Synopsis:
This clever and inventive tale works on three levels: as an intriguing science fiction concept, a realistic character study and a touching love story. Henry De Tamble is a Chicago librarian with "Chrono Displacement" disorder; at random times, he suddenly disappears without warning and finds himself in the past or future, usually at a time or place of importance in his life. This leads to some wonderful paradoxes. From his point of view, he first met his wife, Clare, when he was 28 and she was 20. She ran up to him exclaiming that she'd known him all her life. He, however, had never seen her before. But when he reaches his 40s, already married to Clare, he suddenly finds himself time travelling to Clare's childhood and meeting her as a 6-year-old. The book alternates between Henry and Clare's points of view, and so does the narration. Reed ably expresses the longing of the one always left behind, the frustrations of their unusual lifestyle, and above all, her overriding love for Henry. Likewise, Burns evokes the fear of a man who never knows where or when he'll turn up, and his gratitude at having Clare, whose love is his anchor. The expressive, evocative performances of both actors convey the protagonists' intense relationship, their personal quirks and their reminiscences, making this a fascinating audio.
*courtesy of Publisher's Weekly via Amazon.com
My Review:
I loved this, it was hard to get into in the beginning as the story takes place on different levels and on different time periods and narrated by different characters. However, once I got them figured out, I was enthralled. I found their love story to be drastically different than the norm, and inspiring at times. Other times, I found it completely unconventional, but I think that that was the beauty in the story. I've had friends who found it unethical and immoral, but again, I think that was the author's point of drawing out your emotions and making you reexamine what you thought a love story was supposed to be. I urge you to pick this up and struggle through the first few chapters: afterwards, you'll thank me for it!!
2 comments:
I have been waiting for this book to come up on Book Mooch! I've heard it's good. Now I'm even more excited to read it!!
I loved this book! I got it from the library and once I started and like you said figured out the different characters and time periods, I just couldn't put it down. I had more than a few nights of staying up way too late reading this!:)
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