I absolutely loved this novel, and one of the big reasons was the different historical times and figures that Tom meets and experiences, and the way that Haig brings them to life on the page. Tom's meeting with a certain famous 1920s author was a particular favourite of mine!!
This novel has moments of serious action, but there are also long periods where there is limited action because this novel also spends a great deal of time pondering life and death, and what it really means to live. So, if you're looking for an action packed and fast paced novel this probably won't fit the bill. But, this novel will make you think. It's a powerful and deep narrative about life and living, and the inherent differences between the two.
I felt a lot of sympathy for Tom, to see everyone around you grow old and die when you remain young would be emotionally and mentally very tough. I also hadn't really considered the difficulties that not ageing would pose in general life, but of course if you don't age people would grow suspicious. Tom has to move every 8 years so people don't grow suspicious, and this sounded like a very lonely and isolated existence, and Haig conveys this loneliness and sadness well in his writing, I could really feel it through the pages.
I have never read any of Haig's writing before, but after reading this novel I am definitely going to get my hands on some more. Haig's writing is some of the most powerful and touching I have ever read, he seems to understand human emotions, and be able to put them onto paper with a skill that is almost unbelievable. I gave this novel 5/5 stars, and I would highly recommend it to everyone!

Good god what a book, a book about life and living and all the in between.
I have read a lot of books but never one like this, it's truly beautiful and a unique story too so that's a double whammy for me!

I couldn't wait to read it after reading the blurb and it didn't disappoint, I had to take a good ten minutes after I'd finished it just to take in what I'd read.....

I totally lost myself to this book and am running out to buy anything else he has written previous, do yourself a favour go buy the book!!!!

Beautifully written a true masterpiece that you'll never come across again, don't miss out.

Thanks to NetGalley and Canongate for the ARC of this book.

I think Matt Haig is a very talented writer. His books are immediately absorbing and they manage to combine fast-paced story-telling with thoughtful reflections on life and human nature.

‘How to Stop Time’ is a novel about how fear of the future stops us from living in the moment and how despite the fact that fear is sometimes justified we shouldn’t let it prevent us from living life to the fullest. It’s beautifully told and does not hammer home this message in a heavy-handed way, rather it is the pay-off to an engrossing story.

The novel follows Tom Hazard, a man who ages 15 times slower than normal humans and so is over 400 years old. His story is told in the present with flashbacks to his life over the past 400 years covering the loves he has lost and the pain living with the condition has caused.

I’ve come to realise that I love novels that play with the concept of time. It’s utterly fascinating and offers such interesting plot options. This book is another enjoyable addition to this tradition.

My one quibble with this book is that Tom encounters several famous people over his life including Shakespeare, Captain Cook and F. Scott Fitzgerald. This is my one hang up with books about time; the protagonists always seem to be present at important moments of history and meet historical figures. This might be feasible for someone with the power to travel through time, but Tom does not have this power, he just loves longer, there’s no reason why that should give him the insight to be present at these events. It’s perfectly possible to live one’s whole life without meeting anyone famous. I rolled my eyes when Shakespeare turned up, it’s such a hackneyed trope to feature him in Elizabethan themed books. However, this is a very small point and did not spoil my enjoyment of the book.

I’d thoroughly recommend this and Haig’s other writing for people who enjoy good story-telling, thoughtful characters and reflections on life.

I was initially hooked, but the plot fails to hold up over the course of the book. The writing is also far too didactic; every other page seems to include a lengthy soliloquy from Tom about the meaning of life / time / human relations. Sadly the writing also lacks any humour or levity, which is a real shame as this was one of the joys of "The Humans".

I downloaded How to Stop Time because I follow Matt Haig on Twitter. He's funny and entertaining, but also talks honestly about more serious issues. I'd never read any of his books before but the sound of this one intrigued me. I knew I'd enjoy it but I was surprised by how much, and I started recommending it to my friends before I'd even finished it.

For some reason I'd got it into my head it was about time travel - it isn't. It's hard to explain the story without giving away too much of the plot, but basically our hero, Tom, was born in 1581, the son of aristocratic French immigrants. His father was killed in the religious wars, and Tom and his mother are now scraping a living in Suffolk. But Tom has a secret that in those days could get you killed. He ages at about the rate of one year to everyone else's fifteen. When the story continues in the present day, he still appears as though he's only in his early forties.

How to Stop Time reminded me a bit of that old 1980s movie Highlander (only without the beheadings!) as Tom tries to live his life throughout the centuries, forced to be constantly on the move in case he is found out, and trying not to fall in love. And I loved the way he kept accidentally bumping into famous historical figures!

What I particularly enjoyed was that it read almost like a collection of short stories. We are shown glimpses of Tom's past life mixed in with his present one as a history teacher. It's like that old 'gather around the fireside and I'll tell you a story'.

The writing is fabulous, I loved all the quirky historical facts and pertinent things Tom has to say about how we live our lives in the 21st century. It was one of those books I really didn't want to end and I'd have loved to have heard more of Tom's stories about the past.

Recommended!

Is this possibly the most perfect book ever written? I really do think that it is. Matt Haig is a brilliant story teller, and what a story this is. The history in the book is so vivid, you are transported back 400, 300, 200 years ago along with our 'hero' of the book who has lived that long with his particular secret. To come up with a story like this and to have the imagination, is just mind-boggling to me, but I am so glad that Haig did so. This book is an utter masterpiece and I only wish I had the words to express that, so you will just have to take my word for it.

This was lovely, life fulfilling and swathed in positivity despite the sometimes grim nature of the subject matter. The narrator faced centuries alive on this world, the result of a disorder that prevents him ageing normally. Cursed to watch the deaths of those he loves, he recedes into a shady organisation made up of others like him and proceeds to be alive, while neglecting to build any emotional attachments- to anything.

Matt Haig has a truly lovely, warm writing style and easily builds his characters to ensure the reader has both sympathy and empathy. I fell for the cruelty of the narrator's past lives and losses. Haig's casual restraint around the inclusion of famous individuals throughout history- Shakespeare and Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, make for brilliant sections of the story where the fantasy really came to life for me. The realisation that living is something very different to just being alive is woven throughout the book, often in spite of the narrator's naivety and isolation.

This is a really great read. It's fast, but it will stay with you for quite a while. Matt Haig has tweeted to say that there is another book in the universe he has created here- I haven't been this excited about a potential future book in quite a while.

Absolutely loved it, thanks for sending me it Jamie!

Extraordinary, engrossing, refreshingly different, covers huge breadth of time and place but also intimate.

I’m a sucker for any book dealing with time and I also have a real weakness for historical adventure, so this book was bound to be a hit with me. While Tom starts his teaching career in a tough London school, we also have regular flashbacks throughout his very long life which explain how he comes to be so burnt out and sad.

Haig clearly put in the legwork regarding his research. For me, this book really sprang to life during the flashbacks, which start during the reign of Elizabeth I and throughout we gain glimpses of Tom’s life around the world as he constantly is on the move to try and cover up the inconvenient fact that he doesn’t age at the same rate as everyone else around him. In order for this book to really work. I had to believe in Tom’s longevity and weariness. Haig triumphantly pulls this off, to the extent that I found parts of this book quite hard to read. I really cared about him and hoped that he would be able to find some peace and comfort. In the supporting cast a couple of characters really stood out for me – Rose, Tom’s first love is beautifully depicted and completely convincing as an Elizabethan girl and Hendrich, who has formed a society to help the “albas” protect themselves from the “mayflies”, is also a convincing character in his desire to keep those who are long-lived, safe from suspicions and anger of the majority of humanity. However, the standout supporting character has to be Camille, the French teacher who is clearly attracted to Tom. She is written with such tenderness and sensitivity that I found myself really rooting for her, to the extent that I was unsure whether she should get tangled up with Tom, who has more emotional baggage than he knows what to do with.

The one thing you can never be sure with Haig is that his stories will end happily ever after. Obviously I am not going to provide any spoilers, but I will say that this one concludes satisfactorily with all the main characters completing a strong story arc. As ever, Haig’s writing lingers in my head and I find myself thinking about this one a lot now that I have finished reading it.
9/10

I adored this poignant and engaging time travelling tale.  Tom Hazard (aka Tom Smith, John Frears and a host of other names) is 439 years old but doesn't look a day over 41.  He suffers from a condition called anageria which causes him to age at an incredibly slow rate.  Tom hates being the way he is; it has led to him losing the one woman he loved, becoming separated from his daughter and leading a very long and lonely itinerant life, moving on when people become suspicious at his lack of aging and unable to form lasting friendships or emotional bonds with anyone.  He knows he's not alone though; sometime in the late 19th century he was approached by a mysterious businessman and fellow sufferer who had formed a society for 'Albatrosses' (as they call themselves), an organisation cloaked in secrecy and darkness, always having to stay one step ahead of the biotech firms and other sinister forces over the years (such as witchfinders and Nazis), who would love to unlock the secret of their hyperlongevity by whatever means necessary. 

This engaging story follows Tom's life from his childhood as a French Huguenot refugee in a 16th century witch-burning Suffolk village, through his short-lived  marriage in Shakespearean London and his time as a piano player in a roaring 20s Parisian bar, to the present day when he is trying to blend into the background as a history teacher in a London school.  It's a beautifully written, achingly sad account of a life which by necessity has to be lived in the shadows.  Tom is a hugely likeable and sympathetic character who would like nothing more than to live a 'normal' life as a family man, and Matt Haig manages to make all his experiences over his 400+ years seem relevant and believable.  I'm not generally a fan of fantasy or science fiction but the balance is just right here and I loved it.

Sometimes a book comes along that just blows you away and this, for me, is one of those books! It tells the story of Tom Hazzard, a history teacher in a tough school in London who also happens to be 439 years old. First and foremost, it's a really great premise and if all this book did was tell the story of Tom in a funny and interesting way, it would be a good book, but Matt Haig manages to do so much more here. There is real poignancy to the story told here, which I wasn't expecting. We follow Tom backwards and forwards in time through many experiences and we witness his struggles to exist in a world of 'mayflies' when he is a long lived 'albatross'. There are nefarious organisations at work which provide true menace, beautifully understated moments that sit in your brain for a while and line upon line of eminently quotable prose. I found myself frequently exclaiming, 'That's so true!' at some statement made, which was just a wonderfully unexpected pleasure. I have my suspicions that this book will be one of my favourites of the year and I urge everyone to read it, quote it, tell all your friends about it. Simply perfect.

There are those amongst us that age more slowly, Tom Hazard is one. Until he was 13 he aged normally, but then things slowed down and it takes about 14 years for him to age each year from then on.

Now he looks like an ordinary 41-year-old, but he’s survived the Black Death, met Shakespeare and F Scott Fitzgerald and played his part in protecting the secret society of others like him. Now he’s returned to the part of London he shared with the love of his life, craving an ordinary life and still hoping to find the daughter he hasn’t seen in hundreds of years.

He has the perfect cover – working as a history teacher. He can teach the kids about wars and witch hunts as if he’d never witnessed them first-hand. But can he stay hidden in this world of social media? Can he tame the memories that threaten to overwhelm him? And can he stop himself from falling love?

To be honest though, the question that I found myself asking over and over again whilst reading this was more selfish. It was “How can I slow down time at least while I’m reading this book?” It’s just that kind of book, the sort you want to live in for a good long while. But time is a trickster and if anything it seemed to speed up until before I knew it I was reading the last page far far to soon.

Tom Hazard is not perfect, but he’s a good man. Even though he’s lost everyone he’s ever loved and has witnessed the most horrific evils human nature can produce. Many people would have given up on life but the thought of finding his daughter keeps him going. And it keeps the reader rooting for him too.

Matt Haig’s writing is as usual is a joy. Reading him is so easy, the story cracks on, he lets you care about his characters and he builds a tactile, sensory world around them that allows you to feel like you are right there with him. His writing remains unobtrusive but it draws you in like a quiet conversation.

I read quite a lot of books that play with the theme of time travel and immortality and this is definitely one of the best.

5 Bites

NB I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley in return for an honest review. The BookEaters always write honest reviews

I feel as though I start all book reviews like this, but I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy this novel. I absolutely loved both Matt’s Reasons To Stay Alive and his previous fiction book, The Humans, but after reading the first few chapters of How To Stop Time, I felt a little bit like I was reading a historical fiction novel, which really isn’t my thing usually.

But I persevered and I loved it so much.

How to Stop Time in essence is a love story, but it’s also so much more than that. Despite being slightly put off at first by the history content, I ended up learning a lot, especially having my memory jogged about things I’d learnt years ago at school. But the part of the story I loved most was the protagonist, Tom. Flawed yet sweet, Tom had an air of someone who had both lived for hundreds of years and was learning how to do life, just like the rest of us.

The novel felt like an experience more than anything else and it’ll definitely be one that I re-read – which is one of the highest accolades from me because I rarely re-read books. I really, truly did not want this book to end and when it did, it left me with so many thoughts about life, love and the complexities of time.

How To Stop Time is a beautiful, thought-provoking read that will stay with you long after you’ve turned the final page.

A story about life as an immortal, among mayfly (humans!).
Written in the first person, Tom Hazard is 439 years old and his tale is full of sadness, death and hope!
He was rescued by a group called ‘The Albatross Society.’ The society is run by one Hendrich Pietersen, who gives those who are members, a fine lifestyle. But every 8 years he requires those members to change their lives, and also to carry out a small task for him.
But Tom has also asked that Hendrich do something for him, find his daughter. Hendrich keeps saying that the society is getting closer, but hasn't found her, yet!
Meanwhile, Tom tries to live a life that he chooses, for a change. And change is what he gets.
I enjoyed this book, it reminded me of something, but I can't think what! I would certainly recommend it to my friends, and you of course.

‘Who wants to live forever?’ was rather poignantly sung by Freddie Mercury I can’t listen to it without a tear in my eye. But what if you had no choice? What if you didn’t choose a long life that verged on immortality, it chose you?
Our main character, Tom Hazard is born in 16th century France and all appears to be normal until he reaches puberty and appears to stop aging. He is noticed by the village and his mother is deemed to be guilty of witchcraft. He learns at an early age that he needs to hide. Much like vampires who never age at all Tom finds he can never stay anywhere for long. His life will be long but it will never be happy. Such is his curse and his gift. For he can never fall in love and have a normal life. Of course, being human he will try to have all this. This story of an outsider who longs to fit in, who understands what it is to love and be loved. He will know loss and grief and in all that he is human just like the rest of us.
I’ve had this book for a while and vie tried to understand about how an immortal might feel losing everyone he loves. I think no different to the rest of us as I contemplate a year where friends have lost husbands, beloved relatives have died of diseases we have yet to cure.
Above all the story is an optimistic one. It is about never letting go of humanity in the face of monsters who belief you to be the monster. It is about learning to love the difference in people and facing down grief.
Alongside all this it is simply the story of a man who tale ranges across centuries. It has drama, humour and is always entertaining. It is certainly different from many time travel books as it can only travel forwards but because Tom’s memories are across all his life there is sense of being saturated with time. He is truly living in the moment it’s just that he will have so many more moments than the average human. Because he is subject to aging however slow is aware that he will spend many more years as a very old man something to consider if you ever think that extending your life span is a good thing.
It’s a deeply thoughtful and intriguing book and worth rereading.

Lovely Matt Haig: is there a harder working author in England today? He's powered out 11 fantastic novels in the past 13 years (plus a range of non-fiction including his own mental health memoir, Reasons to Stay Alive) but hopefully, this will be the one that really makes the world wake up to him. After all, the film rights have been optioned by StudioCanal and Benedict Cumberbatch is attached to play the lead, which is very exciting! The story is centred around 41-year-old Tom Hazard who has a rare genetic condition that makes him age slowly. So slowly, in fact, that he been alive for centuries and has crossed paths with Shakespeare and other historical figures. Naturally, this makes life quite problematic for him, causing him to have to move and start a new life every decade and never, ever fall in love (for who wants to live with a broken heart for hundreds of years?). But, of course, life is rarely so easily controlled and after a couple of hundred years, Tom is ripe for change. This story has a lot of charm to it and is a natural fit for the big screen, so you better read the book now before it's made into a film, right?

Matt has a beautiful writing style. One that sits you down, makes you put your feet up with a cup of coffee and then envelopes you in it’s warmth. Gentle, beautiful words to give vivid descriptions of characters and places that wrap themselves around you to put you in the picture. Tom is anageric- he ages slowly. He has lived for hundreds of years and he is rather tired of it all. Of the deception, of not being able to put down roots in case his “secret” is discovered and of not being able to love because that would cause too many problems. A beautifully written book with a wonderful main character. Almost a philosophical tale. Wonderful storytelling to enjoy. I voluntarily chose to read this ARC and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased.

I think I am in the minority here, going by reviews I've read, but I didn't really get on with this book. I loved the concept but it just didn't work for me. Tom Hazard has a condition which means he ages really slowly so he has been alive for over 400 years, yet only looks in his 40s. The book takes us back and forward in time from present day London, to Elizabethan times, Paris in the jazz age, New York and the South Seas. Along the way Tom meets many key figures from history, avoids witch-hunters, loves and inevitably loses. Warned not to fall in love by the secret Albatross organisation which protects people like Tom, in the present day story he begins to learn what it means to live in the moment. I felt the story drifted a bit in the middle though picked up again towards the end.  I can see it working well as a film though and can see why it has already been optioned with Benedict Cumberbatch to play the main character.

I'm grateful to the publisher for an advance e-copy of this book via NetGalley. I will also be buying my own copy!

This is a wonderful, very human, very tender SF romp through the ages. It does that actual core SF thing of taking a metaphor and making it real.

Tom Hazard is an anomaly. Born in the 16th century (as French aristocrat), he's still full of life and vigour in the early 21st. Tom, and a few men and women like him, are "albas" - short for "albatross" - who age at only 1/15 the rate of normal human beings.

Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? Imagine a lifetime of around 1,000 years. The things you'd do, the places you'd go.

Over, and over, again.

Everyone you know dying while you're still young. Even those you love most.

Your friends and neighbours turning against you, suspicious of your longevity.

Having to move on every few years, before people notice you're not growing older.

Doesn't sound so good now, does it? And that's only the beginning. I haven't even started on the "memory headaches".

Haig succeeds here in something very hard. He doesn't only take the fantastic central premise of the book and working out all the practicalities, all the likely external consequences, the advantages and disadvantages. More, he manages to inhabit the mind and soul of his protagonist, showing - in frighteningly plausible prose - the awful internal consequences too. The loneliness, the guilt, the self-hate and, above all, the desire to put an end to everything.

And there's still more. Really, I could just go on reading that as long as the author wanted to make it, but perhaps that wouldn't be ideal and Haig wraps around his central idea an entertaining and truthful story. Dotting back and forward in time from the age of Shakespeare to the Pacific exploration of the 18th century, Paris in the 20s and modern London - with a few more besides - he shows what Tom has lost, what he's still searching for - and how he fell in with the mysterious club "The Albatross Society".

Appearing, to begin with, as saviours for Tom and his kind, the Society and its frontman, Hendrich, promise to shelter and protect. But they demand obedience and impose strict rules - the first of which is, never fall in love. Tom knows that if he breaks that rule he'll not only be endangering himself, but whoever he loves. Because the secret of the albas must be kept.

It's an engaging and at times nailbiting story, distinctly thriller-y in places. Tom is one of those protagonists who'll have you clenching your fists or biting you nails, as he seems, yet again, to be in hot water. (Getting himself in hot water, that is.) He's returned to the London streets he knew centuries before, to the streets he knew with his lost love, to become, of all things, a teacher at an inner London comprehensive. (Tom can teach from experience, but will that be enough to pique the interest of disengaged teenagers?)

What good can come of that? Will be be able to to cope? Will he give himself away?

And at the same time, Hendrich seems to have his own plans for Tom...

There are moments of shattering honesty and truth here ("Everyone will become a refugee if they live long enough"). There are promises ("I will solve you" - several of the characters here see themselves, or others, as puzzles to be solved. is that good or a bad way to think of people?). There are lovely turns of phrase ("the illuminated despair of the bus station", "This is what playing the piano does. This is the danger of it. It makes you human") and cynical truths ("every era is clogged with Martins, and they are all dickheads.") The writing is so good it faintly hums - Haig on top form, I think, and never so much as when he introduces historical characters - especially William Shakespeare - as believable ordinary people (something Tom tries to explain to his class of sceptical teenagers).

In short, I really, really enjoyed this book. It manages at the same time to be fun, funny, sad, true and exciting. If there's any justice it will sell by the bucketload and be seen everywhere.

After all, the best way to stop time is with a good book.