The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Some day in the future some incredibly brilliant scientist just might figure out how to travel through time. This scientist could choose to travel to those moments that have defined the entire human race...or he or she could simply choose to go back to those moments that have defined his or her own life. In Henry's case, he has no choice in the matter. He pops back and forth between his past and his present, occasionally making a stop in the future, without any kind of warning. He arrives at his destination in time without clothing, money or any idea of how long he's going to be there. It may sound kind of fun, but the results are sometimes tragic and often painful.

Henry's saving grace, the one thing that allows him to keep his sanity, is his wife, Claire. Claire meets Henry for the first time when she is six and he is 36. But the first time Henry meets Claire, she is 20 and he is 28. Sound confusing? Well, only for the first few chapters and then you get used to it. There's no such thing as linear timeline in this novel, but Henry and Claire seem to beckon you on, encouraging you to keep reading, to find out where this is going. It's a bit of a bumpy ride at times, but in the end the extra effort is worth it.

The plot of this novel is like an intricately designed web. Although the events of the story don't follow each other one after another they are all connected, sometimes in ways that the reader won't discover for hundreds of pages. I can't imagine how challenging it must have been to write this book and I applaud Audrey Niffenegger for even attempting it. And I'm in awe of the fact that not only did she attempt it, but she wrote an incredible book filled with wonderful characters.