by Matt Haig
First published 2018
Tom Hazard returns to London to teach high school history and start fresh. On his first day, he meets a French teacher who captivates him completely. Tom appears to be 41, but a rare condition has kept him alive for hundreds of years. He has performed alongside Shakespeare, sailed with Captain Cook, and drunk with Fitzgerald. Now he craves ordinary life. The Albatross Society protects people like Tom, but enforces one absolute rule: never fall in love. Their leader watches Tom closely as painful memories surface. Tom faces an impossible choice between the safety of his guarded past and the risk of genuine connection. The one thing forbidden to him might be the only thing that can save him. This love story spans centuries as Tom learns whether happiness is possible when you have all the time in the world.
Genres: romance, literary-fiction, historical-fiction, fantasy, adult-fiction, contemporary-romance
Vibes: intimate, introspective, melancholic, romantic, thought-provoking
Tropes: forbidden-romance, immortal-protagonist, second-chance, slow-burn
Setting: London
Period: centuries-spanning, 21st-century-present
339 pages · Paperback · Penguin Books
Content warnings: death