Summary
Audrey Niffenegger's debut novel The Time Traveler's Wife, published in 2003, offers a captivating blend of science fiction and romance. The story follows the extraordinary relationship between Clare, an artist, and Henry, a librarian with a rare genetic disorder that causes him to involuntarily time travel. Despite its unconventional premise, the novel explores timeless themes of love, loss, and the human experience.
The Time Traveler's Wife became an international sensation, selling over 2.5 million copies in the United States and United Kingdom alone. Its popularity led to a 2009 film starring Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana. HBO developed a television series based on the novel, which premiered in 2022 and ran for one season.
Plot
The Time Traveler's Wife focuses on Clare and her wonderful yet strange relationship with Henry. They have an extraordinary love story spanning decades, complicated by Henry's rare genetic disorder that causes him to involuntarily time travel. They first meet when Clare is six and Henry is 36, though in Henry's timeline he doesn't meet Clare until she is 20 and he is 28. Throughout Clare's childhood and teenage years, an older Henry repeatedly visits her, forming a close bond that eventually blossoms into romance.
Once their timelines converge and they begin a relationship in the present, Clare and Henry struggle with the unpredictable nature of his time traveling. Henry often vanishes without warning, reappearing naked in unfamiliar times and places. They marry, but face heartbreak as Clare suffers multiple miscarriages due to the genetic anomaly Henry passes on. Eventually, Clare becomes pregnant with their daughter Alba, who is also born with the time traveling gene.
As Henry ages, his time traveling becomes more frequent and dangerous. During one trip, he suffers severe frostbite resulting in the amputation of his feet. Both Henry and Clare know his life is in peril without the ability to run and find shelter when he travels. On New Year's Eve 2006, Henry time travels into the past and is accidentally shot by Clare's brother. Upon his return to the present, Henry dies in Clare's arms.
Clare is devastated by Henry's death but finds a letter he left instructing her to “stop waiting” for him, while also describing a future moment when she will see him again. The novel ends with an elderly Clare still waiting for Henry, as she has done most of her life. Their final reunion occurs when Clare is 82 and Henry is 43, providing a bittersweet conclusion to their time-crossed love story.
Themes
Love transcending time and space
Struggle with fate versus free will
Impact of uncontrollable circumstances on relationships
Nature of personal identity across time
Loss and grief
Ethics and consequences of time travel
Power of human connection and intimacy
Setting
The Time Traveler's Wife is primarily set in Chicago and its suburbs during the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The story unfolds across several decades, from the 1960s through the early 2000s. This contemporary setting provides a familiar backdrop against which the fantastical elements of time travel play out.
Key locations within the Chicago area feature prominently in the novel. The Newberry Library, where Henry works as a librarian, serves as an important focal point. Clare's family home in South Haven, Michigan, also plays a significant role, particularly in scenes depicting Henry's visits to Clare's childhood. These specific places ground the narrative in a realistic, recognizable world.
Though rooted in a modern American setting, the novel's unique premise allows for brief glimpses into other time periods as Henry involuntarily travels through time. These temporal shifts create a sense of timelessness, blending past, present, and future into a complex tapestry that spans the characters' lives. The juxtaposition of mundane contemporary settings with Henry's anachronistic appearances adds depth to the story's exploration of time and its impact on relationships.
Characters
Henry DeTamble: The male lead. A librarian in Chicago, Henry involuntarily time travels due to a genetic disorder called Chrono-Impairment. He struggles with the unpredictable nature of his condition while trying to build a life with Clare. Henry is resourceful and adaptable, but his time traveling often puts him in dangerous situations.
Clare Abshire: The female lead. Clare meets Henry as a child and eventually becomes his wife. An artist who specializes in paper sculptures, Clare patiently waits for Henry during his absences and provides stability in their relationship. Clare's life is shaped by Henry's time traveling, as she experiences their love story in a mostly linear fashion.
Alba DeTamble: Henry and Clare's daughter who inherits her father's time traveling ability. Unlike Henry, Alba has some control over her destinations when time traveling. She plays a significant role in Henry's future visits.
Dr. David Kendrick: A geneticist who studies Henry's condition and tries to help him manage it. Dr. Kendrick provides scientific insight into Chrono-Impairment and becomes an important ally to Henry and Clare.
Gomez: Clare's friend and eventual lawyer. Gomez is initially skeptical of Henry but becomes a close friend and confidant to the couple.
Charisse: Gomez's wife and Clare's best friend. Charisse provides emotional support to Clare throughout the novel.
Quick facts
The Time Traveler’s Wife was Audrey Niffenegger's debut novel, published in 2003 when she was 40 years old.
Niffenegger wrote the last scene of the book first, featuring an elderly Clare waiting for Henry.
The author says the story was partly inspired by her own failed relationships and her parents' marriage.
The Time Traveler’s Wife took Niffenegger about four years to write, from 1997 to 2001.
To say goodbye to the characters after finishing the novel, Niffenegger dyed her hair “Clare-red."
The manuscript was rejected by 25 literary agents before being accepted by a small publisher.
Niffenegger received a $100,000 advance for the book, which was the largest amount MacAdam/Cage had ever offered.
Upon publication, The Time Traveler’s Wife became a critical and commercial success, selling over 2.5 million copies in the United States and United Kingdom alone.
The Time Traveler’s Wife was named Amazon's Book of the Year for 2003 and won the British Book Award for Popular Fiction in 2006.
The Time Traveler’s Wife was adapted into a 2009 film, starring Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana.
The novel also inspired a 2022 TV series, which aired on HBO for one season, and a stage musical, which premiered in London’s West End in 2023 and ran for a year.
Niffenegger is working on a sequel focused on Henry and Clare's daughter Alba, tentatively titled The Other Husband.
About the Author
Audrey Niffenegger (1963-) is a multifaceted American creator known for her work as a writer, artist, and academic. She rose to prominence with her debut novel, The Time Traveler's Wife, published in 2003. This unconventional love story became an international bestseller and was later adapted into a film, a TV series, and a stage musical.
A native of South Haven, Michigan, Niffenegger earned degrees from the Art Institute of Chicago and Northwestern University. Drawing on her skills in etching, letterpress arts, and bookbinding, she created “novels in pictures,” including The Adventuress and The Three Incestuous Sisters. She serves as a professor in the Department of Creative Writing at Columbia College Chicago, where she co-founded the Center for the Book and Paper Arts. Committed to nurturing new talent beyond the classroom, she also founded the Artists Book House, a center dedicated to book arts in Chicago's Old Irving Park neighborhood.
Niffenegger followed the success of her time travel fiction debut with a horror novel, Her Fearful Symmetry (2009). Since 2013, she has been working on a sequel to The Time Traveler's Wife, titled The Other Husband.
