My current audiobook listen is "How to Stop Time" by Matt Haig. It was recommended to me by a friend at 'Shut Up and Write'.
The premise is there a few people who do not age at the same rate as the general population. This is very true in our world - those who grow up, and live in poverty age at a different rate from those who never have to do physical labour, and who don't have to worry about feeding themselves or their children. It is the 15:1 rate mentioned in the book, but poverty causes people to age faster.
I'm just a few short chapters into the book, so this is what I know so far... Tom Hazard, and his like, were born into ordinary families. When they reached puberty, their aging process deviated from the rest of humanity, and they aged at around 1 year for every 12-15 they lived. A person reaching puberty at 12 would look that age for 15 years, then 13 for the next 15, etc.
For a male to go through this would have been tough. Initially, they would have to move every few years to avoid their secret being detected. This would slow down to every 3-5 years from the apparent age of 18 to 21. It could be stretched to 5-8 years after that.
Tom was born around 1600, and there would have been numerous occupations for an apparent teenage lad to engage in. But what about a woman? Women essentially needed a man - a master, a father, a husband, a brother... If a woman did not have a man, then she would have been treated as a prostitute, or worse. There would not have been the same opportunities for a 'young' single woman to move around to escape detection.
I'm just a few short chapters into the book, so this is what I know so far... Tom Hazard, and his like, were born into ordinary families. When they reached puberty, their aging process deviated from the rest of humanity, and they aged at around 1 year for every 12-15 they lived. A person reaching puberty at 12 would look that age for 15 years, then 13 for the next 15, etc.
For a male to go through this would have been tough. Initially, they would have to move every few years to avoid their secret being detected. This would slow down to every 3-5 years from the apparent age of 18 to 21. It could be stretched to 5-8 years after that.
Tom was born around 1600, and there would have been numerous occupations for an apparent teenage lad to engage in. But what about a woman? Women essentially needed a man - a master, a father, a husband, a brother... If a woman did not have a man, then she would have been treated as a prostitute, or worse. There would not have been the same opportunities for a 'young' single woman to move around to escape detection.
I'm now having memories of Polgara the Sorceress (from the Belgariad series by David and Leigh Eddings). She was an un-aging sorceress tasked with keeping the ancient line of kings safe, and hidden. She moved the family every generation. With each move she would take on the mantle of a young woman in her 20s, and as time went on she would retreat from public life to disguise the fact she was not growing older.
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I have a migraine, and after working all day, I simple don't want to leave the house. Zero metres have been added to my total.
Today's walk: 0
Accumulated total: 5.87km
Accumulated total: 5.87km
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