Somewhere in Time

Richard Collier, a successful playwright, is drawn to a portrait of a stage actress he has never met and becomes consumed by longing for her. Originally published as Bid Time Return, the novel follows his attempt to reach across the decades. Through sheer force of will and self-hypnosis, he travels back to 1896 and checks into the Del Coronado hotel in San Diego, where he encounters Elise McKenna, a famous performer of that era, and begins to fall for her.

The book blends a bittersweet love story with the mechanics of time travel. Matheson, a major figure in American fantasy and science fiction, builds the romance around a man who must reconcile the life he has with the one he wants, and a woman whose world is far removed from his own.

The novel was adapted into the 1980 film starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour, which has since become a cult favorite with a devoted following that still gathers for annual fan events. The story won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel.