Clare Abshire and Henry DeTamble meet aged 20 and 28 respectively at the Chicago library in which Henry works. This is the first time Henry meets Clare and doesn't know who she is when she excitedly realises who she is. She has known Henry since age six.
Henry is a timetraveller, and his older self has visited a young Clare at her childhood home since she was six years old. Clare has been in love with Henry most of her life and lost her virginity to Henry aged 18 in the meadow at her childhood home. This is the first time since then that she has seen Henry.Clare knows that she will marry Henry. He doesn't tell her much about her future life, he believes his time travel is a curse and doesn't believe others should know their future; he won't even give Clare any personal details about himself; he knows she has to find him on her own, and not go in search of him. He does however tell her that they will be married.
The book is written in the first person, from the perspective of both Clare and Henry.
The normal trials of a relationship are detailed; meeting friends, meeting the parents, the wedding. Clare and Henry struggle to have a baby. But for Henry and Clare, there is the extra stress that Henry does not know when he will disappear on another time travel journey. He also doesn't know when he will reappear, and as he cannot take anything with him, he always appears completely naked.
Review
The Time Traveller's Wife is an emotional story about Clare's search for her future husband, her despair at not having him around during her childhood, and the difficulty of being left alone for long periods. For Henry, who doesn't know Clare when they fisrt meet, he must get to know the woman who has known him for 14 years.
It is comical that Clare knows so much about Henry's future life, and discusses things with him that he may know, but for him, these memories have not yet happened.
Henry and Clare's despair at not knowing when he is going to disappear, of the stress that even simple events like going to church with Clare's family for midnight mass, is conveyed well. Henry's fear, at dropping in naked at a variety of places; work, an old family friend's house, the middle of the street is well written, enabling the reader to empathise with Henry and Clare.
Clare and Henry appear to have come to terms with the fact that their future is all ready planned. That what they do now, will only lead to the future which, in parts, Henry has all ready experienced. There is difficulty, though, when they try to convey this to their friends and colleagues. It suggests that our future is pre-determined, and our choices now will inly take us down the path we were meant to take anyway.
It is difficult to get your head around the fact that, at points in the book, there are two Henry's and that there is more than one time period running simutaneously. For example, Henry from the present day can go back and visit a past Clare, but the present continues. It is a difficult concept to grasp.
The only negative comment I can make about the book is that there are a lot of characters in it, and sometimes, it is difficult to keep up with whose who, particualry when minor characters (the doctor's wife and children, for instance) are named.
Overall, the book is well written and emotional. The characters are 3 dimensional and this makes it easy to empathise with their story, despite the fact it deals with a situation with which the reader (and author) are unfamiliar. Definitely a book to read.
Like many good books, this has been made in to a movie. Whilst the movie is excellent, I made the mistake of watching that first and therefore of knowing the ending. The movie is definitely worth watching, though.
No comments:
Post a Comment