The Time Traveler's Wife.

THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE. Audrey Niffenegger. n.d. Read by Maggi-Meg Reed & Christopher Burns. Abridged. 10 cds. 12 hrs. HighBridge Audio. 1-56511-827-8. $36.95. Plastic; plot, author, reader notes. SA

Clare first meets Henry in a meadow near her home when she is six and he is 36. Her love for him never ends even though he has no remembrance of ever having met her until they run into each other at the Newberry Library in Chicago, where Henry works. Henry is then 28 and Clare is 20. Three years later they marry, and Clare adjusts to Henry's spontaneous disappearances, which take him forward or backward in time, leaving him naked and disoriented at some moment of emotional gravity in his life.

Reed and Burns become Clare and Henry in wonderful, realistic and unforgettable ways as the narration alternates between their points of view. Reed is convincing in expressing Clare's frustration with their unusual lifestyle, never knowing when Henry will disappear or reappear. Burns is outstanding in portraying Henry's fear of never knowing where or when he'll turn up or for how long and his gratitude for his relationship with Clare. Niffenegger's first novel combines elements of science fiction in a touching love story with well-crafted, amusing and extremely likable characters. Carol Kellerman, Santa Fe, NM