The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Audrey Niffenegger sporting Clare Red hair.

When Audrey Neffinegger set out to write The Time Traveler’s Wife, she didn’t think she was writing anything that had to do with science fiction. She wanted to use a metaphor for her own troubled relationships in love. She also drew from her own parents, where her father often traveled and left for long periods of time. I imagine my own kids can relate to this, as my job had me traveling the world quite often. A time traveler who leaves and returns randomly was the perfect subject matter for her book.

What did transpire though, was a very unique time-travel story in which one could have been confused by her character Henry, jumping in and out at different ages and times. But it wasn’t, and that’s what made this book so good.

In the world of time travel, there are two distinct theories: whether or not one can travel back and change the events of the past along with consequential outcomes for the future, or never be allowed to change what is already fated. The first would be what has been dubbed, the butterfly effect. In this theory, a small change in the past can cascade into major changes in the future. Its name is derived from the hypothesis that if one could go back to prehistoric times and kill a butterfly, that event could result in a whole different existence. The other theory was used by HG Wells and also Audrey Neffinegger in The Time Traveler’s Wife. The first time Henry time-travelled was just prior to his mother being killed in a car accident. Nothing he could ever do would change that event.

The Time Traveler's Wife, Alternate cover.

The Time Traveler’s Wife is about Henry, who is plagued with a genetic disorder which causes him to randomly time travel, and Clare, the red headed girl who has loved him since she was six years old. Henry would disappear in one time and find himself naked and vulnerable in another. Clare had to find a way to deal with the uncertainty that existed in her marriage to him.

Henry and Clare meet at different times in their lives. From Clare’s point of view, she meets the adult Henry while playing in her parent’s field in South Haven, Michigan, when she was six years old. But Henry hadn’t actually met Clare until they were in their twenties. She runs into him at the library where he works.

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I would have loved to peek at Ms. Neffinegger notes while writing this story. I tend to write in linear time, even though I write time-travel. The Time Traveler’s Wife must have been quite a challenge to keep things straight. This is why I always list Audrey Neffinegger as one of my influences, because I admire this work so much.

Another reason, I admire this book is the fact that it was based in my city of Chicago, Illinois. There is one scene in the book that could have been written from my childhood backyard in the Chicago neighborhood of Albany Park with the el trains going by just past the alley. For all I know, she had my apartment in mind when writing it.

A central plot in the story deals with Clare’s multiple pregnancies, while losing the babies. This is because the fetuses had their father’s temporal disorder. It is suggested that the fetuses would travel in time to outside Clare’s body. That is until Alba is conceived. Alba has the ability to control her travels and Henry gets to meet her before the birth.

The Time Traveler’s Wife was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on May 27, 2004 and became an international best seller. (So jealous)

The Hollywood movie of The Time Traveler’s Wife was released in 2009 and starred the beautiful Rachel McAdams as Clare and Eric Bana as Henry.

 Movie Blurb:

A romantic drama about a Chicago librarian with a gene that causes him to involuntarily time travel, and the complications it creates for his marriage. Director: Robert Schwentke Writers: Bruce Joel Rubin (screenplay), Audrey Niffenegger (novel)

I liked the movie. I thought it captured the feel of the book quite well, was well acted and of course, it was filmed partly in Chicago with other Chicago type scenes filmed in Toronto. I did hope for more familiar Chicago spots though. They ended it differently and the movie contained additional scenes with Alba, their time-traveling daughter. Alba was played by real sisters (Hailey and Tatum McCann) at different ages, which was extremely clever. 

NOTE: If by some rare chance, Audrey Niffenegger ever finds herself reading this, I would love to read a sequel featuring the life of Alba.

The book The Time Traveler's Wife did not influence my own writing, but the fact that it was written did. It was after reading it and seeing the corresponding movie, that I walked out and said, "I could do that." That's when I started Parallel Roads (Lost on Route 66)...my time travel book, with it's base starting in Chicago.

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