I really enjoyed reading this book, and I finished it wishing it was longer.
Tom Hazard has been alive for over 400 years, although because of a rare medical condition he looks like a regular man his in his early forties. He has acted with Shakespeare, sailed with Captain Cook, and drank with F. Scott Fitzgerald. But he just wants a normal life. Unfortunately, he lives under the rules of The Albatross Society, a secret society with a dictatorial leader (Hendrich) who provides new identities and financial support for those like Tom. This protection, though, comes at a price. Besides having to do different favors for Hendrich, no one who is part of the society is allowed to fall in love. But Tom has fallen in love. With Rose. And she died back in the 1600s. And he’s still alive. And now, in his latest persona Tom’s a history teacher back in London. And now he’s developed feelings for someone else, someone who thinks she recognizes him.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a bit of science fiction, time travel, etc. While this isn’t time travel in the traditional sense, it is told jumping across multiple centuries, and has a similar feel. I really liked the underlying notion/lesson that time itself isn’t necessarily important compared to how you choose to live your life. Whether you have 30 years or whether you have 950, how you live and how you act right now is really all that matters because time will move on with or without you and all you can control is what happens in the present.