The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley

Recovering from a painful loss, Eva Ward travels to Cornwall and the centuries-old Trelowarth House where she once spent happy summers. One morning, she hears unfamiliar voices in the next room, and on a walk she encounters a mysterious man who seems to be from another time. At first she attributes these oddities to symptoms of grief, but when the “hallucinations” continue to occur and she actually converses with the stranger in her bedroom, Eva concludes she has traveled back 300 years. Though she can’t control her comings and goings between the past and present, she begins to fall in love with Daniel Butler, a dashing man with a dangerous secret. As Eva investigates local annals, she learns some of what Daniel faced, but she’s unsure whether she can or should interfere in historical events—or if she can or should find a way to stay with him forever. Told in first person and with understated sensuality, the story of Eva and Daniel’s devotion and dilemma will keep readers avidly engaged.

 If you could travel back in time to the past, where would you go?  Claire traveled back in time as well, do you think she was aware of Eva's traveling into the past all along or just when Eva was injured?

The Time Traveler's wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Review by Julie Hale
The unconventional love story marks the arrival of a talented new author. Henry and Clare De Tamble are, by all appearances, a regular Chicago couple. Yet, all is not as it seems. Henry suffers from Chrono-Displacement Disorder, which means that, with no warning, he often disappears, only to resurface in the past or the future—most often at moments of special significance in his life. Thus, he travels backward into Clare's childhood, where, in a bizarre twist, he encounters her as a six-year-old. Skillfully shifting points of view, the author presents us with the perspectives of both Clare and Henry, with poignant, often hilarious results. As time's toy, Henry relies upon Clare—the one constant in his life—to keep him grounded. Their marriage, in fact, seems to grow stronger despite his peculiar condition and the strange paradoxes that ensue as a result. This touching, uniquely inventive novel was a national bestseller. The movie rights have been purchased by Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. A reading group guide is included in the book.

Would you call The Time Traveler's Wife a comedy or a tragedy, or are such classifications relevant to a work that plays havoc with time and allows one character to appear periodically after his death?
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