The Time Traveler's Wife Characters

Choice vs. DeterminismWhen Clare first meets Henry as a six-year-old, she's a good Catholic schoolgirl, who believes in God and good manners (aside from stepping on her brother's toes, maybe). She'...

Henry – Reluctant Time Traveler or Unreliable Husband?In various passages in The Times Traveler's Wife, Henry explains that the inevitable cause of his time travels is stress. According to Dr...

Alba – The Old SoulHenry and Clare name their daughter Alba, after a "white fortress on the hill." Her name mirrors her strength and assertiveness when Henry meets his daughter for the first...

Under her artist name "Annette Lyn Robinson," Henry's mother has made a name for herself as a famous opera singer. Richard, Henry's father, tells Clare about Annette one night:"Annette had the most...

Richard DeTamble is a violinist for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. After his wife, Annette, dies in a car accident when Henry is five, Richard's life becomes meaningless. He becomes an alcoholic,...

Mrs. Kim has been a mom to Henry since his mother died when he was five. Henry calls her "Kimy, his buddy." After Henry's mother's death, she not only takes care of Henry, but his father as well. L...

Clare's mother, Lucille Abshire, is a very troubled, unpredictable woman. During her first date with Henry in the present, Clare explains, "My mother is kind of off in the clouds." Lucille has neve...

Philip Abshire, Clare's father, is a lawyer, specializing in wills. "Master of his features," he does a great job at playing the affable, smiling head of the family. His natural poise also enables...

Mark is studying to be a lawyer, like his father. Clare and Mark have never had a very friendly sibling relationship. Six-year-old Clare relates, "When I was coming out of the mud room Mark saw me...

Alicia is Clare's younger sister. Henry describes her as, "matter-of-fact and kind, but a little odd, absent" (1.9.44). She's a budding cellist, but not a very good one, it seems, which might have...

Grandma Meagram lives with Clare's family. She is blind. One day when seventeen-year-old Clare takes her out for a walk, they run into Henry and Clare introduces the two. Grandma Meagram knows from...

Great Aunt Dulcie participated in the Abshires' Christmas dinner when Clare brings Henry to meet her family for the first time. Henry describes Dulcie as "pink-haired and tiny." When Clare's mom Lu...

Etta works as the housekeeper for the Abshire family. She's German and runs the household like a tight ship. Clare says, "She's really more almost our mom." Nell is the cook. Clare describes her as...

Gomez and Charisse have been Clare's best friends since she moved to Chicago. She describes Gomez as "beautiful, tall and broad…large, an entirely different sort of beauty from Henry's lithe...

Ingrid is Henry's girlfriend before he meets Clare. Clare describes her as "blond and beautiful in a very German way, tall and dramatic" (1.8.250). She appears to be a bit in awe of the woman, if n...

Celia is a friend of Ingrid, Henry's ex-girlfriend. Clare meets her for the first time during a concert at the Aragon, shortly after she witnesses an argument between Henry and Ingrid. Henry tells...

Ben is one of Henry's close friends. He has been infected with HIV by his ex-boyfriend, and still struggles with accepting his predicament. He runs a secret lab in his apartment where he makes and...

Helen is one Clare's oldest school friends. She's one of the girls who witnesses the Ouija board reveal Henry as Clare's future husband. Since then, she seems rather determined to figure out the my...

When Henry visits Dr. Kendrick in his office for the first time, he tells him about his condition and predicts that Kendrick will work with him in the future on finding a cure. Of course Kendrick d...

Amit Montague becomes Clare's doctor throughout her many miscarriages and her final successful pregnancy with Alba. She acts in support of Clare's wish to have a child, despite the dangers involved...

Matt works with Henry at the Newberry Library. Although Henry is chronically unreliable and Matt has discovered Henry naked in the library stacks several times, he helps him protect his strange ten...