Lori Duff Writes

How to Stop Time
“How to Stop Time” by Matt Haig is one of the more interesting and unique books I’ve read in a long time. It tells the story of Tom Hazard, who suffers from a condition called “anageism” – which means that his body doesn’t age at a normal pace, and he is immune to most infections and diseases. He is over four hundred years old, and currently teaches middle school history between ‘missions’ for the Albatross Society. (You’ll have to read the book to find out what that is.)  It’s hard to describe a lot of the plot without spoilers, so forgive me if the review just has teasers in it.

The story is compelling, and goes back and forth in time from the present to stops along Tom’s long life. He meets Shakespeare, who actually saves him from a lute playing bully.  He runs across F. Scott Fitzgerald, and works for Captain Cook.  Other historical figures appear as bit players as well.  He comes close to being burned at the stake as a witch. He lives in London during the plague years, and carries a lucky Elizabethan penny. He keeps secrets to survive, and finds that increasingly difficult as technology makes the world a smaller place. Music is his salvation, but piano playing becomes his undoing, and again, you’ll have to read the book to find out why.

What I liked best about the book, however, were the delicious philosophical phrases Haig uses. It is a thought provoking story, and really makes you think about the influence time has on how we make decisions and act and do. How would your choices change if you knew you had more than 80 years on the planet to suffer the consequences of them?

For more information, click the handy dandy Amazon link below.

Lori Duff

Lori B. Duff is an award-winning author who practices law on the side.  Her latest book, “If You Did What I Asked in the First Place” was awarded the Gold Medal for humor in the Foreword INDIES awards in 2019. You can follow her on Twitter at @LoriBDuff and on Facebook. For more blogs written by Lori, click here. For more information about Lori in general, click here. If you want Lori to do your writing for you, click here. If you want Lori to help you market your book, click here.