I loved this book. It's odd, because the characters weren't extremely likable or well developed, which is generally very important to me. However, in this case, the story really sucked me in and I couldn't put it down.

Clare is a pretty normal person, growing up in linear time, waiting for the day when she will meet her husband, Henry. Henry is eight years older than Clare, but he has a genetic brain condition that is a bit like epilepsy. When he gets overly tired or stressed or exposed to flashing lights like a television gives off, he travels through time.

Henry can't control or suppress this quirk, but he tends to travel to places where he has an emotional connection. He has therefore witnessed his mother's violent death many times, and more often than not when he time travels he ends up in a meadow close to Clare's childhood home.

Clare and Henry's relationship is very unusual. He meets her for the first time when he is twenty-eight and she is twenty. However, she knows him because as an older man he's been showing up in her meadow and spending time with her since she was six years old.

I loved the questions this book raised in my mind. Were Henry and Clare trapped into their futures? Henry told Clare that they were married and she took it for granted that things would work out that way. Could she have changed that, or was her future already set? Both Clare and Henry shaped each other. He interacted with her from the time she was a child until she was eighteen. Then she met him at twenty and she took over shaping him into the middle-aged man she remembered coming to visit her. Did they grow into themselves, or did knowing the future cause them to change each other in ways they would not have changed if not for their unusual situation?

I also enjoyed the way Henry jumped around in time while Clare's future marched forward. It was interesting to see the gaps in his knowledge because things that should have been in the past were still looming in his future. I liked that he interacted with himself on some of his time travels and nothing catastrophic happened. Some of the most interesting scenes contained two different versions of Henry.

Overall, it made me think, and I appreciated that.

I loved this book. For anyone who loves romance novels (that aren't too sappy) and interesting plots (especially re: time travel), this is a very captivating read. It was especially fun to re-read after moving to the Chicago area, as the author references many places like the Field Museum and the Newberry library. Another book that I would recommend with a similar time travel "theme" is The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier.

After reading the reviews I picked this book up after Christmas and finished it in 3 days. A great book that you won't want to put down. While reading it on the train, I often had people ask me how I liked it and remark that they loved it themselves. I highly recommend!!

Original, well written, moving, characters who draw you in, what more can you ask from a novel? I have no idea how the author kept it all straight. I read this ages ago and its one of those books that you think about again and again. Definitely recommended reading.

One of the best novels ever written. Captivating, original, truly wonderful. The only bad part of the whole novel was that it ended.