Excellent historical romance about a man who ages slowly/is over 400 years old, and suffers losing the ones he cares for because of his disease. Sometimes a meditation on what is life and love, this novel is an enjoyable read asking what does it mean to be human?

While this is not, strictly speaking, a time travel book, it will be easy to hand to customers who enjoy time travel fantasy fiction. What made this book really wonderful for me were the histoical places visited by the main character and the famous figures (like F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald) that we meet along the way. An absolutely delightful read.

While not a time traveling story, we are able to travel through time with the main character, who is able to live much longer than the typical human, hundred of years longer in fact. Exploring the struggle of choosing to live as generations and centuries pass, which believing and searching for the closeness of family, Haig's novel will hold you tightly as you move through history. My only gripe is that at times it felt more like a history textbook than a gripping plotline, but historical fiction fans will most likely enjoy it.

First published in Great Britain in 2017; published by Viking on February 6, 2018

How to Stop Time is a sneaky novel. It delivers an important message, but wraps it in such an engaging story that the message seems secondary until it begins to drive the story. The novel asks the reader to imagine living a very long life, and to think about whether the price required to stay safe is too great for the longevity it buys.

If you only age one year for every fifteen calendar years, maybe the secret is not to fall in love. Tom Hazard learned that the hard way. Tom was born in 1581. In his teens, having not visibly aged since the age of 13, his mother was accused of witchcraft. A few years later, he fell in love with a woman named Rose, but had to leave her (and their daughter) so that Rose would not be condemned for living with a boy who doesn’t look old enough to shave, but who never seems to age. Tom hasn’t been happy since.

Today Tom is a history teacher in London. He returned to London to search for his daughter Marian, who inherited the condition that slows aging. A fellow named Hendrich protects people with Tom’s condition by working to assure that their existence remains a secret. New people with the condition are discovered every year, just as people who might reveal their existence are killed every year. The killing is largely orchestrated by Hendrich, who values the lives of people with extended lifespans like his own over the ordinary people who might expose their existence.

Much of the story is set in 1599. Shakespeare enlivens the plot and adds the sort of wisdom about life that one expects from the Bard. During one of the 1599 chapters, a performing bear appears. Only the bear is not performing; it’s fighting to stay alive, despite being held in chains and tormented for the crowd’s amusement. In a book about longevity and its price, the bear becomes something of a metaphor for “the pointless will to survive,” no matter what cruelty and pain life has thrown in the bear’s direction. One of the serious questions raised by How to Stop Time is whether the quest for a longer life merely creates more opportunities for suffering and loss, whether the instinct for survival necessarily serves us well. Is life really so precious when suffering is the price for living?

One of Tom’s assignments for Hendrich leads to the novel’s tipping point, when Tom must decide whether longevity is more important than integrity and love and all the other things that make life worthwhile for people who live a normal lifespan, or less. The lessons that How to Stop Time teaches (primarily the importance of living in the moment, not in an unknowable future) are worthy if sometimes a bit obvious, and the story is entertaining despite its predictable resolution. Matt Haig’s fluid prose, solid characters, and convincing descriptions of historical settings all contribute to one of the better sf novels exploring the theme of longevity

RECOMMENDED

I read this very quickly, because I wanted to find out what happened, and all the while I was sad because I very much wanted to read it slowly, because it's beautiful-- both the historical detail in the historical scenes and the emotional realism in the contemporary scenes. I will read it again in a few years; it will make a wonderful rereading book.

The author used short sentences followed by longer sentences that repeated key words from the preceding short one. I noticed the style because it was unique, and because I've seen it used poorly, but this author had a really good handle on it.

I loved this book. So well written. I found this book unputdownable!!

I did not enjoy the writing style of this book. And how was he able to meet so many famous people? Just too much belief had to be suspended on this one.

British writer Matt Haig, writer of myriad genres for readers of diverse age groups, has turned his hand to a time travel novel, How To Stop Time, and carried it off with panache. Tom Hazard, the protagonist, looks like he is in his late thirties/early forties, but he is really 400 years old: “You see, I have a condition,” he tells us at the beginning of the book.. “I am old – old in the way that a tree, or a quahog clam, or a Renaissance painting is old. I was born well over four hundred years ago, on the third of March 1581 …” For every 13 or 14 human years, he ages one year.

As the novel opens the year is 2017, and Hazard’s long life (Don’t you love his name?) has brought him interesting experiences, but only one period of true happiness when he fell in love with an apple seller in London named Rose in the 17th century, and had a daughter named Marion. “I just didn’t like my condition. It made me lonely. And when I say lonely, I mean the kind of loneliness that howls through you like a desert wind. It wasn’t just the loss of people I had known but also the loss of myself. The loss of who I had been when I had been with them.”

Hazard must move every 8 years, so that people don’t get suspicious about the fact that he doesn’t seem to age. In 2017,he moves back to the portion of London that he had lived in with Rose in the 1600s ( and worked for Shakespeare in) to teach 14 year olds history.

His commentary about modern life isn’t flattering: “I look around. Trying to work out where it is that I first saw her. It is beyond impossible. There is nothing recognisable. As with Chapel Street and Well Lane, not a single building that is there now was there then. I see, through a window, a row of people running on treadmills. They are all staring up at what I assume is a row of TV screens above their heads. Some of them are plugged into headphones. One is checking her iPhone as she runs.

Places don’t matter to people any more. Places aren’t the point. People are only ever half present where they are these days. They always have at least one foot in the great digital nowhere.”

Part of the fun of time travel novels is that the characters, of course, cross paths with famous people from times gone by. The following fictional quote from the author F. Scott Fitzgerald is notable: “‘If only we could find a way to stop time...That’s what we need to work on. You know, for when a moment of happiness floats along. We could swing our net and catch it like a butterfly, and have that moment for ever.’”

Part of what makes the novel readable, however, is the fact that Hazard is just an ordinary person who has lived an extraordinarily long life, and that Haig is good at helping the reader identify with his pathos.

I read that the movie rights have already been bought and that it is already in development with Benedict Cumberbatch producing and starring. But, I recommend traveling though time by reading the book.

Thank you Viking and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book and for allowing me to review it.

First sentence: I am old. That is the main thing to tell you. The thing you are least likely to believe. If you saw me you would probably think I was about forty, but you would be very wrong. I am old –old in the way that a tree, or a quahog clam, or a Renaissance painting is old. To give you an idea: I was born well over four hundred years ago on the third of March 1581, in my parents’ room, on the third floor of a small French château that used to be my home.

Premise/plot: Tom Hazard has had to live with regrets for a long time--a very long time. His biggest regret is leaving his daughter, Marion, behind all those centuries ago. At the time, he didn't know she'd inherited his gift, his curse. He left for her good--their good. His wife, Rose, and his daughter are in danger so long as he's near. Tainted by his "witchcraft" and "sorcery" by never aging. He doesn't want their fate to be like that of his mother.

The narrative is ever-shifting in time. In the present, Tom is a teacher, a history teacher, in London. He's falling for another teacher, Camille, who teaches French. He hates being part of the Albatross Society, but he fears the only way he'll ever find his daughter is with their help. These sections of the book provide some thriller action. Most of the book, however, is flashes of his past.

My thoughts: I enjoyed How To Stop Time. It was an odd book. A fast-slow book. Fast in that it provides action, suspense, and mystery. There is a showdown coming. Readers can feel it coming closer and closer. But also it is a slow novel in that it philosophizes a good deal. Much of the book is spent inside Tom's mind. And it's a reflective, inspective novel.

It would be interesting to see this as a film; interesting to see how this strange balance could come across.

I loved this book. The idea that living for centuries is appealing until the realities intrude. As your loved ones age and die you continue in the prime of life. That is the heart of this book that I found so compelling. The dangers of not aging and the emotional risks of becoming involved in life keeps the main character isolated for centuries. It is a lonely and isolating experience until love enters and shows that life without people we are close to isn’t living .

I have to be honest...I JUST finished this book and I can't even put all my thoughts together. This was such a great read. The book follows a man who is centuries old and ages at an alarmingly slow speed. We follow his life and the things that from his past that define him. Or I should better say, what he's learning to live through.

It's a very impactful read and it pulled me in to question my decisions and how I'm living my life. If a book can do this to me, then it is surely worth reading and recommending to others. It is a well-written, thought-provoking book.

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to live forever?

For Tom Hazard, having a life expectancy of 1,000 years is practically living forever, especially when he outlives everyone he knows and cares for by centuries. But not only does he live considerably longer than everyone around him, he ages one year for every fifteen years that pass. He can’t stay in one place for more than a decade without attracting unwanted attention. He can’t be seen out in public with his wife without people mistaking him for her son. His life is a lonely curse.

It is also a fascinating life, and I was even more interested in the flashbacks of Tom’s “youth” than the mid-life crisis he was having at the start of the novel. In his nearly 500 years on the earth, Tom has worked for Shakespeare, shared a drink with F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, and sailed to previously undiscovered lands.

There is also heartbreak, anguish, and despair in Tom’s life. Actually, most of his life is a melancholy tale. I can be rather melancholy myself, so I really felt for Tom and his struggles. But if you’re looking for a happy time travel read (do those even exist?), don’t expect that in How to Stop Time. Although there is an optimistic theme overall, there is also the plague, witch hunts, and murder. Plus there is a mysterious society of people like Tom, pressuring him to avoid making any attachments that may endanger the secrecy of his condition.

In How to Stop Time, Mr. Haig has conjured up a unique spin on the typical time travel novel -- namely a tale centered around the ability (or curse) to live a very, very long time.

Tom Hazard, (full name Estienne Thomas Ambroise Christophe Hazard) was born in 1599 and suffers from a rare genetic condition that makes him age very slowly. He has been alive for the last 400 or more years. The book opens with this wonderful first line:

I am old. That is the first thing to tell you. The thing you are least likely to believe.

Over the centuries, Tom has lived many lives and because of his longevity, many of those lives were filled with love, but also heartbreak and loss.

On the positive side Tom got to work at the Globe Theatre with William Shakespeare, rubbed elbows with F. Scott Fitzgerald, and sailed with Captain Cook, all while avoiding anyone who grows suspicious of his glacial aging process.

Tom is recruited into the Albatross Society which pledges to protect people with his disease. The only stipulation is that he has to change lives every eight years and he is given this warning:

"The first rule is that you don't fall in love," he said... "There are other rules too, but that is the main one. No falling in love. No staying in love. No daydreaming of love. If you stick to this you will just about be okay".

In an effort to make up for the no love rule, Tom is reassured:

"You are, of course, allowed to love food and music and champagne and rare sunny afternoons in October. You can love the sight of waterfalls and the smell of old books, but the love of people is off limits.”

But all Tom wants is to live a normal life and find his long lost daughter who also suffers from the same genetic condition. When the book opens, Tom has settled into teaching at a London high school, and of course he chooses to teach history, because:

It [history] isn't something you need to bring alive, because it already is alive. Everything we say, do and see is only because of what has gone before.

He adopts a dog and finds himself attracted to the French teacher Camille, but he must resist because of the society rules. Soon it is time to take on another persona, and move on to yet another life and another adventure.

That's all the plot I'll give away from this engrossing tale.

Mr. Haig transports the reader back and forth in history. But, he doesn't beautify -- instead he unveils the filthy, muddy, smelly reality of earlier times. We see Shakespeare writing his beautiful works against the backdrop of crime, bigotry and disease. Tom plays the lute in the marketplace right beside animal filth. Everyone drinks ale, because the water might kill you.

For me the most interesting part of How to Stop Time, was the irrationality of the human experience. People throughout history have always hurt others, made stupid mistakes, been egocentric, and continue to do so -- over and over and over again. And important note, we haven't become wiser over time:

The lesson is that ignorance and superstition are things that can rise up, inside almost anyone, at any moment. And what starts as a doubt in a mind can swiftly become an act in the world.

Which brings one to ponder long after the last page. How would you live -- how would you act -- and mostly how would you feel -- knowing you could live almost forever?

How to Stop Time is handsomely written and filled with the bittersweet truth of the human experience -- our capacity to endure pain, inflict hurt, but also our ability to love beyond any limits even those of time. All while carelessly bumbling through our ever-so-short lifespans.

I liked The Humans by Matt Haig, so I looked forward to reading this. The premise looked intriguing. Tom Hazard, born in the 16th century, has an astonishing attribute: he does not seem to age. In actuality, he does age, but very slowly, aging only one year every 15 years, so he is in his early 40s by the time he reaches the 21st century. This “what if” story asks what life would really be like for someone in this situation.

Haig tells an entertaining story while picturing some of the darker sides of living a very long life. Reactions to someone who is different, especially in an unexplained way, are often cruel, and such experiences throughout many centuries of life have wounded him badly. Not only that, but his secret endangers those he cares about as well.

Having to move every eight years, before it becomes evident to others that he is “different”, leads to a severe lack of human connection. A secret society made up of people like him have two rules: they must never fall in love or reveal the secret of their long life. He did love deeply in his early years, but that resulted in disaster for a loved one, and separation from his wife and daughter, so later in life he tries to avoid deep relationships. Haig explores the question of what makes life worth living. It takes Tom Hazard 400 + years to answer that, but by the end he begins to understand and fearlessly takes control of his own life, allowing himself to develop and enjoy meaningful relationships.

The ideas presented were intriguing, the characters were well developed, and Haig provided me with some new insights, but I was somewhat disappointed in several things. The jumping back and forth in time and place was confusing. Once I was deeply immersed in one time period, I was suddenly pulled out of it and put into a very different time and place. Imho, it would have been a better book with fewer and longer episodes. I also thought Tom’s coincidental meetings with famous people of his current era was unbelievable, completely unnecessary, and detracted from the story. Finally, I wish Haig had trusted that his readers would be able to grasp his message without being explicit about it. I may seem overly critical, but it’s only because I’m disappointed that this is not a better book. It had so much potential. Haig writes well, and tells a good story, but these problems reduced my enjoyment of it.
In spite of these problems, I did enjoy reading this, and I will look forward to reading the next novel from Matt Haig. I hope he writes more about some of the characters in this novel. I especially liked Omai. What a fascinating character! I would like to read an entire book about him and his adventures.

Note: I received an advance copy of the ebook from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a moving book that I had a hard time putting down. It's a story that, among other things, challenges the instinct we sometimes have to guard our hearts from love so that we might not feel pain.

Five-star books are the ones that really move you, the ones that really strike at just the right time to mean a lot. How to Stop Time rose from four to five stars as the end, a sublime bit of writing and reflecting about time and love and how to live your life and it all struck a major chord with me. Openness and fearlessness and deep care for the right things and people and honing a way to truly and gratefully appreciate it all… that’s the stuff that life is made of. And Haig brilliantly distilled all of that in the book's closing passages.

I'm a sucker for time travel novels and this was a really nice one. I was concerned about the overuse of famous historical people, but it was toned down in the second half. Nice ideas and use of timeline.