Books › How to stop time
How to stop time
511 pages
A bittersweet, time-hopping meditation on the courage it takes to stop hiding from the past and finally risk living in the present.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like sitting in a quiet, dusty library while rain taps against the window, listening to an old friend confess their deepest regrets. It moves at a steady, reflective pace, sweeping you through centuries of beautifully rendered historical vignettes before grounding you in the quiet anxieties of modern-day London. The prose is accessible yet deeply philosophical, filled with gentle, underlineable truths about grief, memory, and the human condition. There is a pervasive melancholy to the narrative, a heavy wistfulness born of outliving everyone you love, but it is ultimately a profoundly warm and hopeful experience. It will deeply satisfy readers who crave big-hearted, slightly magical stories that explore existential loneliness but leave you feeling more connected to the present moment.
- Mood
- wistful
- bittersweet
- atmospheric
- cozy
- Tone
- earnest
- reflective
- melancholic
- warm
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- the weight of immortality · grief and letting go · the courage to love · finding meaning in the present
- The writing
- Accessible, philosophical, and gently lyrical, characterized by short, punchy chapters and aphoristic observations about time and humanity.
- The arc
- Moves from a state of guarded, weary isolation through the painful unearthing of memories, ultimately arriving at a hopeful embrace of the present moment.
- Who it's for
- Readers who enjoy big-hearted, slightly magical contemporary fiction that tackles existential questions with warmth and accessibility.
Content notes
- grief
- loss of loved ones
- depression
- historical illness
About the book
Tom Hazard 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. So Tom moves back his to London, his old home, to become a high school history teacher--the perfect job for someone who has witnessed the city's history first hand. Better yet, a captivating French teacher at his school seems fascinated by him. But 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 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.
Description from Open Library.
Books like How to stop time
See why they match
The Midnight LibraryMatt HaigA gentle, philosophical exploration of regret that feels like a warm cup of tea on a dark night.
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry AugustClaire NorthA sweeping, time-looping cat-and-mouse thriller that wrestles with the crushing weight of infinity and the fierce bonds of rivalry.
Oona Out of OrderMargarita MontimoreA bittersweet, decade-hopping puzzle that explores the beauty and heartbreak of living life entirely out of sequence.
The People in the TreesHanya YanagiharaA chilling, humid descent into the darkest corners of scientific arrogance and human depravity, disguised as an academic memoir.
The Bone ClocksDavid MitchellA kaleidoscopic, genre-defying epic that bends time and reality to explore the fragile, beautiful tragedy of human mortality.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRueV. E. SchwabA sweeping, bittersweet meditation on memory, art, and the desperate human need to be remembered.