How to Stop Time

Tom is 26 years old in 1607. His voice deepens, and his shoulders broaden. Rose says his face looks more manly now. They finally marry. Sometime after, Grace marries a shoemaker’s apprentice. Rose gives birth to a daughter; they call her Marion. Rose worries about Marion’s small size, fearing that she won’t survive. Tom fears Marion will be like him and stop aging. King James’s ascension to the throne brings a rise of superstition to the kingdom. Ignorance and superstition changes doubts into actions. Tom observes such actions occurring around him, from the butcher believing a certain farmer’s pigs are demons to friends accusing each other of devil worship. Around this time, Shakespeare releases Macbeth, his most superstitious play. Things escalate at home as Marion and Rose grow older and Tom stays the same. They receive dirty looks or are spat at. They alter their lifestyle to protect Marion from the rumors. They don’t go out together and homeschool Marion. She loves reading and takes to quoting Michel de Montaigne. One day she reads something scratched into their door—“Satan Resides Here” (217)—and asks Tom if he really is Satan. They decide to leave London.