Rating: *****
Tags: Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Lang:en
Summary
This clever and inventive tale works on three levels: as
an intriguing science fiction concept, a realistic character
study and a touching love story. Henry De Tamble is a Chicago
librarian with "Chrono Displacement" disorder; at random
times, he suddenly disappears without warning and finds
himself in the past or future, usually at a time or place of
importance in his life. This leads to some wonderful
paradoxes. From his point of view, he first met his wife,
Clare, when he was 28 and she was 20. She ran up to him
exclaiming that she'd known him all her life. He, however,
had never seen her before. But when he reaches his 40s,
already married to Clare, he suddenly finds himself time
travelling to Clare's childhood and meeting her as a
6-year-old. The book alternates between Henry and Clare's
points of view, and so does the narration. Reed ably
expresses the longing of the one always left behind, the
frustrations of their unusual lifestyle, and above all, her
overriding love for Henry. Likewise, Burns evokes the fear of
a man who never knows where or when he'll turn up, and his
gratitude at having Clare, whose love is his anchor. The
expressive, evocative performances of both actors convey the
protagonists' intense relationship, their personal quirks and
their reminiscences, making this a fascinating audio.
On the surface, Henry and Clare Detamble are a normal
couple living in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood. Henry
works at the Newberry Library and Clare creates abstract
paper art, but the cruel reality is that Henry is a prisoner
of time. It sweeps him back and forth at its leisure, from
the present to the past, with no regard for where he is or
what he is doing. It drops him naked and vulnerable into
another decade, wearing an age-appropriate face. In fact,
it's not unusual for Henry to run into the other Henry and
help him out of a jam. Sound unusual? Imagine Clare
Detamble's astonishment at seeing Henry dropped stark naked
into her parents' meadow when she was only six. Though, of
course, until she came of age, Henry was always the perfect
gentleman and gave young Clare nothing but his friendship as
he dropped in and out of her life. It's no wonder that the
film rights to this hip and urban love story have been
acquired.
Elsa Gaztambide
From Publishers Weekly
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