Audrey Niffenegger's Time Traveler's Wife SBC Discussion questions

This Saturday 22nd January, at 11am in the Manurewa Library Room, we will be discussing ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’ by Audrey Niffenegger. We have only received a few questions this month so we would look forward to hearing everyone’s views of the book



Questions we have received so far include;

1. The novel was told through both Henry and Clare, and reflected their perspectives at those moments in time, did the jumps in narrative timeline work for you? Was their relationship credible as they experienced events at different times, e.g. Clare as a child meeting Henry

2. Miscarriages put a strain on any relationship. Did you think the author got it right, from both Clare’s and Henry’s point of view?

3. If you could time travel would you live like Henry did and try to keep the future secret from himself? Or would you be tempted to exploit knowing what was going to happen and change timelines if you felt you could/should prevent catastrophic events?

4. It's a few weeks since I reread it and my lasting thought is that poor Henry was almost pleased to get it over with when he died? I had some trouble getting that actual act - his getting shot - and his getting back to Clare in the present, sorted out in my mind. Did anyone else have that?

5. Well right through the book the tangle of getting times right, so you understood where Henry or Clare's reactions were coming from was a challenge - fun though. I can't remember ever before doing so much flipping back and forth of pages to understand.

6. When we had both the child Henry and the adult together in a place it seemed so very weird. But he had to know how to pick pockets and locks etc. didn't he? Those are almost 'chicken and egg' situations. Stretching credibility of course. Very weird and wonderful.

7. Time travel was the only hook that kept me reading. I didn’t find Henry or Clare particularly riveting, and as I ploughed through to the end I remember feeling slightly ripped off, upon discovering that Alba was also a time traveller and I wished the author had explored this more. Alba seemed to be more comfortable than Henry was, the only time I thought Henry was comfortable time travelling was when he was teaching his younger self to pick pocket. Did any of you feel the same?

8. With Chrono-Displacement being a genetic disorder, I wondered if Richard and Henry’s mum had trouble conceiving Henry, like Clare and Henry did with Alba. Which made me question why Henry and his dad didn’t connect earlier in the novel?

9. How did you rate the novel from 1 to 5?