"How to Stop Time" by Matt Haig (5 stars)

[KateNZ]

How would you cope if you had a condition that vastly slowed your rate of aging - and at the same time immunised you against disease that might otherwise have killed you on the long slow road to old age? What are the things that would keep you going - and what would send you mad? How do you manage when all you want is a normal life that you can never have?

Tom Hazard is a history teacher in modern Tower Hamlets. He has a desperate secret: he looks 40 but is 439. He's seen witch-trials in 16th century Suffolk and worked as a musician in Shakespearean London, travelled with the South Seas explorers, witnessed the growth of North American society, played jazz piano in 1920s Paris and watched Josephine Baker dance. The first rule for survival is not to love - for passionate, awkward, generous Tom this means centuries of denying his very self. The second rule is not to tell anyone who you are - for those who find out have a habit of turning up dead at the hands of those who hide their secrets in the shadows.

This is a wonderful book about the human condition, about life, and about the power and persistence of love. It is deceptively simply told, in short episodes and flashbacks to earlier times and earlier people - it evokes a strong sense of place and time without the need to delve into detailed description. It is both deeply satisfying and deeply sad. I loved it.

[Susie]

It sounds very appealing Kate. I’m adding it to my list. Thanks!

[Diane]

Yes this sounds like a great book.

[annapi]

**Sigh** onto the TBR it goes....