long distance relationship. With its short chapters labelling time, date and age, you may at times feel jumbled but I guarantee you will understand in time. Including a ending that may have you in tears, Niefenegger's style grips you with the intensity. Her description and adoration of Henry will leave you satisfied as she analyses being his wife in only a way a woman could.
9/10 for this excellent read, a must buy.
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