The Time Traveler's Wife

By: Audrey Niffenegger

Narrated by: Fred Berman, Phoebe Strole

Length: 17 hrs and 38 mins

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)

Trying to keep all those dates straight

Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife is a love story across time where one partner is not quite grounded in time. Henry suffers from a genetic condition that causes him to periodically transition to another time, usually tangentially related to his life (in terms of places and significant events). As such, he meets and interacts with his future wife when she was a child (as young as 6) as well as travelling forward in time. When he travels, he arrives naked; no physical objects can go with him. As such, he has learned lock picking, shoplifting, and fisticuffs to survive. The story relates the tale of Henry and his partner Clare as they mature into a relationship that is able to transcend whatever time they find.

The time traveling basis is rooted in a genetic anomaly related to circadian rhythms and eventually, the biological basis for this disorder becomes understood. At the same time, there is an impact on his immune system that causes premature aging as well as conception and pregnancy issues. The real heart of the tale is a love story where each partner interacts asymmetrically in terms of their age and maturity: Clare as a child with an older Henry and Henry younger than a mature and older Clare. The story is both engaging and touching.

The narration is handled by two narrators, taking Henry's and Clare's perspectives. Each offers reasonable character distinction and pacing is well aligned with the casual tone of the tale.

Well done but weird

There is really no plot to this book. It is a voyeristic view into the life of Henry (an unwilling, uncontrolled time traveler) and his wife, Claire. The story ranges from when Claire is 6 to 86 (ish) and Henry is mostly from 25-43. The story unfolds in an interesting way, not told in a linear fashion, and is woven together well, but it is sort of pointless and odd. The book was well written & the narrators did a good job, but I can’t say I actually liked the book.

Good but not good

The narrators were fantastic! The story itself is a little difficult to follow in audio format due to the constantly jumping timeline. I think I might have to go back a read this one.

Great read!

My sister had given me this book a while back. I started but just couldn't get into it. I decided to get the audiobook instead. I'm so glad I did! The performances were outstanding. The book is really brought to life.

Very Imaginative and well written

This is one of the best books I've read/listened to in a long time. It is so unique and well written...you will not want to turn it off. The narrators are wonderful...they add depth and richness to the book. Buy it! You won't be disappointed.

Loved it!

This book was a wonderful love story with a twist. It was a little hard to follow at first, but then you kind of understand how it "works". The only disappointment for me was the juvenile language the author reverted to for any sexual reference. This was a very literary read until scenes that required any sexual content--then she reverted to teenager-like locker room language. It just wasn't necessary to such a wonderful story. Other than that, I LOVED it!

Riveting Story! Excellent Narration!

The narrators were amazing! I am not usually a fan of time travel novels but this not only held my interest, I couldn't stop listening to it once I got started. I can't wait for it to get publish for kindle. The novel stayed in my head for days after listening until I finally started listening to it again. The main characters were well developed and the story line was so different that at first it could seem confusing, but my curiousity got the best of me and I was engrossed and completely riveted with the story after I let go of my mundane concept of time. Again let me add that the narrators were excellent! I will even buy the DVD to the movie when it comes out even though I know it will not come close to the beauty of the novel.

Better than I Imagined

I saw the movie first and I knew I had to read the book. I love the voice of the actor who reads Henry's parts. At first I didn't like the actress who read Clare's Parts but I grew to love her. Her soft voice. you won't be disappointed.

Really makes Claire and Henry come to life

A lot of this book takes place in Chicago in the 1990s and I was in my 20s then and there, so I really appreciate the author's absolute command of that scene. The world Claire and Henry inhabit there is totally congruent with my memories. The two narrators do a beautiful job of handling their strange co-existence and bring great charm and incredible sympathy to both characters and their unique situation. This is a beautifully realized version of the book and I recommend it highly, whether you have read the book or not.

Powerless

All of us have read or seen stories of time travel. The plot for this is very different. The author doesnt build mechanical devices for his character. It just happens. No genetic mumble jumble. The main character flits from time to time without intervention on his behave. He is literally at the mercy of the effect. He leads a very full life although complicated. The characters are well developed. You can visualize them. There are not many so there is not a problem of keeping track. The story lags a bit in parts bud the reader continues because you don't know how it's going to end.
A very well done book, very interesting and it gets you to think, what would it be like if I had this malady. The book has already been filmed, but not released. Let's hope they don't do a bad job.