Who wants to live forever? Well, not Tom Hazard, but he has been alive for over 400 years so far. Appearing to be 41 years old, as a young man in Elizabethan England, he had discovered that he aged extremely slowly. In an era when people believed in witchcraft, this caused suspicion and soon Tom began a lifetime of constantly moving on, frequently changing his name.
Like Dr Who, he found the transitory nature of relationships with others caused sadness and grief, so he is now determined to avoid involvement. Discovering that he was not the only human being with this unusual genetic condition, was partly a relief, but also caused him more complications. After half a lifetime as a sailor, jazz pianist, roofer and wandering lute player he is now a History teacher in 21st century London. Now that would be the perfect History teacher. He is not a mere Time Traveller; he has lived through so many events personally.
After losing his first love so many years before, Tom has firmly avoided falling for anyone again. He does have a mission to find one person from his past, but he also has to carry out onerous tasks for a Machiavellian fellow long-lifer. As the narrator of the story, Tom is an empathetic, believable hero. Just like everyone else he is still trying to work out what life is all about and what really matters to him.
This is a captivating story about a likeable man. The possibilities of his lifetime experiences are boundless, so it must have been difficult choosing the people and places for the storyline. A recommended read.
Matt Haig is a British author for children and adults. His memoir Reasons to Stay Alive was a number one bestseller, staying in the British top ten for 46 weeks. His children’s book A Boy Called Christmas was a runaway hit and is translated in over 25 languages. It is being made into a film by Studio Canal and The Guardian called it an ‘instant classic’. His novels for adults include the award-winning The Radleys and The Humans.
He won the TV Book Club ‘book of the series’, and has been shortlisted for a Specsavers National Book Award. The Humans was chosen as a World Book Night title. His children’s novels have won the Smarties Gold Medal, the Blue Peter Book of the Year, been shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and nominated for the Carnegie Medal three times.
His books have received praise from Neil Gaiman, Stephen Fry, Jeanette Winterson, Joanne Harris, Patrick Ness, Ian Rankin and SJ Watson, among others. The Guardian summed up his writing as ‘funny, clever and quite, quite lovely’ by The Times and the New York Times called him ‘a writer of great talent’.
How to Stop Time on Amazon UK
and Amazon US
Lizanne lost in a good book 
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