Audrey Niffenegger's 'The Time Traveler's Wife'

I almost gave up on reading this near the beginning but am so glad that I didn't. The problem was that I couldn’t quite get my head around the idea of a genetic condition that causes the sufferer to move between his past and present. However, once I was used to the idea I became totally absorbed in the affairs of Henry and Clare as their romance and then their marriage progressed as well as the way in which their friends and respective families dealt with them.

'The Time Traveler's Wife' was the author's first novel and she dealt impressively with a very difficult theme and produced a novel that was fantasy and yet surprisingly believable due to the convincing characterization. Part of this was also due to the fact that Audrey Niffenegger set clear parameters as to what was and was not possible in Henry's world. As a result I laughed with, worried for and cried for Henry and Clare but also pondered some of the more serious issues that arose, such as the implications for couples wanting to have children when one of them has a genetic impairment.

A well-written and thought-provoking work that left me keen to read the author's next novel.