Audrey Niffenegger
Random House
Otago Daily Times, January 31st 2004
Clare first encounters Henry, in the meadow near her house, on Friday September 23, 1977, when she is 6 and he is 36. They continue to meet here at irregular intervals over the next 14 years until Sunday October 26, 1991, the day that Henry (aged 28) first meets the 20 year-old Clare, in the library where he works. This event marks the beginning of a romance that will endure the remainder of their lives.
Confused? Let me try and explain. Henry suffers from a new and unusual genetic condition, Chrono-Displacement Disorder-a sort of temporal epilepsy that causes him to suddenly and spontaneously flash backwards or forwards in time, particularly during periods of stress. The narration alternates between Clare and Henry, with Clare’s point of view following a normal progression through time, while Henry’s leaps from present to past and back again. Although this can be confusing at times, everything is written in the present tense so the reader soon gets drawn into the immediacy of the story. Translated through the effects of Henry’s condition on the couple and their friends, Audrey Niffenegger explores the nature of love and ways it can be renewed and sustained through long term relationships. Both Henry and Clare find the periods when Henry is lost in time almost unbearable. but the inevitability and uncontrollable nature of such separations serves to keep the passion of their love as fresh as when when it began. Even after years of marriage every moment they spent together is precious, for it may be the last. The awareness that one day Henry will not return adds a painful poignancy to later parts of the book, and and reminds the reader we all need to live for, and savor, the present.
Moving, humorous, life-affirming and tragic, this captivating novel is a love story in the best archetypal tradition-two people bound together by love and destiny but separated by forces beyond their control. It could, however, as easily be shelved with the best of contemporary Sci Fi, exploring the question of causality, predestination and fate. Because each of the lovers knows some aspects of the other’s future, they subtly and necessarily shape one another’s lives. Clare’s friendship with the older Henry quickly deepens into love, it is she who initiates the first meeting with the younger Henry, and thus the circle is completed. Henry is particular is fascinating and believable character, and the whole cast of characters are likeable, if at times a little superficial. For all the complexity of the story, it is written in a clear and uncomplicated prose, and the various themes are intriguingly and thought provokingly explored. This is the author’s first novel, and I thoroughly look forward to her next offering.
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