Reading Group Guide questions from the back of the book #1

On the novel's first page Clare declares, "I wait for Henry." In what way does this define her character, and how is the theme of waiting developed throughout the book?

Throughout the book, Clare waits. She waits for Henry, she waits for a child, she waits for inspiration for her art. Most prominently, however, she waits for Henry. Henry uncontrollably time travels, and he can be gone anywhere from minutes to days. When Clare was a girl, in between the ages of six and eighteen, Henry gave her a list of the dates he would return and meet her in the meadow (he knew the dates because he was travelling into the past and already knew). Clare waits in between times, which can be months apart. While he is gone, Clare can do nothing but wait with clothes for him for when he returns. He might return happy and healthy, or scared, bloody and beaten. She has no way of knowing what awaits her with Henry's return. Waiting is a prominent theme in the novel, and many characters wait. Besides Clare, there is Gomez, who is in love with Clare and waiting until something happens to Henry, until Henry is out of the picture. Henry waits, as well. He waits in between time travels to go back in time to see his mother before her death and to see his father before he succumbed to depression and alcoholism. Henry waits until his demise at the age of 43. He witnessed his death by travelling into the future, and he knew it would come. The theme of waiting is so prominent in this novel because that is all its characters can do. There is no free will, as Henry says, "there is only free will when you are in time, in the present." For Henry, much of his time is spent in the past, and he knows from experience that he cannot change what has already happened. No matter what he tries, the outcome will always be the same. Therefore, the characters can't change anything; all they can do is wait for the predetermined outcome.