How To Stop Time
Author(s): Matt Haig
The first rule is don't fall in love
Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but because of a rare condition, he's been alive for centuries. From performing with Shakespeare, to exploring the high seas with Captain Cook, to sharing cocktails with F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tom has seen a lot. But now, after over 400 years of reinventing himself to escape detection, he just wants an ordinary life. The only rule he has to follow is Don’t fall in love.
When Tom catches the eye of a captivating woman named Camille at the dog park, everything begins to unravel. Caught between the danger of discovery and the desire to build a real life, Tom learns that the thing he can't have might just be the thing that saves him.
A wild, bittersweet, time-travelling story, How to Stop Time is about losing and finding yourself, about the certainty of change, about the perils of love and about the mistakes that humans are doomed to repeat. It asks the question, How many lifetimes does it take to learn how to live?
Review(s):
“[Matt] Haig remains a keen-eyed observer of contemporary life.”
“Compelling and full of life’s big questions, How to Stop Time is a book you will not be able to put down.”
“Matt Haig’s latest book, How to Stop Time, is marvelous in every sense of the word. Clever, funny, poignant, and written with Haig’s trademark blend of crystalline prose and deft storytelling, this is a book that stirs the heart and mind in equal measure. A hugely enjoyable read.”
“Matt Haig has an empathy for the human condition, the light and the dark of it, and he uses the full palette to build his excellent stories.”
“A quirky romcom dusted with philosophical observations….A delightfully witty…poignant novel.”
“A wry, intriguing meditation on time and an eternal human challenge: how to relinquish the past and live fully in the present.”
“Haig has been gifted with a rare ability, which is to make the far-fetched – and even ridiculous – seem believable. His books tickle your mind and tug on your heart, and their pages slip by with beguiling ease.”
“A time traveling love story… [and] a coming-of-age tale that continues for centuries. It’s The Time Traveler’s Wife meets The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, yet manages to be even more unique.”
“Inventive, exciting, moving and bursting with insight about history, time and what it is to be human.”
“A rollicking time-hopping fantasy . . . How to Stop Time will provoke wonder and delight.”
“A masterpiece. . . . Matt Haig is a supreme talent and a writer to cherish, and The Humans is undoubtedly his magnum opus.”
“A wonderfully funny, gripping and inventive novel.”
“Delightful.”
“Funny, clever and quite, quite lovely.”
“Funny, poignant, and full of heart.”
“An absolute corker of a novel: very clever, and very moving, and that rare and precious thing -laugh-out-loud funny.”
“Extraordinary.”
“Matt Haig has an empathy for the human condition, the light and the dark of it, and he uses the full palette to build his excellent stories.”
“Matt Haig is a novelist of stunning talent, with a laser eye for the absurd and endless reserves of compassion. (Parade Picks)”
“Quick-paced, touching, and hilarious.”
“A brilliant exploration of what it is to love, and to be human, The Humans is both heartwarming and hilarious, weird, and utterly wonderful. One of the best books I’ve read in a very long time.”
ISBN: 9781443451383