Reviewed by John Glover, Reference Librarian for the Humanities
Mortal Love is a fascinating novel that spans the lives of various poets and artists and musicians over a hundred years as they encounter a mysterious woman. For each of them, she ("Larkin Meade" in the present day) is both lover and muse, inspiring in each the most powerful work they will ever produce. Elizabeth Hand's writing is densely sensuous, her words aptly evoking the artistry of her subjects, and almost poetic in its intensity. Many historical figures appear in this work, including some notable Decadents and members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
The novel's viewpoint switches repeatedly between characters living at different times. It takes a little while to get used to these changes, and sometimes the thread of the narrative almost passes out of prose and into poetry. That is to say, if you let yourself go and allow the story wash over you, you may find it easier to navigate some of the changes. The story, and the many twists and turns it takes through art, love, madness, folklore, obsession, and mystery are well worth your time.
Yes, The Time Traveler’s Wife is about time travel. And at its center is the love story of Henry, the charismatic time-traveling librarian, and his wife Clare. Yet to categorize this strange, lovely novel as fantasy or romance would be somewhat misleading. It is certainly not a love story of the classic boy-meets-girl variety. Indeed, Henry DeTamble first meets Clare when she is six, and he is nearly middle-aged, swept back in time during one of his involuntary time traveling episodes. Years later (or earlier?), after many travels to Clare’s childhood, they meet again. As Clare’s life progresses in a (normal) linear fashion and Henry flip-flops through time, the narrative leads one to question the ideas of causality, coincidence, destiny, and fate. It all appears to be a Möbius strip, as Clare tells Henry when she finally meets his present-day self; does knowing about the future then cause one to change it?