The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Prepare to suspend disbelief! “The Time Traveller’s Wife” is not your conventional SciFi novel, and the premise – that Henry, the time traveller, has a genetic disorder which makes him travel in time – is really implausible. But prepare too to be swept along by this tale, to laugh and to cry, to love Henry with all his faults, to weep for Clare who knowingly lets herself in for an exhilarating but tragic life. If you can get past the unbelievable basis for the story and the difficulty of following the plot as it moves back and forward in time (something that put off a fellow traveller I met on a flight to Australia), you will love this book.

It was my son who introduced me to it and we agreed that it was in danger of being “chick lit”.

On reflection though, this is probably not a fair assessment. Why should a love story be written off as chick lit if it’s well written, well plotted and really unusual? Is there no place left for a love story in this day and age? The bitter-sweet mixture of romance and tragedy is certainly in the best tradition of Shakespeare. Think of Romeo and Juliet or the magic of The Tempest or Twelfth Night. OK, so I overstate my case!

This is one of the very few books that left me feeling bereft and wanting more when I finished it. I can’t wait for the sequel, or if there is none, for Audrey Niffenegger’s next book.

Barbara Cashin
Leixlip Library Book Club.