Madeleine Henry is the author of two novels, The Love Proof and Breathe In, Cash Out. Previously, she worked at Goldman Sachs and in investment management after graduating from Yale in 2014. She shares more about her life on @MadeleineHenryYoga.
“How will I know if he really loves me?” Whitney Houston asks over and over again in her classic song. It’s an enduring question, as perplexing today as it was back when she first sang it in 1985. How do you know when love is real? In fiction, one answer has to do with time. When time is twisted—no longer flowing at the same rate for both people, for example—and the love in a couple endures, then you know it’s real, because it’s no longer rooted in anything material. The connection doesn’t depend on transient youth, looks, or success. It’s clearly a love of someone’s permanent essence, in all circumstances. So, playing with time is a way to demonstrate true love.
My new novel, The Love Proof, is a time-bending romance. Below are six more of my favorites, all of them enhanced by tinkering with time: