|
|
Off the Shelf
By Ashley Gilliam
| Thursday, June 19, 2014
 Do you remember the striking cover of Audrey Niffenegger’s
first novel, The Time
Traveler’s Wife? It’s simple but intriguing. A little girl, in
knee socks and Mary Janes, stands in a field next to an empty pair of men’s
dress shoes neatly arranged on a picnic blanket. A thermos is tucked
behind her. Everything is tidy and in order. Everything is ready. But,
ready for what? Why is the girl alone? Where is the man the shoes belong
to? What’s happened?
You can’t help but be pulled in by this arresting image, and
the novel is just the same. Niffenegger places her characters in situations
where they are waiting, someone or something is missing, and you get the
feeling that all is not what it seems but you are compelled to find out
more.
This untraditional love story follows Henry DeTamble, a
well-meaning librarian with a bit of a time problem, and Clare Abshire, an
abstract paper artist, who circle each other through Chicago and through
time, as Henry shifts in and out of the present, meeting younger and older
versions of Clare as he travels. The beauty of the novel lies in the ways
Clare and Henry find to stay connected as they are inescapably pulled apart
again and again.
Compelling and unnerving, Niffenegger’s knack for evoking
longing is powerful and irresistible. If you’ve never read any of her work
, this book is the perfect way for you to get swept up in the
strangeness and the mystery of her wonderful writing and find out
what you’re
missing.
The Time Traveler’s Wife has just been
reissued by Scribner in paperback. It includes much new material, including
a special excerpt from Audrey’s new novel about Henry and Clare’s daughter,
Alba, who will be continuing the family legacy of slipping in and out of
time. But even with all the new material and the new publishing house
we are keeping the old jacket art,because when you have a cover that works so
well at telling an entire story in one image you make sure to keep it.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment