The Time Traveler's Wife Review

 While I will agree keeping track of the characters in The Time Traveler's Wife is not always easy, it is worth the effort to keep it straight. Since the main character, Henry DeTamble is a time-traveling librarian who has more adventures jumping through his own lifetime than Indiana Jones, what's not to love? The novel is really a love story with the chrono-instability of Henry's life the twist that makes it unique from tons of other love stories. While he meets his wife Claire when she is still a little girl, and he is already an adult - he knows she grows up and becomes his wife.  Of course Claire has no idea, but the comings and goings of this unusual man clearly makes an impression on Claire.

  Henry has no control over his time travel, nor does he know exactly where he will turn up. He is a librarian at Newberry Library in Chicago, and never knows where or when he will turn up in his time-displaced life.  Henry always ends up naked when he jumps through time, so this can be a serious problem if he is outside in the dead of winter.

  Claire does meet him officially for the first time when she goes to college in Chicago. Their  probelm is truly a romantic notion, never knowing how long he will be around and/or which Henry will turn up next.  Claire has the patience for this type of relationship, but clearly it is a strain on her. 

    It is the author's writing so tenderly of her characters and their emotions that the true love story comes through, and it is much more a love story than a science fiction story.  I do think it helps if you like fantasy or science fiction or can be open to this concept. I did find myself thinking, wait - why doesn't Henry know this, a couple of times, but once you really look at it carefully you realize the answer.

If you can jump into a time traveling novel, you won't be disappointed. If you liked the movie, Somewhere in Time, this might appeal to you. I think this novel would make a great movie, but would love to see how they adapt it for the screen.