The Life Impossible

by Matt Haig

Book Overview

The New York Times Bestseller

"An odyssey of action and awe." --The New York Times

"A wry and tender love-letter to the best of being human." --Benedict Cumberbatch

The remarkable next novel from Matt Haig, the author of #1 New York Times bestseller The Midnight Library, with more than nine million copies sold worldwide

"What looks like magic is simply a part of life we don't understand yet..."

When retired math teacher Grace Winters is left a run-down house on a Mediterranean island by a long-lost friend, curiosity gets the better of her. She arrives in Ibiza with a one-way ticket, no guidebook and no plan.

Among the rugged hills and golden beaches of the island, Grace searches for answers about her friend's life, and how it ended. What she uncovers is stranger than she could have dreamed. But to dive into this impossible truth, Grace must first come to terms with her past.

Filled with wonder and wild adventure, this is a story of hope and the life-changing power of a new beginning.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0593489276
• ISBN13: 9780593489277
• Release Date: September 2024
• Publisher: Viking
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.7" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Maybe it isn't impossible...

Grace Winters is an old woman who has never given herself any grace. She wallows daily in the misery and guilt of having lost her son before he had a chance to grow up, and having never been a good enough wife to her now-departed husband. She is a retired math teacher in England, who has no idea how to live. All of that changes when she receives a letter telling her she had inherited a house in Ibiza from a long-lost friend. For reasons she can't articulate, she decides to set off and see this house. Once she gets there, she is finally on the path to really start living. There is so much magic in this book that is hard to describe. The supernatural elements are just enough to make the story more magical, and surprisingly more realistic. The scientific explanations make the unbelievable feel possible. However, the most magical thing to me is the idea that one night of compassion and truly seeing someone was enough for decades of fond memories. Christina never forgot how Grace's presence changed her life for the better, and when she got a chance, she returned the favor. This book has a host of complicated characters, and was made better by the contrast between Grace's guilt for her own parenting choices and those of Christina and Alberto. Christina's relationship with her own child was strained to nearly breaking, showing there is way more to being a good parent than merely keeping them alive through to adulthood. Also, each description of the animals' personalities felt like real insight. I've never wanted to meet a goat so much in my life! Ibiza sounds like a haven for those who want to appreciate the earth we live on, and I can feel the author's love of the island in each page. This novel reads a bit like a call to action to save the whole planet, but not in a preachy way. I feel compelled to take more notice of this whole life of mine, especially the magic of getting to live on this particular planet at this particular time. 4.5 rounded up