The mysterious and touching front cover of one of my favourite books of all time

It’s not new, it’s not newsworthy, and its popularity is hardly disputed, having been made into a fairly mediocre film starring the usually better-than-mediocre Rachel McAdams and lovely-to-look at but mostly mediocre Eric Bana. But this rates as one of my all-time favourite books, and a blog which is truly mine must therefore make a least a cursory mention of Niffenegger’s treatise on beauty and eloquence. This review is purposefully under 100 words long, but I appear to making up for such uncharacteristic brevity with this wholly more representative ‘introductory’ spiel. Apologies. You can read the review now…

The much less accomplished, yet undeniably sexy, film adaptation stars Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana as Clare and Henry

Henry suffers from a genetic condition that makes him time travel without warning, ping-ponging him involuntarily through life. Claire is the long-suffering, red-headed beauty who stays behind, her entire life inextricably intertwined with his as she tries to maintain some semblance of normality. At times gentle and touching, at others violent, sexy, unpredictable and heart-wrenchingly sad, Niffenegger’s vivid descriptions and expertly paced prose craft this masterpiece of a novel, which asks haunting questions about time, fate, family, heartbreak, and the enduring power of love. Believable, original and breathtakingly compelling, The Time Traveller’s Wife is an absolute must-read.