Clare Abshire is an artist who has had a rather unusual childhood. She was visited by the same man who, each time he appeared, was of a different age, as he came to her through the element of time travel. She was first visited at the age of six when he is more of a father figure towards her, but as she gets older, and especially when she is eighteen, he becomes the man she is in love with, and whom she'll later go on to marry. Confused? How do you think she feels?
Appearing in the novel, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, Henry DeTamble is afflicted with a genetic condition called chrono-displacement disorder, where he is suddenly pulled through time, either the past or the future, and it cannot be controlled. Clare is his wife. A woman who, despite unusual circumstances, tries to maintain a normal life. But as she states herself, "It's hard to be the one who stays". The one who worries where he is, the one who fears for his life and doesn't know what condition he'll come back in.
When Clare meets Henry that time in the library, Henry has no idea who she is. How can she explain to him that he had travelled back in time and was with her throughout her childhood? It hasn't happened for him yet. "I'm at a loss because I am in love with a man who is standing before me with no memories of me at all."
When they do finally meet with both of them in their proper times, Clare is a tiny bit regretful that her secret man is no longer a secret, but also exhilarated as now it all begins. She feels at peace with him because their future is all mapped out, but all of this comes at a very high price.
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