Amazon Prime Free Trial
FREE Delivery is available to Prime members. To join, select "Try Amazon Prime and start saving today with FREE Delivery" below the Add to Cart button and confirm your Prime free trial.
Amazon Prime members enjoy:- Cardmembers earn 5% Back at Amazon.com with a Prime Credit Card.
- Unlimited FREE Prime delivery
- Streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with limited ads on Prime Video.
- A Kindle book to borrow for free each month - with no due dates
- Listen to over 2 million songs and hundreds of playlists
Important: Your credit card will NOT be charged when you start your free trial or if you cancel during the trial period. If you're happy with Amazon Prime, do nothing. At the end of the free trial, your membership will automatically upgrade to a monthly membership.
-35% $12.39$12.39
Ships from: Amazon.com Sold by: Amazon.com
$9.89$9.89
Ships from: Amazon Sold by: ZBK Wholesale
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Image Unavailable
Color:
-
-
-
- To view this video download Flash Player
Audible sample
Follow the author
OK
The Time Traveler's Wife Paperback – May 6, 2014
Purchase options and add-ons
The iconic time travel love story and mega-bestselling first novel from Audrey Niffenegger is "a soaring celebration of the victory of love over time" (Chicago Tribune).
Henry DeTamble is a dashing, adventurous librarian who is at the mercy of his random time time-traveling abilities. Clare Abshire is an artist whose life moves through a natural sequential course. This is the celebrated and timeless tale of their love. Henry and Clare's passionate affair is built and endures across a sea of time and captures them in an impossibly romantic trap that tests the strength of fate and basks in the bonds of love. “Niffenegger’s inventive and poignant writing is well worth a trip” (Entertainment Weekly).
- Print length592 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateMay 6, 2014
- Dimensions5.25 x 1.2 x 8 inches
- ISBN-101476764832
- ISBN-13978-1476764832
- Lexile measure720L
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
Frequently bought together
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
- The Pact: A Love StoryMass Market Paperback
- Time travel can be read as a metaphor for memory: we are all time travelers in our minds, if not in our bodies.Highlighted by 269 Kindle readers
- Everything seems simple until you think about it. Why is love intensified by absence?Highlighted by 264 Kindle readers
- Our present is created and shadowed by our past. We live in the present, blissfully innocent of our future.Highlighted by 184 Kindle readers
Editorial Reviews
Review
“As Clare and Henry take turns telling the story, revealing the depth of their bond despite everything a sci-fi premise becomes a powerfully original love story.” ― People (Top Ten Books of the Year)
“Spirited…Niffenegger plays ingeniously in her temporal hall of mirrors.” ― The New Yorker
“Readers will recall in Love in the Time of Cholera a love that works despite all travails and impediments…Marquez, like Niffenegger here, means to tell us that for such exalted love there is no tragedy and never any constraints.” ― The Washington Post Book World
“Niffenegger’s inventive and poignant writing is well worth a trip.” ― Entertainment Weekly
“Moving, razor-edged prose…Niffenegger writes with the unflinching yet detached clarity of a war correspondent standing at the sidelines of an unfolding battle.” ― USA Today
“A singular tale of a charming man with a funny condition (he slips in and out of time) and the woman who loves him. The setting, the city of Chicago, is luminous.” ― San Francisco Chronicle
“As if love weren’t complicated enough, debut author Niffenegger dreams up a happy couple plagued by a peculiar problem…It is to Niffenegger’s credit that she avoids cheap shots and develops her innovative concept in some exceptionally strange and witty ways.” ― Time Out New York
“Contrary to appearances, The Time Traveler’s Wife is a very old love story: wonky, sexy, incredible…charmingly, inventively retold and none the worse for it.” ― The Times (London)
“An extraordinary novel with a unique premise…Niffenegger compassionately develops her unique characters, with the grace to accept their difficult circumstances, as well as their blessings. Don’t be deceived by the easy charm of Henry and Clare’s relationship; they will draw you into their small circle, make you complicit with their dreams and disappointments. They will break your heart.” ― Curledup.com
“A soaring love story illuminated by dozens of finely observed details and scenes, and one that skates nimbly around a huge conundrum at the heart of the book…Leaves a reader with a sense of life’s riches and strangeness.” ― Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Intricately woven…Exceedingly literate.” ― Kirkus Reviews
“Compelling…Skillfully written with a blend of distinct characters and heartfelt emotions that hopscotch through time, begging interpretation on many levels.” ― Library Journal (starred review)
“To those who say there are no new love stories, I heartily recommend The Time Traveler’s Wife, an enchanting novel, beautifully crafted and as dazzlingly imaginative as it is dizzyingly romantic.” -- Scott Turow, author of Reversible Errors and Presumed Innocent
“Haunting, original, and so smart it took my breath away…in short, the rare kind of book that I finish and jealously wish that I’d written.” -- Jodi Picoult, author of Plain Truth and Second Glance
“The Time Traveler’s Wife is a Houdini box of a novel, filled with spring latches and trap doors. Henry and Clare’s love affair zigs and zags across decades – at times touching, childish, sexy, tragic but always true. It is an exhilarating ride, and I was grateful to travel along.” -- Caroline Preston, author of Lucy Crocker 2.0 and Jackie by Josie
“Audrey Niffenegger imagines this story of an accidental time-traveler and the love of his life with grace and humanity. Fiercely inventive, slyly ambitious, and lovingly told, The Time Traveler’s Wife sparkles as it fearlessly explores the delicate interplay of love and time. This novel is a joy.” -- Anne Ursu, author of The Disapparition of James and Spilling Clarence
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Scribner; Reprint edition (May 6, 2014)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 592 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1476764832
- ISBN-13 : 978-1476764832
- Lexile measure : 720L
- Item Weight : 1.05 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.25 x 1.2 x 8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #17,556 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #60 in Time Travel Romances
- #76 in Time Travel Fiction
- #1,772 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Audrey Niffenegger is a visual artist and a faculty member at Columbia College in Chicago. In addition to her bestselling debut novel, The Time Traveler's Wife, she is the author of two illustrated novels, The Three Incestuous Sisters and The Adventuress. She lives in Chicago.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the story compelling and relatable. They praise the writing quality as wonderful and soundly crafted. The characters are well-developed and human, with a twisting and weaving between them. Readers enjoy the time travel scenario and how it is artfully addressed. The pacing is described as moving and engaging. However, some customers found the book hard to follow at times and bogged down in details.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the story compelling and relatable. They appreciate the touching and humorous scenes, exploring themes of love and loss. The story is told in first-person present tense with shifting points of view. Readers are intrigued by the plot concept and sci-fi elements. However, some feel the narrative jumps around a lot.
"...It's a wonderfully well-written romance that doesn't use time travel as a gimmick but as an obstacle to love and a tool to comment on that love but..." Read more
"...of science fiction, and this is one of the best, most solid, science fiction books I have ever read...." Read more
"...the type of book I would consider reading, but I was intrigued by the plot concept and the sci-fi elements of time travel...." Read more
"Incredible story told in a non-linear and complex way. Makes you think and I have caught things on rereads that I didn’t initially catch." Read more
Customers find the writing quality of the book great. They appreciate the author's skillful storytelling and detailed descriptions. The dramatic structure is subtle, displaying the overarching theme effectively. Readers describe the book as an easy read with alternating first-person narratives.
"...Yet the writing his heightened (another word for so, so much better) than your average romance or genre fiction (and most literary fiction) with a..." Read more
"...the author's premise actually could happen, she expertly and soundly crafts her story within a very consistent science fiction premise...." Read more
"...The writing style is smooth and easy to follow, despite a few pretentious words and lyrics to make the reader believe that Henry and Clare are the..." Read more
"...some very nice touches of comedy that bring laughter and give variety to the story. + The time-travelling premise holds well...." Read more
Customers appreciate the well-developed characters and their interactions. They find the story satisfying, with a twisting and weaving between the characters and events. The characters are described as human and realistic.
"...But the high quality of writing in this novel and the development of character kept my attention. It's often said comedy is hard to write. It is...." Read more
"...+ The characters are human. They have positive attributes and also have -very human- flaws. + The story's stickiness is good...." Read more
"...of view, the story still fell flat for me, as I felt emotionally detached from the characters and didn't feel anything for anyone except for maybe..." Read more
"...about in any story, and I enjoy almost as much the rich cast of well-drawn supporting characters, many of whom could probably star in their own..." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's time travel story. They find the premise intriguing and the author skillfully explores it. The time travel logic is well-developed, with no gaps or inconsistencies. Readers appreciate the multiple journeys back and forth across time. Overall, they consider the story an enjoyable adventure through different dates and perspectives.
"...I know time travel is fantastic, but the author plays very consistently within the "world" she creates in this book...." Read more
"...And, from my impression, there are no gaps in the time travel logic, which is critical to make the story believable...." Read more
"...The narrative goes back and forth in time, which is not a problem, since a lot of books do this and usually it just takes a little bit of slowing..." Read more
"...+ The time-travelling premise holds well...." Read more
Customers find the pacing of the book engaging. They say the story is told in small, logical chunks of time. The progressions are logical and easily deduced. The timelines and dates are complex, but the story sticks together well.
"...They're sophisticated and progressive. No one really works for a living. Not really...." Read more
"...I really felt it gave a message of hope in a situation of finality...." Read more
"...I felt that the pacing of the book was way too slow and oftentimes, the story went absolutely nowhere...." Read more
"The unique time-jumping format of this book in itself kept me engaged, but the real genius of the book is the relationship between the two main..." Read more
Customers have mixed opinions about the book. Some found the story satisfying and engaging, saying it took them away. However, others felt the book was depressing in parts and boring at times.
"...The author spends way too much time describing random stuff, like Clare doing her art projects, and diving into gratuitous scenes of the characters..." Read more
"The unique time-jumping format of this book in itself kept me engaged, but the real genius of the book is the relationship between the two main..." Read more
"...were enough things I disliked about it that made the reading experience less than enjoyable for me...." Read more
"...the flow is so good that after the first few pages, it gets difficult to stop...." Read more
Customers have different views on the book's heartbreak. Some find it deeply emotional, bittersweet, and thought-provoking. Others feel disappointed with the ending and plot points. The book explores loss and how we process it.
"...It is a story filled with both love and tragedy...." Read more
"...pacing of the book was way too slow and oftentimes, the story went absolutely nowhere...." Read more
"...This book is funny, sad, and tragic in different degrees. Henry can't take anything with him when he time travels and arrives naked...." Read more
"...me to my last thought: the writing is brilliant, vivid, evocative, emotional (without being sloppy) and incredibly poignant...." Read more
Customers find the book disorienting and difficult to follow at first. They mention it's hard to grasp the concept, the intermittent plot, and the unusual structure. Many find it hard to describe and have many unanswered questions.
"...if I could give anything away if I wanted to because this book is so hard to describe...." Read more
"...For me, this book was an extremely tedious read, to the point that I actually set the book aside 3 different times while reading so I could finish..." Read more
"...The writing style is smooth and easy to follow, despite a few pretentious words and lyrics to make the reader believe that Henry and Clare are the..." Read more
"...CHILD ENDANGERMENT and LACK OF PREPAREDNESS: Doesn't anyone think that it is disgusting for Alba to be time-traveling by the age of seven??..." Read more
Reviews with images
Used Book
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
- Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2012You'll need to put some things aside when reading this book.
Put aside the movie. I've not seen it but I've received multiple confirmations that it sucked.
Put aside the cover (and it's implications). A young girl in knee high socks and Mary Janes standing next to a pile of men's clothes. The implication being: there's a naked dude running around this little girl. Oh, in the novel there is.
Put aside trying to figure out the intricacies of time travel. Don't discuss it like Star Trek fans trying to figure out and argue with J.J. Abrams resetting of the Star Trek universe. Just enjoy the story.
The Time Traveler's Wife is a romance novel of the `everyone-has-a-soul-mate' variety. Yet the writing his heightened (another word for so, so much better) than your average romance or genre fiction (and most literary fiction) with a time travel twist.
"Long ago, men went to sea, and women waited for them, standing on the edge of the water, scanning the horizon for the tiny ship. Now I wait for Henry. He vanishes unwillingly, without warning. I wait for him. Each moment that I wait feels like a year, an eternity. Each moment is as slow and transparent as glass. Through each moment I can see infinite moments lined up, waiting. Why has he gone where I cannot follow?"
- from The Time Traveler's Wife
It is not a plot driven tale. The question of "Will they get together in the end" is replaced with "Can they get together?" which is a nice and unique trick. In the can they get together romances, lovers are separated by space. Here, it's time.
It's Kurt Vonnegut but with an extra four hundred pages and all the sophomoric political crap removed (not my observation) and replaced by the human element.
There's plenty of meditations on time and absence. Flashbacks are actual flashbacks allowing characters to offer commentary on the past in their present voice without the gauze of memory.
The writing is executed almost flawlessly. I'm a short book guy. I almost always think the middle third of any novel can be excised whole. But the high quality of writing in this novel and the development of character kept my attention. It's often said comedy is hard to write. It is. But romance that is romantic and heartfelt but not so syrupy that it gives its readers diabetes is so much harder to write. It's also much closer to what humans want and need. It provides insight into situations that are so common to us all. No one reflects back after a lifetime of reading and says, "Hey that post-apocalyptic dystopian zombie novel really helped me understand humanity more." But then again, maybe I've just not read the right post-apocalyptic dystopian zombie novel
I had two large qualms about the novel. The characters, while intensely developed, were what I thought of as stock characters. Our time traveler is the son of a talented opera singer who died tragically. His father is a tortured violinist. Our literal `lady-in-waiting' is the wealthy trust fund daughter of a poet mom doing a bad Sylvia Plath impersonation and a lawyer dad who pays for it all. Their best friends are a lawyer representing abused children and a put upon stay-at-home mom. (The real miracle isn't time travel but how those two have a home in a fashionable part of Chicago and send their kids to private school on that income.) They're urbane, urban, quote long dead authors and poets. They're sophisticated and progressive. No one really works for a living. Not really. I just think it'd be much more accessible if there were some blue collars around and not a bunch of poseurs fighting for the common man yet not really having to interact with him beyond allowing them to drive their cab.
There's even a bit where they play a version of monopoly by their own socialist rules and end it with a card that says "Great Leap Forward" and they all laugh. Who jokes about the Great Leap Forward? Who jokes about the communist (whose patois these folks imitate throughout the novel) killing millions of people? That leads me to my next qualm.
I found very few of the characters likeable. It's hard enough to like someone joking about the Great Leap Forward (or the Holocaust or the Killing Fields) They continually exhibit of selfishness or allow themselves to be victimized...just like all humans. However, the selfishness and victimization is really amped up here. I believe this element held back many in my book club from enjoying the book. However, I don't believe in holding the all-to-human actions of the characters against the novel.
It's a wonderfully well-written romance that doesn't use time travel as a gimmick but as an obstacle to love and a tool to comment on that love but I don't think you'd want these folks in your real life too much. In your reading life? They're AOK.
- Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2005This is the closest thing to a trashy romance novel I have ever read. However, I've read a lot of science fiction, and this is one of the best, most solid, science fiction books I have ever read.
I love time travel concepts, and I digest everything I can on the topic. An interesting contrast to this book is the movie "Butterfly Effect." I enjoyed that movie, but the movie was full of holes, and the consistency of the time travel didn't make sense in places. This book contrasts to that movie because this book is rock solid. I know time travel is fantastic, but the author plays very consistently within the "world" she creates in this book. So, given that the author's premise actually could happen, she expertly and soundly crafts her story within a very consistent science fiction premise.
I also really like that this book was written by a woman. I think with this book, Audrey Niffenegger proves women can write science fiction better than men.
This is probably the most accessible science fiction book I have ever read. At my book club where we discussed this book, most of the women didn't like it, but they said as far as science fiction, it was probably the most likeable of a science fiction book they could think of.
There are tons of ways to look at this book. It seems like everyone I've talked to about this has picked up different things from it. One person said she really liked how this book talks about soul mates. One person said it reminded her of what Alzheimer's patients go through when they live in the past. I really felt it gave a message of hope in a situation of finality.
I've usually been disappointed in "best sellers," but I was very pleasantly surprised. I loved the language in this book. She uses very interesting language and has a very fun vocabulary. I'm not a dog ear-er, but I dog eared about five pages where I loved the way she described things. My favorite quote from the book is this: "And Noah was a weird old man with a houseboat and a lot of cats."
Henry reminded me a lot of myself. He's cold. He does what he needs to do to survive.
I cried when I read this book, and I don't know if a book has moved me that much before. I feel embarrassed saying that, but I count the 20.3 million amazon customers among my closest friends, so I'll confide I not only cried, but I wept.
I don't want to give anything away, and I'm not sure if I could give anything away if I wanted to because this book is so hard to describe. I don't think you could describe it in fewer words than the author used to write it.
But, there are situations that happened in this book, because of the time travel theme, that evoke unique emotions. Just one example is how Henry is able to get to know his mom as an adult (from observing her from a distance) even though he didn't know her very well, because she died when he was young.
I recommend this book to everyone.
Top reviews from other countries
- Adam cReviewed in Canada on October 11, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
first, my book came with a similar black mark on the bottom like in the picture above, but its on more of a angle and is not the same mark. The book looks brand new, but does look like its been moved shelf to shelf in a bookstore for a few years.
The story is great, I have never read a romance novel before, and im glad there isnt too much of it in the book. most books i read say "we kissed, and spent the night, and the next morrning..." but this book does not skip details about the night. The time traveling is the good part for me, and the story about a man who time travels out of his control, and the interesting connection of future and past. The dates or at least years in titles are important to watch to know what is happening and in what time, as it jumps around sometimes pretty fast.
Overall i think it was a great book, well written and a good story that makes me want more of it.
- MersedehmodirReviewed in the United Arab Emirates on May 10, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Love this book
When i was in high school i have read this book and loved it so i was super happy to find in in amazon and it was in perfect condition
-
JakellineReviewed in Brazil on June 9, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars É muito mais do que uma história de amor
Minha primeira leitura em outro idioma e eu não poderia ter escolhido um livro melhor.
Viagem no tempo, ainda mais envolvendo romance, é um assunto que me atrai muito. Fiquei completamente apaixonada pela temática e ao ler a história não poderia ser diferente. Poder acompanhar a vida de um viajante no tempo e suas implicações foi, em alguns momentos angustiante, revoltante e emocionante. Ele não escolheu passar por isso, simplesmente nasceu assim.
O livro é divido em partes. em cada uma delas há diversos capítulos e dentro de cada um, há separações temporais - começa com a data e a idade que ele tem no momento. Isso pode ser meio confuso no início porque o livro não tem uma linha do tempo linear. Então alguns acontecimentos só são revelados bem depois de quando realmente aconteceu, sem falar que alterna entre passado e futuro.
No meio da história pensei saber como seria o fim, mas eu estava enganada. A autora consegue nos surpreender no desenrolar dos fatos e preciso dizer que chorei muito depois de acompanhar essa linda história de amor que superou o tempo. Eles definitivamente nasceram um para o outro.
Algumas pessoas podem achar a escrita muito descritiva, no entanto eu gostei porque foi uma forma de expandir o meu vocabulário.
Se você curte romance, não pode deixar de ler.
-
Lise LangouetReviewed in France on April 19, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars Coup de coeur
J'avais eu ce livre en cadeau il y a quelques années et après l'avoir prêté à plusieurs membres de ma famille, je l'ai racheté pour l'anniversaire de ma tante. J'ai adoré ce livre !
- HusainReviewed in India on August 29, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars Good one
Its a simple love story and without all contraptions of science fiction. The story is written directly from the point of view of main characters hence easy to understand. Well worth a read