The Time-traveler's Wife

Author: Audrey Niffenegger

We're getting away from technology-driven time-traveling here. Henry has a genetic affliction: Chrono-Impairment (CI). Means he does spontaneous time-travel. His wife and the love of his life, Clare, is driven nuts by the whole thing. There seems to be no helping it. Henry has tried the lot: meditation, relaxation, exercise, drugs. Nothing works. And the thing gets worse, because when he travels, it's just him. No clothes. No passports. No money. Necessity being the mother of invention, Henry learns some useful survival skills, some of them also potentially useful to criminals. Understandably, Henry's and Clare's marriage isn't easy, and they even end up having a daughter, who also suffers from CI, but has more control than dad. Still, what a way to live! And even when Henry is accidentally shot and killed, the question is 'Which Henry?' Why it's on the list: It's really touching. And it invents another way to do time-travel: genetic predisposition. Made into a serious tear-jerker, but quite good, movie with Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams.