Review: How to Stop Time by Matt Haig

“Whenever I see someone reading a book, especially if it is someone I don't expect, I feel civilisation has become a little safer.” 

Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary forty-one-year-old, but he was born in 1581. Owing to a rare condition, he’s been alive for centuries. From Shakespeare’s England to Jazz Age Paris to voyaging the Pacific alongside Captain Cook, Tom has seen a lot, and he now craves an ordinary life.

Always changing his identity to stay alive, Tom now has the perfect cover—working as a history teacher at a London school. Here, he can teach the kids about wars and witch hunts as if he’d never witnessed them first-hand. He can try to tame the past that is quickly catching up with him. The only thing Tom can’t do is fall in love.

'How to Stop Time' is one of those books that stays with you long after you read it. It's the kind of book you find yourself thinking about staring out of the bus window on a rainy day. It's the kind of book you remember months later staring at the stars thinking about the meaning of life. And it's also the kind of book you'll remember with a fond smile or a giggle at some of the humorous parts. Basically, what I'm trying to say in a very cheesy way is that this is a book everyone should read, whatever your age or background because it's one of those books that will genuinely change your outlook on life itself, maybe only slightly but it will. 

Matt Haig has written a book for everyone because it is about the one thing the whole world has in common: life. The protagonist, Tom, struggles to find meaning in his life as he nears his 5th century on Earth, which isn't exactly the circumstances most of us find ourselves in but I think it goes without saying that everyone on the planet questions where life is taking us at some point. Various characters in the novel view life very differently: Tom has lived most of his life grieving for his only love Rose and searching the world for their daughter; Hendrich lives his life hiding away, always on the run and instilling fear into other 'albatrosses', whereas ordinary 'mayfly' and Tom's potential new love interest Camille seizes every opportunity she can, knowing how precious life can be and how quick it can disappear. Having these very different perspectives on life is a very clever device that Haig uses to show us readers there is not one right way to live life but that it must be lived, it is not enough to merely survive whether you have 80 or 800 years on Earth. 

The gentle romance blossoming between Camille and Tom is relatable to the reader because it is like any other romance. Tom is incredibly awkward and passive, wanting a relationship but wracked with guilt over Rose's death. Camille is interested but frustrated by Tom's blunt replies. We root for Tom but cringe at their awkward exchanges and his mistakes. Their romance isn't the main feature of the book but it plays an important part in Tom's journey to finding meaning in his life.

This is a truly beautiful book and Haig is a fantastically talented writer. It's the kind of story that will never lose relevance and is destined to be hailed as a classic by the next generation. Time will not need to be stopped for this book as it will survive and thrive for many readers to come.

10/10