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.
