The Time Traveler's Wife

Sweet and well written. Easy to read. Loved the characters.
There are certainly flaws, but I easily forgave them because I was so engrossed by the story. Like many other reviewers, I was sad it ended and could not stop thinking about it for days after.

I may be too old for romances (I'm more in love with grandchildren than lost loves these days} but I read this book upon a recommendation from a friend and I appreciated the emotional power of this book. It reminds us of love found and lost over a life time. I would recommend it to anyone with an open heart. It is very moving.

I'll say it up front; the book is not perfect. There are a few moments of deus ex machina that stretch credibility - even for a time travel story - and a few sections where I wondered just where the author was going with the story. However, in spite of its flaws, I finished this more moved by anything I've read in a very long time. I fell in love with Henry and Clare early on, as the author's delicate prose sucked me in. I thought at first the 1st person/present tense, switching back and forth between the two characters, would be distracting, but it took no time at all to forget that was what she was even doing. Her voices at Clare's different ages were clear and distinct, and while I sometimes lost track of all the Henrys, I wasn't that bothered by it since frankly, Clare did, too.

I was entranced by the first two-thirds of the book, but the last third came with an ever-impending sense of doom, as the ending hinted at came barreling closer and closer. I read faster and faster, desperate to get to the full disclosure. I can't say that I regret it, either, in spite of the heartbreaking last few chapters. A keeper for my shelves, most definitely.

I'm not sure what to say about this book. It's multi-layered and leveled--and so are my feelings about it. I would say for about the first 400 pages or so, I considered this novel something analogous to an old pair of comfortable shoes. I enjoyed it once I picked it up and got into it but it was rarely anything to which I looked forward....and it was always around and comfortable to go back to but certainly nothing flashy or exciting. That being said, the last hundred pages are terrific and you can't turn the pages fast enough. What impressed me the most is that the author did not, at the end, go for the cheap emotional fall out. It would have been very easy to manipulate the last pages into a tearjerker but it was handled in a very dignified way. To say more would approach "spoilerdom".

I'm not a science fiction fan at all and the whole concept of time travel is difficult to fathom. I guess I'm too much of a realist. I must say, however, the subject matter, time travel included, was handled very matter of factly and that speaks to the author's skill. In other words, I was not put off by it at all. I see almost no way one can come away from this book not caring about Henry and Clare and their circle of significant others. Actually, if the truth be told, I think a little too much of the book was spent on what was going on with different people at different times and probably could have been edited down a bit. I say this because at several points the novel started to ramble--although never boringly.

The one beef I may have is with the "Bridges-of-Madison-County" ending. To me, it seems highly impractical, if not unrealistic, that someone will remain so fervently in love with a person who is not around for many, many years--almost to the point that they exist only to worship at the "shrine".

It is my understanding that a movie of this novel is being made. It will be most interesting to see how they handle the time changes without confusing the audience. I will probably be the first one in line. Good book...and by and large, very well done.

AMAZING! AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING. You will not regret buying this book. It is now my all-time favorite.