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Jane Davis

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I Stopped Time: A Historical Novel: What if the villain of your childhood turned out to be someone really rather extraordinary? Kindle Edition

by Jane Davis (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.2 421 ratings

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From the bracing seafront and cobbled lanes of Edwardian Brighton to glittering London society and the frenetic motor-racing circuit at Brooklands, I Stopped Time is a spellbinding story of self-discovery, creativity and emotional reckoning that seamlessly weaves together the past and the present.
"A perfectly written book in which the author never puts a foot wrong." ~ Author, John Lynch

A century of change. A death-bed confession. One man’s history, rewritten.

Edwardian Brighton. A wide-eyed young girl enters Mr Parker's photographic studio and receives her first lesson about a brand-new medium: “Can you think of a really good memory? Perhaps you can see it when you close your eyes. But think how much better it would be if you could take it out and look at whenever you wanted to!” Photography becomes the passion that will shape Lottie's destiny, taking her on a journey of self-discovery and creative brilliance - and into a disastrous marriage.

2009: Disgraced politician Sir James Hastings faces a lonely old age in a secluded village in the Surrey Hills with only an old German shepherd for company. He is unmoved when he learns his mother has died at the age of 108. In his mind, he buried her when she abandoned him as a child. Brought up by his father, a charismatic war-hero turned racing-driver, the young James dismissed her as the ‘villain’ of his childhood. Now he inherits her life’s work – an incredible photography collection spanning more than six decades – and is finally forced to confront the realisation that his version of the past isn’t even half the story.

Journey across a century of change as one man explores the world through this mother’s eyes and discovers that the villain of his childhood was someone really rather extraordinary. Perfect for fans of Lucinda Riley and Kate Morton.

"I was hooked from the very first page." ~ Kathleen Crowley, Book Reviewer ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

"Touching, exciting, romantic and tender, this novel shines in the deft hands of its author." ~ Compulsion Reads ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

"This book voiced everything I’ve ever held inside of me as a photographer." ~ Selah, Photographer ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

"Jane Davis has presented a family that is beautifully flawed, brimming with affection, and inimitably human." ~ J R Metcalf, book blogger ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

"I could really smell the salty sea air and hear the waves rolling in over the pebbles." ~ Jemma Bastable, Book Reviewer ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

"An emotional and expertly crafted book that beautifully details how misunderstanding decisions of the past can haunt us in the present." ~ Lorraine Wilke, Author and Photographer ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Print length

386 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publication date

January 15, 2014
File size

1109 KB
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From the Publisher

Sir James Hastings cast the mother who abandoned him as the villain of his childhood

But when he inherits her photography collection he must confront the past

Editorial Reviews

Review

'One of the consistently compelling features of Jane Davis' work is the elegance imbued within her writing style, which makes each title such a sumptuous treat. This is my fifth sojourn into the author's impressive list of books and I am struck by the breadth of historic and contemporary backdrops, between which Ms Davis seems to move with such consummate ease. However, this particular book, set in large part during the decadent Edwardian era, seems to give full rein to the author's lavish prose and introduces another wonderfully characterised female protagonist.' ~ BurfoBookish ★★★★★

'A clever and compelling read with a haunting quality.' ~ Cleopatra Loves Books ★★★★★

'Jane Davis is truly a writer's writer. She has taken an entire century - a feat worthy of Ken Follett or Gabriel Garcia Marquez - and covered it with the richness of her characterisation, presenting a family that is beautifully flawed, brimming with affection, and inimitably human.' ~ Book Blogger J R Metcalf ★★★★★

This novel has charm in abundance, due to its acutely observed settings and period detail, intriguing characters who do not give up their secrets easily, and a glorious level of background detail. I love books that teach me something, and the insights into photography here are a delight.' ~ JJ Marsh author of the Beatrice Stubbs Series ★★★★★

'The characters shine through and live with you long after you've finished the story.' ~ Ros Black, historian ★★★★★

'found this novel to be very poignant in that, on the one hand, we can't repair a relationship with someone after they're gone forever, and yet, we can still find ways to get closure with their memory, and perhaps - if we're lucky - find a way to forgive them, and maybe even ourselves, if necessary.' ~The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog ★★★★★

From the Author

Where did you find your inspiration for 'I Stopped Time'?
Reading a biography of Lee Miller, one of my heroines. I knew her photography but, as it turned out, very little of her life. She was an extraordinary, extraordinary person. A sought-after fashion model, who became a muse to surrealist photographers and artists such as Man Ray and Picasso. But she had always yearned to be on the other side of the lens and, in time, she became highly respected for her own photography. At the outbreak of World War II she became dissatisfied with her modelling work and documented the Blitz for Vogue, then underwent yet another transformation to become the only woman in combat photo journalism in Europe, taking incredible personal risks. Lee recorded the first use of napalm at the battle of St. Malo, the liberation of Paris, and she was there when the victims of Nazi concentration camps were liberated.

Her personal relationships were never straightforward, but it a huge testament to the strength of her personality that all of her ex-lovers became friends. She eventually settled down in Sussex with the artist and curator, Roland Penrose, with whom she had a son, Anthony. He knew Lee as an embarrassing mother and had no idea of her history until, after she died, he discovered her collection of work. I found his comment that he was cheated out of knowing someone really very extraordinary extremely poignant, and it set me on the road to discovering one of my main characters, Sir James Hastings.

Other things, I stumbled upon along the way. One of the things that happened while I was writing a book that spans the period of the First World War was the death of Harry Patch. I had been deeply moved watching and reading about the histories of the last of the Veterans, and admired him greatly for his decision to speak out after so many years' silence. After all that time had passed, you could still see how raw his emotions were.

You've said before that photography is a passion of yours.
Absolutely. That's one of the things that made I Stopped Time such a joy to write. Jacques Henri Lartique, whose collection spans over seven decades, kept intricate notes of his experimentation with what was still a new medium when he was given his first camera. They became my sourcebook. In fact, I was able to pull several of my passions together: photography, a relatively new-found interest in history. The book is dotted with some of the incredible people I found along the way, whose paths would have crossed with my main character's. I've already mentioned Harry Patch. There's also Florence Mills, the first black female international superstar, and Edith Hawkes who became better known as Sylvia Ashley, a real rags to riches story. Graveyards also feature.

Hang on a minute. Graveyards?
Graveyards and gravestones. I am a huge fan of Victorian Cemeteries. Far from being morbid, I find them very peaceful places. I wandered through Kensal Green Cemetery last December and many of the gravestones - not all of them new - had been decorated with tinsel, something I had never seen before. I also love the fact that you can find a person's life history right there in front of you. Someone I discovered from her gravestone was Phoebe Hessel who became famous for disguising herself as a man because she could not bear to be separated from her lover when he joined the army. She outlived both him when she married and her second husband, living until the age of 108.

Writing about a photographer, did you see any parallels with authors?
Yes, when I was writing about the distance that Lottie feels from her work, when she says it's hard to take any credit for it because it has an energy of its own. Lottie is also reluctant to talk about her photography, comparing it to a magician being asked to explain how he has performed a trick. I feel those things, as I imagine many authors do. And yet there's an increasing expectation that authors, who are often quite reclusive, will make excellent public speakers.

I can't really ignore the fact that, as a recipient of the Daily Mail First Novel Award, you have chosen to write about the Daily Mail in what some people may not consider to be a particularly flattering light.
My main concern was to be historically accurate. You can't ignore the fact that the Daily Mail has a long record of sponsoring the arts, sciences and emerging technologies. There's no doubt that Lord Northcliffe was a marketing genius, but it's also true to say that without his indirect funding, some achievements either might not have happened, or would have happened far more slowly. Taking early aviation as an example, in 1906 he put up £1,000 for the first flight across the Channel and £10,000 for the first flight from London to Manchester. These ideas seemed so far-fetched that Punch said they would offer £10,000 for the first man who flew to the moon. Within four years both prizes had been won. The fact that my journalists were perhaps not the nicest people you might chose to meet was incidental. Without giving too much of the plot away, there wouldn't have been much of a story if Lottie had simply entered a photography competition and won.

Did your competition win influence your writing in any other ways?
Definitely. You might think that your reaction to winning a prize would be one of pure joy, but it's far more complex than that. Because I had very little publicity, I was able to deal with my emotions very privately, but I've become an addict to reality TV shows like the X Factor. You can see how winning a stage of the competition, when you've had a history of knockback after knockback from people who have told you that you're not good enough, or that you shouldn't set yourself up for disappointment by trying, can cause a physical collapse. Winning can be hugely humbling, and I hope that comes across in the story line.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00ARWFPTW
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Jane Davis; 26th edition (January 15, 2014)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 15, 2014
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1109 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 386 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #1,426,145 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #2,020 in Women's Sagas
- #3,420 in Historical British Fiction
- #4,591 in Women's Historical Fiction

Customer Reviews:
4.2 421 ratings

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Jane Davis

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Hailed by The Bookseller as ‘One to Watch’, Jane Davis writes thought-provoking page-turners, exploring a diverse range of subjects, from pioneering female photographers to relatives seeking justice for the victims of a fictional disaster. Interested in how people behave under pressure, Jane introduces her characters when they’re in highly volatile situations and then, in her words, throws them to the lions. Expect complex relationships, meaty moral dilemmas and a scattering of dark family secrets!

Her first novel, 'Half-Truths and White Lies', won a national award established by Transworld with the aim of finding the next Joanne Harris. Further recognition followed in 2016 with 'An Unknown Woman' being named Writing Magazine’s Self-Published Book of the Year as well as being shortlisted in the IAN Awards. In 2019 'Smash all the Windows', won the inaugural Selfies Book Award. Her novel, 'At the Stroke of Nine O’Clock' was featured by The Lady Magazine as one of their favourite books set in the 1950s and was a Historical Novel Society Editor's Choice.

Jane lives in Surrey, in what was originally the ticket office for a Victorian pleasure garden, known locally as ‘the gingerbread house’. Her house frequently crops up in her fiction. She burnt it to the ground in the opening chapter of 'An Unknown Woman'. It is the gardener's cottage in 'Small Eden', a fictionalized account of why one man chose to open a small-scale pleasure garden at a time when London’s great pleasure gardens were facing bankruptcy.

When she isn’t writing, you may spot Jane disappearing up the side of a mountain with a camera in hand.

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Lorraine Devon Wilke

An emotional and expertly crafted book exploring the healing power of history and one's true place in it

Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2015

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I’m not typically drawn to historical fiction, but after reading and thoroughly enjoying a more contemporary novel by author Jane Davis (These Fragile Things), I wanted to dig deeper into her catalogue and see what else she had. Given my own interest in photography and its power to “stop time” and tell stories, the premise of this one intrigued me, and I was very well served.

Spanning different eras and places – early twentieth century Brighton through the war years, and up to contemporary life in Surrey – I Stopped Time keeps us moving from one time and place to the other, over and over, until the stories meet and the connections between the characters pull close.

In contemporary times, Sir James Hastings, a retired politician and, clearly, a lonely man, is gifted with a voluminous collection of photographs from his deceased mother, a woman who abandoned him as a child and, he believes, refused contact with him as an adult. Torn between the bitterness and heartache attached to any memory of his mother and his profound curiosity about her gift, he’s finally compelled to explore the stash at the behest of a new young friend, Jenny, an art student with a predilection for photography. Jenny convinces him this trove is not only priceless as art, but as a powerful and illuminating link to his past.

From there we reach back to early 1900s Brighton, where a young girl, Lottie Pye, is saved from a lightening strike to live a humble life of hard work and somewhat rigid expectations, many of which fly in the face of her own bubbling ambitions. When drawn to the studio of a local photographer, she not only learns the craft of photo modeling, but the artform itself, and slowly, over years and much practice, she develops into a gifted photographer of much note.

As these two stories play out, history takes the reader through the wars of the twentieth century, the changing mores and lifestyles of the times, the shifting attitudes about the arts and a woman’s place in them, and overriding cultural perspectives about relationships, family, and what constitutes both. What Sir James discovers about his mother, her life, and the true story of how and why she left him, become revelations that bring full circle the touching and tragic chapters of a remarkable woman.

Author Jane Davis is not only a tremendously gifted writer who has the capacity to pull us into a complex and challenging narrative, she’s one who infuses her work with a deep, sensorial backdrop, creating a tactile sense of time and place, with the visuals, smells, and sounds of the various locations, as well as the disparate looks and vernacular of characters stretched across a century. She expertly makes the transitions from chapter to chapter, and her attention to detail, to the specifics, makes clear how deeply and thoroughly she researched the locations and eras involved, and characters she placed within them. Even reading her interview notes at the end of the book is interesting, as they clarify the people who inspired the story and the type of research she did to honor their narratives.

An emotional and expertly crafted book that beautifully details how the sometimes misunderstood decisions of the past can both haunt and illuminate us in the present, I Stopped Time is a powerful read I highly recommend.

3 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Just outstanding

Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2018

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I had thought that this book was going to be some silly history slant science fiction thing. I could not have been more wrong. It is, instead, a lovely book about British folks in WW1 and after and an unusual bequest that a survivor of WW2 receives from the mother he never knew. This book is the real deal.

One person found this helpful

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Elizabeth Perrat

Elegant and Engaging

Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2015

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Another beautifully-written tale by talented author, Jane Davis, I Stopped Time is the story of a mother, Lottie Pye, and her estranged son, James that sweeps us back to 1900s Brighton, and wartime London.

James knows very little of his mother, until he is bequeathed her photographs, and, with the help of young Jenny, pieces together a picture of his mother. In turn, the reader also uncovers the character of this fascinating and determined woman, who became a famous photographer.

In this delightful tale, we follow both Lottie and James’s often difficult, but ultimately uplifting journeys to find the truth about their own backgrounds.

I Stopped Time is a book you don’t want to end, and when it does, you want to start reading it all over again.
A literary marvel!

2 people found this helpful

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Diane L. Lybbert

A very interesting and unusual method of revealing the story bit by bit

Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2017

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was intrigued by the idea that a photographer considers her craft as 'stopping time'. Growing up in England right before the outbreak of WWI, Lottie Pye stumbles across a photography studio. Fascinated by the backdrops and trappings of the portrait studio, she takes a 'job' guiding folks to the shop. She models for a photo, which makes the young girl almost famous in their small village. The photographer takes her under his wing and begins teaching her how to take and develop pictures. Lottie's past is a mystery - her adoptive mother saved her from drowning when she was a little baby. A woman was pushing a baby carriage in the rain when lightning struck right in front of her. She let go of the carriage and it headed toward the edge of the dock and the sea beyond. Adoptive mother saved the baby, but when she turned around the woman who had been pushing the carriage was gone - swept into the sea? So, Lottie always felt different and alone, and speculations about her real mother swept through the village - a stage actress, a prostitute, an unwed mother? As Lottie grows up she becomes a photographer, through a series of life events she leaves her wealthy husband and young son in London to return 'home' to the village. She has no contact with her son for the remainder of her life. When she dies at the ripe old age of 108 (!) she leaves her entire portfolio of photographs - some 42 boxes - to her son (who is now 89). As he goes through the photos with a young student, he learns of his mother's life through the images. The story dragged in some places, and raced by in others. Overall I enjoyed the book and its very interesting and unusual method of revealing the story bit by bit.

5 people found this helpful

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solowithpits

A beautiful, strong story

Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2014

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A beautiful, strong story; very well expressed details of the era; definitive portrayals of each of the characters. I felt drawn into that time capsule of their lives, and in the end, felt a sense of privilege that it had been shared with me.

One person found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Unusual, unexpected,surprisingthis

Reviewed in Canada on December 29, 2022

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This story takes you on a journey that is set in the end of Edwardian England. Slowly captures your heart. Then I found excuses to sit down and find more details. An adult story also suitable for younger audiences.

The Bagster

This is not Women's Fiction -- it's Human's Fiction

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 11, 2017

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Jane Davis won the Daily Mail First Novel Award with Half-truths and White Lies. This is, I believe, her seventh book. For some reason, it’s ranked by Amazon under Historical Fiction (which it is) as Women’s Fiction – which it is not. There’s no shortage of female characters, but that doesn’t make a book into Women’s Fiction. The themes of this book will be, or certainly should be, of interest to anyone – male, female, or somewhere in between.
The book tells the story of Lottie Pye, who believes for the first 30 or so years of her life that she is an orphan, only to find that her mother is still alive. Her father too, probably, though she never learns who he was. It also tells the story of Lottie’s son James, who believes for the first 80 or so years of HIS life that he was abandoned by Lottie; the end of the book sees him making his own discovery.
On one level, it’s a satisfying unravelling of a complicated story. On another, it’s an exploration of what it is to be human. On whatever level you choose, it’s a perfectly written book in which the author never puts a foot wrong. As each mystery is solved, each question answered, and each piece of the jigsaw falls into place, you think, “Ah, yes. Of course. That’s what happened. That explains everything.”
I don’t like giving books five stars. I do it reluctantly, because five stars should mean, “This book is quite exceptional.” If I could avoid giving this one five stars, I would.

4 people found this helpful

Mrs. J. Richmond

A beautifully written novel of two parallel stories

Reviewed in Australia on August 27, 2019

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On every level this book is worth reading. The story is original; the technique is flawless; the characters are real and tangible and there are plenty of twists and turns to keep interest to the end. The writer also resists the temptation to become mawkish or introduce unnecessary coincidences. This is a raw story of tragedy on every level yet through it shines hope and love and caring. Covering a period of over 100 years it is an interesting insight into changing social mores and the gradual change in the roles of men and women and even sexual orientation and disability. I really enjoyed the characters. They are so real you can easily picture them. The writer is sympathetic in her portrayal of the less likeable ones all of whom have some redeeming features. However there are some who are just manipulative and even evil. A great read.

Lizanne Lloyd

Thought provoking tale of a 20th century woman

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 22, 2022

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Lottie Pye, an orphan adopted by an old couple in Brighton, has no desire to work in her parents pie shop but once she meets photographer, Mr Parker, she discovers her life's purpose. The sadness of "I Stopped Time," is that Lottie's photographs only freeze moments, they don't stop time permanently at a happy occasion. Lottie tells her life story in detail. Confused by the story of her real mother and distressed when Mr Parker is called up to go to war, she boards a train for London, hoping to continue her photography apprenticeship.

In dual time we meet Lottie's son, James, a reclusive old man who had never known his mother since she left him with his father as a baby. Sir James is not pleased to be left so many boxes of his mother's photographs, even though she was a gifted photographer. A chance meeting with a young student, Jenny, encourages him to look carefully at the pictures. Images of Brighton on the point of war, are poignant, but he wonders about the identities of some of the more personal ones.

As the story unfolds, we learn a great deal about photographic technique and styles of popular pictures during World War One. It also shows the roles played by women; the domestic servants, the rich idle ladies and those like Lottie trying to forge a career. A slow moving tale which is most vividly described in the persona of Lottie, the novel is both a social commentary and a window into early 20th century history. Not easily comparable to other dual time novels, it is thought-provoking, at times upsetting, but a rewarding book to read.

One person found this helpful

Julie Whitley

An engaging story

Reviewed in Canada on April 23, 2017

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I became totally engrossed in the stories of Lottie Pye and her estranged son, James and their reunion through Lottie's work as a photographer. I was touched by the historical elements of Brighton during the First World War and the lasting impact. This is a well-written, beautifully told story that I highly recommend.

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