The Time Traveler’s Wife: 10 Things From The Book That The Movie Left Out

Imagine what it would be like to have a genetic condition that causes you to time travel. You come and go at random, disappearing suddenly and reappearing at a different point in time. You don’t get to take anything with you, not even your clothes. Now instead, imagine being married to someone like that. This is the exact plot of the book and film The Time Traveler’s Wife.

The book was written by Audrey Niffenegger in 2003, and it was made into a film in 2009 with Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams. Like most novel-turned-films, there are many differences between the two. In this case, the movie is missing characters, subplots, and incidents that played a role in the print version of the story. Here are ten things from the book that were eliminated when the film was produced.

10 Henry and His Younger Self

In the book, we see a lot of Henry time traveling with his younger self. He acts as a guide for the young boy, teaching him things about how to survive while time traveling doing things such as picking locks and stealing people’s wallets. He even gives his young self an exclusive tour of a museum. In the movie, the only time we see Henry with his child counterpart is in the very beginning after the car accident. Older Henry calms younger Henry down and explains that he time traveled, telling him everything will be okay. Then he leaves, and we never see them together again.

9 Ingrid

When Claire stays at Henry’s apartment for the first time, she finds a tube of lipstick in his bathroom. In both the movie and the book, he tells her that the relationship with the girl who owned the lipstick has been over for a while. In the movie, it appears that he is telling the truth. We never learn more about this girl or who she was.

In the book, we learn that her name was Ingrid, and we get a closer look at her relationship with Henry. They had not been “over for a while,” and she, unfortunately, passes away in front of Henry when he travels back to the past and ends up at her place.

8 Out of the Meadow

In the movie, we only see Henry time travel back to see Claire three times, and each time, they are in the meadow together. However, in the book, they go to other places as well. Not only does Henry sometimes secretly go into one of the downstairs rooms in Claire’s house, but he also accompanied her to a party once (although she made him wait in the car). Another time, after Claire was assaulted by a boy from school, Henry helps return the favor to him in the woods near the boy’s house.

7 Henry at Work

Time travel is a big problem for Henry at work in the novel. He’s constantly disappearing on the clock and showing back up naked. His job is in danger, and Henry is at risk of being fired. After an incident where two Henrys appear at once, Henry is forced to explain to his boss that he is a time traveler due to his genetic condition. His boss believes him after one of the Henrys disappears, and he doesn’t end up getting fired. The only time we see Henry at work in the movie is in the beginning when he time travels back to his pile of clothes. A coworker mentions that it took Henry a while to get a book they needed. Henry says, “You have no idea.“

6 Kendrick’s Son

Dr. Kendrick is a geneticist that helps with Henry’s condition. Like most doctors Henry has been to, Kendrick doesn’t believe him when he explains that he time travels. In the film, Henry tells Kendrick that Kendrick will win the Berger grant that he plans to apply for, but in the book, his time travel proof is a little different.

Henry gives the doctor a sealed envelope and tells him not to open it until Kendrick’s wife gives birth. Inside the envelope, Henry wrote down the exact date, time, and length of the baby. He also knew that it was a boy, even though the doctors said it would be a girl, and he knew that the baby would have Down Syndrome.

5 Time Traveling Mice

The movie shows Dr. Kendrick treating Henry for his genetic disorder that causes him to time travel, but the book dives into their relationship and Henry’s treatment much deeper. One thing that Kendrick does in the book is clone Henry’s “time travel genes” and implant them into some lab mice for experiments to help gain insight into Henry’s genetic anomaly. Thus, he creates time-traveling mice that disappear and reappear just like Henry does! He uses them to help Henry as well as Claire when she has trouble carrying a pregnancy to term.

4 Mrs. Kim

There are several characters in the book that the movie did not include, and one of them is Mrs. Kim. Mrs. Kim is a kind woman who lives in the same building as Henry and his father when Henry is growing up. Henry spends quite some time there both as a child and an adult, time-traveling and not. She is an important part of his life, and he often talks to her about what’s going on with him. She knows about his time traveling, and Henry even tells her that he met her late daughter once, who passed away before Henry was born. The movie most likely cut this character to save on time and limit the number of actors needed, but she was still a special character.

3 Two Albas

Henry and Claire’s daughter Alba is also a time traveler who was born with the same genetic condition as Henry. At one point, her future self time-travels back to the present time, and the two girls play and talk together in the backyard. Claire is dumbfounded to see her daughter playing with her double, but the older girl does not stay long in the movie.

In the book, however, she comes inside to see her parents, overcome with emotion at being able to see her father again. Henry and Claire then take the two girls out for ice cream, and the older Alba disappears in the car on the way back.

2 Claire and Gomez

Gomez is Claire’s best friend’s boyfriend and later husband. The three are close friends, but what the movie does not get into is Gomez’s deeper feelings for Claire. In the written version, the two sleep together during the time between Claire seeing Henry in the meadow and meeting Henry in real life. They also sleep together again after Henry’s death, even though Gomez is married to Charisse. Charisse is even aware of Gomez’s feelings, saying to Henry that Gomez is just waiting for Henry to go away. In the movie, the only hint we get to his true feelings is when Gomez has a weird attitude about meeting Henry for the first time.

1 Henry’s Letter

One of the biggest moments absent from the movie is Henry’s letter to Claire. After Henry’s passing, Claire finds a letter that he wrote for her to read in the event of his death. He tells her not to spend all her time waiting for him like she has all her life. However, he goes on to say that eventually, when Claire is an old woman, Henry will be back to see her. This is not how it goes in the film. There is no letter, and when he does come back a few years after his death, Claire asks why Henry didn’t tell her she would be back. He says, similar to the letter in the book, that he doesn’t want her to spend her life waiting.

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