63 pages 2 hours read

Matt Haig

How to Stop Time

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2017

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Part 1, Chapters 9-14

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1: “Life Among the Mayflies”

Part 1, Chapter 9 Summary: “London, Now”

Tom has trouble sleeping, so he watches TV. He watches a documentary about turtles and their long lives. Humans are destructive, he notes; animal life is simpler. Tom spends his nights pondering his future. He tries different sleep remedies, but nothing works. He would visit a doctor, but doing so is against the rules of the Albatross Society. In the morning, he and Abraham go to a park where Tom unclips Abraham’s leash. The dog stays by his side for a moment, confused by the freedom, before trotting away. Tom notices Camille sitting on a bench. She calls over, commenting about his dog’s loveliness. Abraham sniffs around her and licks her hand. She looks at Tom, trying to place his familiar face. Tom calls Abraham, clips the leash, and leaves.

Back home, he reviews lesson plans for class. The first topic is “Witch Trials in Tudor England” (49). He realizes his need to “tame the past,” to “control it and order it,” and that is why he wants to teach history (49). He makes a Bloody Mary and remembers his mother.

Related Titles

By Matt Haig

Study Guide

logo

Reasons to Stay Alive

Matt Haig

Reasons to Stay Alive

Matt Haig

Study Guide

logo

The Comfort Book

Matt Haig

The Comfort Book

Matt Haig

Plot Summary

logo

The Dead Fathers Club

Matt Haig

The Dead Fathers Club

Matt Haig

Study Guide

logo

The Life Impossible

Matt Haig

The Life Impossible

Matt Haig