Time travel in a romance story is apparently nothing new. It’s easy to see why Stephen King says Matheson was a big influence on his (King’s) works. The premise may be one of fantasy, but the characters are realistic. Instead, what drives the story is Matheson’s ability to put ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances and realistically portray the character’s reactions. Thankfully, Matheson wisely decides to not confirm or deny the reality of events, allowing the reader to choose for themselves. Matheson’s narration of the Collier via first-person, starting off in short, punctuated bursts from Collier’s audio diary and later becoming longer and more detailed as Collier switches to writing out his feelings and confiding more in the readers, helps draw the reader in and question if this is really happening or if Collier has descending into dementia due to a brain tumor. Once you accept the premise that Collier can and does find a way to move back in time to meet McKenna (he’s staying at the same hotel she is, so he doesn’t move in space, only time), the rest of the story falls well into place. In this case, it’s the gulf of time standing between them. It’s the story of two people falling in love and overcoming obstancles to be together. On the surface, the premise sounds absurd, but really no more so than your standard romance novel. Part fantasy novel, part romance novel, Richard Matheson’s “Bid Time Return” finds dying writer Richard Collier falling in love with a photograph of a turn of the century actress Elise McKenna, becoming obsessed with her and then finding a way to travel back in time to meet her.
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