Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.
The Time Traveler's Wife  By  cover art

The Time Traveler's Wife

By: Audrey Niffenegger
Narrated by: Fred Berman, Phoebe Strole
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.05

Buy for $24.05

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

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.

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)

Featured Article: 60+ Nature Quotes to Inspire and Motivate You


From the Andes Mountains to Monument Valley, from Niagara Falls to Kilauea, nature is truly awe-inspiring. Beyond natural marvels, ecosystems on Earth are so vast and varied. Nature’s beauty and wonder are literally everywhere, waiting to delight and uplift us. Countless storytellers over the years have examined the endless beauty of the great outdoors. We’ve assembled some of our favorite quotes about nature to motivate and inspire you.

What listeners say about The Time Traveler's Wife

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7,615
  • 4 Stars
    3,370
  • 3 Stars
    1,499
  • 2 Stars
    590
  • 1 Stars
    407
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6,923
  • 4 Stars
    2,058
  • 3 Stars
    635
  • 2 Stars
    201
  • 1 Stars
    142
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5,951
  • 4 Stars
    2,242
  • 3 Stars
    1,027
  • 2 Stars
    455
  • 1 Stars
    305

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great love story!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Not a romance fan usually, but loved this! Great story!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting plot concept but in need of a ruthless

I struggled to finish this one. It was far longer than it needed to be, especially the last half. The "romance" never developed much beyond lust. The verbose descriptions of everything from grocery lists to paper making made the prose drag. There are far too many pages spent on random events that do nothing to develop a character or drive the plot.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Still In It

I paused this book so many times because I didn't want it to end. And now, I find myself, like Henry, time-traveling through its pages. An exquisite work. In the top 5 best books I've ever read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing story!

Loved this book but be ready for the emotions that it evokes. I did not want it to end. The performers did a wonderful job of bringing Henry and Clare alive!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Time Travel is hard to write

The narration was excellent and fun to listen to. The story was entertaining at parts and left me hating one of the main characters by the end. The most frustrating parts involved the loop holes with time travel and how the author approached that part of the book. I'm not saying I have a better approach for writing about time travel, but this just didn't work for me.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

different but long

I enjoyed this unique story. It was a bittersweet love story. It did get quite long in the end.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Brilliant Idea!

I love the story - what a great idea. William Hope did a good narration job. Laurel Lefkow was good with the female voices, but not so good on male voices which was a bit distracting at times. Great listen for my commute! I think I want to listen to it again once I finish to see how the time line was handled from the start.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Laurel Lefkow does it better

Any additional comments?

The first recorded book that I ever listened to was Time Traveler's Wife, the BBC version. It was phenomenal. Several years later I wanted to repeat the experience and I got this version from Audible. I didn't realize that there was more than one version until I started to listen. So disappointed. Treat yourself to the version with Laurel Lefkow and William Hope, it is a great listening experience.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

How do you miss someone you've never met?

I thought it would be complicated. It was and it wasn't. The time traveling was less complicated than the love story.
It just seemed so natural for the time traveler to arrive naked and penniless, unexpectedly, anywhen.
Falling in love with one's wife when she was 6 and he was 40 was strange and complicated. It worked, in the end.
Ms Niffenegger, made a sad and complicated scenario so poignant and natural, one might expect a time traveler to show up, naked and penniless on one's own doorstep.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

A long, sad read!

A long, impossible plot. It had some good moments, but overall, I have a lot of criticism. The thought of the time traveler's daughter wandering around naked in the middle of the night, in her own time travels is just more than I'd care to imagine. Her father had enough terrible trips, I didn't want his daughter to inherit the same problems. All In allot wasn't a happy read!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!