How to Stop Time

By: Matt Haig

Narrated by: Mark Meadows

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Midnight Library.

“A quirky romcom dusted with philosophical observations….A delightfully witty…poignant novel.” —The Washington Post

“She smiled a soft, troubled smile and I felt the whole world slipping away, and I wanted to slip with it, to go wherever she was going… I had existed whole years without her, but that was all it had been. An existence. A book with no words.”

Tom Hazard has just moved back to London, his old home, to settle down and become a high school history teacher. And on his first day at school, he meets a captivating French teacher at his school who seems fascinated by him. But Tom has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he's been alive for centuries. Tom has lived history--performing with Shakespeare, exploring the high seas with Captain Cook, and sharing cocktails with Fitzgerald. Now, he just wants an ordinary life.

Unfortunately for Tom, the Albatross Society, the secretive group which protects people like Tom, has one rule: Never fall in love. As painful memories of his past and the erratic behavior of the Society's watchful leader threaten to derail his new life and romance, the one thing he can't have just happens to be the one thing that might save him. Tom will have to decide once and for all whether to remain stuck in the past, or finally begin living in the present.

How to Stop Time tells a love story across the ages—and for the ages—about a man lost in time, the woman who could save him, and the lifetimes it can take to learn how to live. It is a bighearted, wildly original novel about losing and finding yourself, the inevitability of change, and how with enough time to learn, we just might find happiness.

Soon to be a major motion picture starring Benedict Cumberbatch.

somewhat disappointinv

you never became emotionally attached to the characters. found the narrator accent sounding like Count Dracula.

Not the midnight library

Haig tells another great story but it didn’t captivate me to the same extent. Worth a listen but I didn’t walk away in awe.

Entertaining and Inspiring 💕

I thoroughly enjoyed this read. It satisfies many of my preferences:
1. Great story and character development
2. Incredibly intimate and real-feeling “visits” to the past - reveals then-present experiences of both daily life and historical events
3. Weaves philosophical and “spiritual” truths seamlessly into the fascinatingly personal narrative cloth
4. Provides a sound structure for easily imagining the joys and sorrows of living far beyond our current life span
5. So fun to read that time (ironically) accelerates

Didn't Stop Time For Me

I really wanted to love this book, but I didn't. Always like the premise of time travel, past lives, etc., and the idea of having a "condition" that slows down aging seemed interesting. While the book was an easy ready, it just was a bit base. Maybe it didn't go deep enough for me. The narration of the audiobook was, however, quite good.

Can cause you to think deeply

i stopped and wrote down a few sentences that really struck me. i think the concept is wonderful and wish it were real.