The Time Traveler's Wife

It is Christmas, 1991. Clare is driving Henry to her family’s home in Michigan. En route, Henry discusses what he thinks might be a cause of his condition and likens it to epilepsy. Since this is Henry’s present, he does not recognize anything about Clare’s childhood home when they arrive. Henry is introduced to Etta and Nell who are the estate’s housekeepers, and then meets Clare’s family. Henry gets a bad vibe from Phillip, Clare’s father, and from her brother, Mark. He also meets Alicia, Clare’s sister; Lucille, Clare’s mother; and Sharon, Mark’s fiancé.

We learn that Sharon is pregnant, the suspected reason she and Mark are rushing into marriage. This is a large source of familial tension, and it bothers Lucille, who we learn is bipolar, the most. She appears upset about Sharon being pregnant out of wedlock.

The family attends mass after their dinner, and Henry time travels briefly while at church. Lucille’s mood degrades even further and things become more uncomfortable for Henry when he returns. Eventually, Lucille goes to bed. Clare, Henry, and Alicia stay up. Alicia asks Clare if Henry has ever been to the house before, which suggests that she has probably seen the future Henry at some point.

When Christmas morning arrives, Lucille has calmed down. Clare and Henry leave sometime in the early afternoon to attend a party at Clare’s friend Laura’s house. Her friend Helen is there and presses Clare for an explanation as to her situation with Henry. Clare tells her the truth, but Helen does not seem to fully comprehend what Clare tells her. Clare and Henry depart the next day.

It is 1992. Henry is 28 and the chapter begins in Henry’s present. He returns home to ask his father, Richard, if he can give Clare his mother’s wedding and engagement rings. After visiting with Kimy, his father’s landlord and a family friend, Henry enters Richard’s apartment. Richard is visibly distressed. He is standoffish at first. The relationship between Henry and his father is strained. Henry tells Richard of the many times he sees Annette, his mother, while time traveling. This seems to ease Richard’s antagonism toward his son. Henry notices physical manifestations of Richard’s alcoholism, specifically his shaking hands. Finally, Richard retreats to his room and brings Henry the rings.

It is 1992 and Clare is celebrating her 21st birthday. Clare tells Henry about her encounters with him over the years when she was a teenager and wanted to have intercourse with him. Henry always refused until Clare was 18. As the conversation winds down, Henry pulls out the satin bag which hold his mother’s rings. He asks Clare to marry him and she enthusiastically accepts.

The narrative shifts ahead a week. Henry brings Clare for a visit to his father’s apartment and introduces her to Kimy and his father. At first, Richard is hostile toward Clare, but she perseveres and holds her own. By the end of the evening, he openly accepts her.

The narrative shifts ahead a week and a half. Clare randomly runs into Celia, a friend of Henry’s ex-girlfriend Ingrid. Celia suggests they go to the club together to meet Ingrid. After Clare declines, Celia grabs Clare’s belongings, forcing Clare to follow along. The encounter between Ingrid and Clare is tense. Celia returns Clare’s things so that Clare can leave. 

Clare and Henry discuss Henry’s penchant for drug and alcohol consumption. They also discuss their wedding and the likelihood that Henry might become stressed and disappear in time. They talk about potential medicinal and pharmaceutical remedies.

A few days later, Henry visits a friend of his named Ben, a chemist who specializes in manufacturing off-market drugs for people with HIV. Henry brings him the recipe for Risperdal, an antipsychotic medication that has not been invented yet, the formula for which Henry has brought back from travels to the future.

As the chapter concludes, Henry has had a dangerous reaction to the medication, and Clare finds him unconscious on the floor in their home. Henry is hospitalized and Clare pleads with Ben, who has arrived at the hospital, not to provide Henry with more drugs.

It is about a month after Henry’s drug reaction. He is out wandering South Haven in Michigan on the night before the wedding. Henry strolls by a barber shop. On a whim, he goes inside and has the barber cut off his long hair.

It is October 23, 1993, Henry and Clare’s wedding day. Clare is up at 6:00 a.m., and for much of the first part of the chapter, Clare and Henry chronicle preparations for the big event. As the time for the wedding arrives, Henry disappears.

The 38-year-old version of himself appears just in time for the ceremony, having traveled to the wedding from the future. By 7:15 that evening, the 30-year-old, present day Henry has reemerged. The remainder of the wedding goes off without any more time-traveling.