The Time Traveler's Wife

The Time Traveler’s Wife is a novel by Audrey Niffenegger published in 2003. It tells the love story of Clare Abshire and Henry DeTamble, revealed through their alternating perspectives in which each character is the first-person narrator. Henry was born as a with a condition that allows him to travel in time, though when and where in time he travels is out of his control.

Using a non-linear plot structure, Niffenegger explores a range of themes including Fate Versus Free Will: How much of our lives are predetermined, and how much do we have direct control over? The novel also explores The Impact of Grief and its lasting effects. The narrative’s out-of-sequence events mirrors the jolting nature time travel has on Henry. Niffenegger provides dates and characters’ ages so that readers can check whether an event is happening in the present or at some other time. At the heart of the novel is the love story between Henry and Clare, and the question of how people enter into each other’s worlds and cope when losing loved ones.

The Time Traveler’s Wife was adapted into a film in 2009 and an HBO television series in 2022.