Page Thirteen

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

This book was the most satisfying book that I've read in a long time. It's one of those books that you can't wait to get back to once you've put it down, and when it's done you feel cheated and left wanting more, even with its 519 pages.

The book may be difficult at first to follow, not due to the language but due to the fact that Henry, one of the main characters, has a genetic disorder which causes him to time travel, mostly due to situations or feelings of high stress (sounds sci-fi dorky, but keep with me). So, keeping track of dates and ages can be a bit confusing. Henry's time travel causes a whole heap of issues, since Henry doesn't want to time travel, does so sometimes at very awkward moments, and cannot take anything with him during these time travels, including clothing. So, he plops down in past, present, and future completely naked, having to pick locks, steal, etc to get food, clothes and other necessities. At the heart of the book, however, is probably the best love story I've ever read. Henry and Clare "meet" when they are 28 and 20, respectively, but Clare has known Henry since she was 6, when he travels back in time during his later marriage to Clare to get to know her younger self. Later, in "real time," the couple tries to grip on to a normal life, never knowing when Henry is going to exit suddenly, or for how long, or how much danger he will be in wherever he goes.

This book wins the prize of being my favourite read of the summer. I highly recommend it. Read it before the movie comes out!