I have just finished reading this book and I am blown away.When I started reading the first page, I couldn't help noticing how beautiful the words flowed, almost like a poem.
"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?"
I almost want to stop reading, somewhat scared of moving forward. It's like hesitating before opening a much awaited gift, overwhelmed with a delicious sense of anticipation.
It is part science fiction, and part love story. Henry, a librarian, has a genetic disorder that causes him to spontaneously travel through time, mostly to his past. He meets Clare, his wife, when she was six and he was thirty-six, and marries her when Clare was twenty-two and Henry thirty. And in the face of his disorder, they struggle to lead normal lives. It is equal parts fascinating and heartbreaking, and totally engrossing.
I hope I don't put people off by my gushing. Far from being another mushy love story (like, er, The Notebook), the author tells it in a very detached, matter of fact manner. She makes the time travel utterly believable and pulls the reader into Henry and Clare's lives without all the scientific drivel.
I won't say anymore, except to reiterate how much I loved this book. If you're itching to read books you don't normally read, then make it this one.
