The Time Travlers Wife

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Okay.  I think it is finally time...  I have been waiting for just the right moment to review my #1 favorite book on my book shelf.  It is the book that changed reading for me forever.  I put books into two categories, before Time Travelers Wife, and after Time Travelers Wife.  Before The Time Travelers Wife I didn't really know how much I could actually LOVE and appreciate a book.  After Time Travelers Wife I have found other books that rival this one in either writing or plot (but never really both).  The reason it has taken me this long to write my review is because I just didn't know how to put my love into words.  I am still not sure I am up to the task but I think I am going to finally give it a whirl.  The first thing I want to say is that when you pick up The Time Travelers Wife you have to clear your mind of any expectations you may have for this story and start completely fresh.  I have read this book multiple times and every time I flip open the cover I have to forget what I already know.  I have to pretend I have never met Clare or Henry before, that I don't know about their unique love story, that I don't know the fate of these two characters, I have to start fresh Every. Single. Time.  And every time I read this brilliant piece of writing by Audrey Niffenegger, I laugh at the funny parts, and I cry at the sad ones, and even though I know all of them by heart, I fall in love again.

Bear with me and try to wrap your head around this creative plot...  When Clare meets Henry for the first time, Clare is a very little girl and Henry is a middle aged man, and Henry at the time of Clare's first meeting is married to Clare in the future.  When Henry meets Clare for the first time, Clare is in her early twenties and Henry is on the brink of thirty, but Clare has known Henry for her entire life and Henry is just meeting her for the first time.  Henry has a genetic disorder that hurls him (unwillingly) back and forth through time so a meeting like this can be possible. We follow Henry and Clare through their unique lives, through both of the first meetings, through their marriage, their family, and life as a Time Traveler.  And there is no way in heck you are going to pry more information out of me about this story.  You will just have to read it yourself to find out more about this amazing love story that takes place in the past, present, and future.

I know the plot sounds complicated but Niffenegger has penned a tale that is so easy to follow yet so intricate in nature that you are instantly drawn into the story.  Every time I read this book I am flabbergasted that someones brain works the way that Audrey Niffenegger's does.  She is a genius to be able to come up with a story line so complicated, and yet so beautifully written that you can follow it so well.  I only wish I could have her brain for an hour or two so I could experience how it works.

Book vs. Movie: Sadly (like always) the movie did no justice to this story.  If you have seen this movie please don't judge book.  There is so much information packed into the pages of the novel that it would be nearly impossible to put it into a 2 hour movie.  When we went to see the movie my husband (who has not read the book) leaned over to me and said "this is a great movie".  I turned to him and looked at him like he was crazy.  I was so disappointed.  At least he enjoyed the show but if he ever reads the book (highly unlikely) I am sure he would agree that there is not even the slightest comparison.  

The Time Travelers Wife
by Audrey Niffenegger

If you liked this book read: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

The Thirteenth Tale

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The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield was somewhat of a surprise to me. I had tried to read this book a while back but just couldn't get into it, so last week I decided to check it out as an audio book at my library and I was in to it from the first few words. Diane Setterfields writing seemed to me to come from a different time era, I was wrapped up in the words and her writing style and felt as if I was reading a novel by Jane Austen or one of the Brontë sisters. All I have to say is that Diane Setterfield must be an extreme book enthusiast to have written such a lovely story about books and storytelling.

When the story opens we meet our main character Margaret Lea. She is a plain, mousey, shadow of a woman that works in a rare books book shop and occasionally writes biographies on random dead people. One day she gets a letter asking her to write the biography of the most popular modern novelist in existence Ms. Vida Winter. Vida has been avoiding her past for decades and she is now old and ailing and wants the truth to be told about her life. What Margaret gets is a story so good it just might be better than one of Vida Winter's bestsellers. Between old houses, mental illnesses, twins, ghosts, fires, governesses, and jealousy (all the making of a great Gothic Novel), Margaret sets out to make sure that Vida is telling her the truth , and along the way she comes to grips with her own painful life story.

I would probably only recommend this book to someone who enjoys the classics. The Thirteenth Tale was written to be appreciated in another time and I don't think that someone who only likes modern novels will really connect with this story. While I enjoyed it immensely I just don't think it would be for everyone.  I feel like this is so unfortunate because I think this is one of the finest written pieces that I have read in a long time.

The Thirteenth Tale
by Diane Setterfield


If you liked this book then read: The Wideacre Trilogy by Philippa Gregory