History Literature / TheTimeTravelersWife

* AdaptionDyeJob: Book Claire has red hair while in the film she's has brown hair.

* LotteryTicket: A SubvertedTrope: This is the one thing Henry can really exploit in his situation. And he does, for Clare's sake. Yet he continues to hold down a job to the best of his ability and live as normally as possible.

* GratuitousForeignLanguage: Niffenegger occasionally has Henry use the phrase ''"und so wiete"'', which would mean "and so on" in German if she had spelled it right — it's actually ''"und so '''weiter'''"''. ''Wiete'' isn't even a ''word'' in German.

* AuthorAppeal: The author most definitely wants to make it very clear step by step in vivid detail how Claire creates some of her art work.

* HumanResources: In the book, Claire asks Henry if the rumor that his library has a rare book that was bound in human skin is true, and he says yes. This sets up things up for a great line later, when a fellow librarian tells Henry that his boss wants to see him, and that the boss "looks like he wants to rebind ''The Chronicles of Nawat Wuzeer Hyderabed''."
* InTheBlood: Henry and Claire's daughter also has fits of chrono displacement, but unlike her father, she can exert a degree of control over them.

* LawOfInverseFertility: One might think that having six miscarriages just makes Claire want a child even more.

* PowerPerversionPotential: Discussed and played straight. Kimi once jokes that Claire could have a threesome with two Henrys, and Henry sexually experiments with versions of himself from the past/future till he's 14.

* ButICantBePregnant: Getting a vasectomy doesn't work when you're an inadvertent time traveler.

* HumanResources: In the book, Claire asks Henry if the rumor that his library has a rare book that was bound in human skin is true, and he says yes. This sets up things up for a great line later, when a fellow librarian tells Henry that his boss wants to see him, and that the boss "looks like he wants to rebind The Chronicles of Nawat Wuzeer Hyderabed."

* In the book, Claire asks Henry if the rumor that his library has a rare book that was bound in human skin is true, and he says yes. This sets up things up for a great line later, when a fellow librarian tells Henry that his boss wants to see him, and that the boss "looks like he wants to rebind The Chronicles of Nawat Wuzeer Hyderabed."

The book has gone on to influence many ScienceFiction authors, most notably StevenMoffat, who is now the lead writer of ''DoctorWho''.

* WholePlotReference: StevenMoffat partly based his award-winning ''DoctorWho'' episode [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS2E4TheGirlInTheFireplace "The Girl In The Fireplace"]] on this novel. Later on, his character River Song is based in part on Clare. The museum scene in the season 5 finale is also very familiar.

* WholePlotReference: StevenMoffat partly based his award-winning ''DoctorWho'' episode [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS2E4TheGirlInTheFireplace "The Girl In The Fireplace"]] on this novel. Later on, his character River Song is based in part on Clare.

The book has gone on to influence many ScienceFiction authors, most notably ''StevenMoffat'', who is now the lead writer of ''DoctorWho''.

A very intelligent science fiction novel by Audrey Niffenegger. (There's also TheFilmOfTheBook, which received more mixed reviews.) Like the best science fiction, it explores all the complexities of its fantastic premise and its effects on otherwise perfectly ordinary people -- and [[SciFiGhetto you will not find it in the science fiction section of your library]]. (More often than not, it'll be stuck in general fiction -- or in the Romance section, effectively trading one Genre Ghetto for another.) It is highly recommended but it comes with a '''serious''' TearJerker warning. We suspect that the writers of [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming the Desmond/Penny story arc]] on {{Lost}} also enjoyed it (a ''lot'').

* WholePlotReference: StevenMoffat partly based his award-winning ''DoctorWho'' episode [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS2E4TheGirlInTheFireplace "The Girl In The Fireplace"]] on this novel. Later on, the character River Song is based in part on Clare.

* WholePlotReference: StevenMoffat partly based his award-winning ''DoctorWho'' episode [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS2E4TheGirlInTheFireplace "The Girl In The Fireplace"]] on this novel.

* WholePlotReference: StevenMoffat partly based his award-winning ''DoctorWho'' episode [[{Recap/DoctorWhoNSS2E4TheGirlInTheFireplace "The Girl In The Fireplace"]] on this novel.

* CantTakeAnythingWithYou: This causes Henry a ''lot'' of hell every time he time travels.

* DisabilitySuperpower: A SubvertedTrope. Being a time traveler is a genetic disorder and is portrayed as a medical condition -- a very strange one, but a medical condition nonetheless -- and it is ''nothing'' but hell. [[spoiler:Well, except for cheating and winning the lottery.]]

* PowerIncontinence: Henry has no control whatsoever over his time-traveling, and it often happens at highly inconvenient times.

* BlessedWithSuck: Oh God yes; Henry is basically the king of this. For more detail, see [[BlessedWithSuck the trope page]].

* MistakenForGay: After Henry gets seen walking in a bad alleyway in feminine clothes while travelling through time, he gets attacked by a bunch of homophobes.

-->[[spoiler:'''Henry:''' "If anything ever happens to my feet, you might as well shoot me."

* MayDecemberRomance: A different version from the usual, with all the complexities of the time travel involved. Clare figures out early on who Henry is going to be in her life, and Henry ''already knows'' that they get married in the future. To be fair, they do wait until her 18th birthday for TheirFirstTime. The thing is, it's her first time with him and not vice versa for two more years.

* DisabilitySuperpower: A SubvertedTrope. Being a time traveler is a genetic disorder and is portrayed as a medical condition -- a very strange one, to be fair, but a medical condition nonetheless -- and it is ''nothing'' but hell. [[spoiler:Well, except for cheating and winning the lottery.]]

* FemaleSuccessIsFamily: TheTimeTravelersWife isn't really about the wife...

* NakedOnRevival: A variant involving time travel rather than death. But even more unpleasant.