A Love That Transcends Time

It took me so many weeks before I finally finished Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife yesterday morning. Although I was fascinated with the time travel concept, I must admit that some parts get to be a little boring for me, in addition to the fact that the book is more than 500 pages.

The book tells the story of Henry DeTamble, a man who involuntarily time travels without any control on when he might leave and where his travel would take him. He's also unable to determine the actual time of his coming back. Whenever he time travels, he leaves his clothes on the floor in present time, and then resurfaces naked wherever his travel takes him.

The title refers to Clare Abshire, who comes from a wealthy family; she met Henry when she was just six years old. Years later, on present time, she bumped into Henry at his workplace, the Chicago Newberry Library, with the latter having no idea who she is. Clare at that time was 20, and studies art at a nearby college. Henry was 28.

In one of his early visits to Clare, Henry dictated exact dates of his visits to Clare which she eagerly anticipated. When she finally met Henry in real time, he gave him a list, too, detailing dates he returns to her in the past. In one particular visit, Henry also told Clare that they are married in the future. Henry's last visit to Clare's past happened during her eighteenth birthday when they made love for the first time.

In the present time, Henry and Claire get married. But after six miscarriages due to Henry's genetic disorder, they gave up on their wish to have a child. After having had vasectomy, a past version of Henry time travels to the future and made love to Clare, resulting to her pregnancy. Alba is then born, their daughter who also possesses the same genetic disorder as her dad's. Later, Henry finds out from Alba during one of his time travels (she is ten years old that time) that the disorder is called Chrono-Displacement and she has come to terms with the gift her father left her. She also told Henry that he died when she was five years old.

In one of his travels, Henry is unable to find shelter and experienced hypothermia and developed frostbite. This caused him leg amputation when he returned to the present time. And since running for him is a survival skill, as well as avoiding stress, it made him more vulnerable in his travels. In one particular travel to the past, he is shot by Clare's brother, having thought of him as a wild deer. Henry then returns to the present and dies in Clare's arms.

Because both father and daughter time travel, they often see each other, which made Clare a bit jealous about the set-up. She then remembers Henry's words to her about a letter he composed and should be read after his death. In the letter Henry describes a moment he had n the future, where he actually met an old Clare. The scene actually takes place, at the end part of the book, where Henry visits Clare for the final time.


The book takes us to a journey that transcends time. It has so many characters that I'm so tired to mention here. Nevertheless, I'm not embarrassed to say that I shed a tear or two by the time I finished the book. Impossible plot? Maybe. But it is still worth reading if you're so into love stories. I can't wait for the movie version with Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams!

Quotable Quotes:

Henry: But then I feel guilty for wanting to avoid the sadness; dead people need us to remember them, even if it eats us, even if all we can do is say I' m sorry until it is as meaningless as air.

Clare: I want something...I want Henry to say something, do something that proves this hasn't all been some kind of elaborate joke. I want. That's all. I am wanting.

Clare: “ I love him. He's my life. I've been waiting for him, my whole life, and now, he's here.” I don't know how to explain. “With Henry, I can see everything laid out, like a map, past and future, everything at once, like an angel....” I shake my head. I can't put it into words. “ I can reach into him and touch time.. .he loves me. We're married because.. .we're part of each other....” I falter. “ It's happened already. All at once.”

Henry: It's very charming of you to be ignorant of the twisted logic of most relationships. Trust me. When we met I was wrecked, blasted, and damned, and I am slowly pulling myself together because I can see that you are a human being and I would like to be one, too. And I have been trying to do it without you noticing, because I still haven't figured out that all pretense is useless between us. But it's a long way from the me you're dealing with in 1991 to me, talking to you right now from 1996. You have to work at me; I can't get there alone.”

Clare: But how much sex is enough?
Henry: For me? Oh God. My idea of a perfect life would be if we just stayed in bed all the time. We could make love more or less continuously, and only get up to bring in supplies, you know, fresh water and fruit to prevent scurvy, and make occasional trips to the bathroom to shave before diving back into bed. And once in a while we could change the sheets. And go to the movies to prevent bed sores. And running. I would still have to run every morning.

Henry: Please, Clare. When I am dead. Stop waiting and be free. Of me–put me deep inside you and then go out in the world and live. Love the world and yourself in it, move through it as though it offers no resistance, as though the world is your natural element. I have given you a life of suspended animation. I don't mean to say that you have done nothing. You have created beauty, and meaning, in your art, and Alba, who is so amazing, and for me: for me you have been everything...If I had to live on without you I know I could not do it.