The Life Impossible

by Matt Haig, Joanna Lumley (Read by), Jordan Stephens (Read by)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Embrace the unknown in this novel of discovery — of secrets and self — by an author who knows how to make us feel less alone.

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593948507
Publisher:	Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/22/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	173,590
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 5.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Matt Haig is the author of the internationally bestselling memoir Reasons to Stay Alive, along with five novels, including The Midnight Library, How to Stop Time, and several award-winning children’s books. His work has been published in fifty territories across the world.

Editorial Reviews

Called by The New York Times a “love letter to life” and named a must-read book of fall 2024 from TIME | Book Riot | GoodReads | Library Journal | BookPage | PEOPLE | Parade | SheReads | Town & Country

“A beautiful novel full of life-affirming wonder and imagination and, at its adventurous heart, a wry and tender love-letter to the best of being human.” —Benedict Cumberbatch

“An odyssey of action and awe. . . a humble and genuinely lovely concept.” —The New York Times

“Grace’s realization that everything on Earth is worthy of admiration and preservation is a message the whole world can get behind.” —Associated Press

“Haig’s magnificent latest. . . In [his] sure hands, magic comes to breathtaking life.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Another inspiring page-turner. . . .an adventure-filled tale about the power of new beginnings.” —Woman's World

“Haig’s wise and moving novel is both a mystery and a love story, a fantasy and a billet-doux to the planet. Perhaps its greatest gift lies in showing us that it is possible to dismantle the boundaries we have built, grasp the connections previously hidden, and appreciate life in all its richness.” —Joanna Cannon, The Guardian

“If you're itching to extend your own summer vacation just a bit, we can't think of a better book to join you.” —Town & Country

“A pitched, swashbuckling battle between good and evil. . .With its glorious setting and appealingly quirky cast, The Life Impossible has terrific cinematic potential.” —Christian Science Monitor

“[A] wonderful book about climate change, aging, and recovering from guilt.” —Book Riot

“An instantly engrossing, page-turning delight. . . .well worth reading for anyone who wants a hopeful, warm, very human journey that crackles with magic.” —BookPage

“In a world that seems to be getting more unstable by the moment, Haig’s novels are a steady ship in rough seas. . .the author’s insistence on the power of connection to change lives comes through loud and clear.” —Kirkus

“Part mystery, part transcendental tale, that takes Grace on a redemptive journey inside nightclubs and the far reaches of Ibiza to the bottom of the ocean and worlds that lie beyond.” —Goodreads

“[A] wise, inspirational tale.” —PEOPLE

“Matt Haig will likely continue his streak of success with The Life Impossible. . . . a warm and inviting message. . . that will leave the reader filled with hope by the end.” —Screen Rant

“Readers can be excited about another deeply human story that reaches in and tugs at your heartstrings, beckoning you to believe in what’s good and offering permission to love the parts of yourself you wish you could change, as Haig appears to strive to do himself.” —SheReads

“[Haig is] an expert at penning heartwarming, uplifting tales.” —AARP

“[A] fantastical exploration of grief, forgiveness, and second chances.” —TIME

“Haig’s writing is as assured and appetising as ever.” —Independent

“A voyage of self-discovery and what it means to be human.” —Mail on Sunday

“Haig skillfully and humorously wraps a fantastical tale around his exploration of the transmorative nature of emotions as individuals connect with each other.” —Library Journal

“An insightful read about how it’s never too late to start over.” —Real Simple

“Wise, thought-provoking and great on finding connections in unlikely places . . . The descriptions of the Spanish island are so lush and evocative . . . Wonderful.” —Daily Mail

“There's a magnificence to Grace's second act, a whizzing euphoria that feels contagious.” —iNews

“Matt Haig’s latest novel is a remarkable heroine’s journey, exploring the boundaries of forgiveness, grief, joy, and what it means to be human in a universe where we’re not alone. I adored it.” —J. Ryan Stradal, New York Times bestselling author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest

“Stunning. It's not only exquisitely written but has so much magic woven through it. A beautiful book for us all to get lost in.” —Fearne Cotton, creator and host of Happy Place

“I just meant to glance at the book, but it seized me and wouldn’t let me go. Fabulous.” —Joanna Lumley

“Okay, folks, buckle up. Matt Haig, the wonder, is back.” —Lemn Sissay, poet and author of Let the Light Pour In

“Weird and fantastical and lush and magical at once.” —Hollie McNish, bestselling author of Slug

From the Publisher

★ 07/22/2024

In Haig’s magnificent latest (after The Midnight Library), a retired math teacher unexpectedly inherits property in Ibiza and escapes her static life in Lincolnshire, England. Upon hearing the news, widowed Grace Winters takes up residence in the ramshackle house left to her by her old friend Christina. In a note, Christina suggests Grace find a man called Alberto to show her the miraculous seagrass meadow beneath the Mediterranean. Grace, who doesn’t know how Christina died, determines to follow her late friend’s advice but is unable to appreciate the island’s scenery due to her guilt over her 11-year-old son’s death in a bicycle accident 30 years earlier. Her mood changes, though, when Alberto takes her scuba diving and she’s touched underwater by a shape-shifting blue light, which Alberto calls La Presencia and claims is a portal to another planet. Her encounter with the light also gives her mind-reading and telekinetic powers, which she first tries out in quotidian situations, often to humorous effect, such as when she makes an obnoxious restaurant patron stab himself with a fork. Soon, though, she applies her newfound abilities to a higher purpose, joining a battle to save the island from an unscrupulous developer. Haig’s spellbinding descriptions of the portal and its powers lend themselves to the convincing conceit that Grace, thanks to her encounter with La Presencia, is not only able to change her life but to make a difference in her new community. In Haig’s sure hands, magic comes to breathtaking life. Agent: Clare Conville, C&W Agency. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

08/01/2024

Four years after the death of her husband, retired math teacher Grace Winters is still trudging through life in her bungalow in Yorkshire, with an unchanging routine, no real interests, and a sense of fading away. Then a letter arrives to inform Grace that Christina, an old university friend, has bequeathed Grace her house on the Spanish island of Ibiza. Grace soon learns that Christina's suspicious death is under investigation. Compelled to find out about the mysterious circumstances, she packs her bags and sets out to find out exactly what happened to her old friend. As Grace reaches out to Christina's family and friends, strange and mystifying experiences challenge her to assess her own emotional well-being. After years of denying herself simple pleasures and paying penance for past missteps, Grace must overcome her lifelong feelings of guilt and inadequacy in order to save those who need her in their lives. VERDICT Bestselling Haig (The Midnight Library) skillfully and humorously wraps a fantastical tale around his exploration of the transformative nature of emotions as individuals connect with each other, much like in the work of Fredrik Backman.—Joy Gunn

Library Journal

While listening to this audiobook, one must believe the impossible is possible--maybe even probable. The otherworldly story begins with an email from a despondent college student, Morris, to his former math teacher, Grace. Jordan Stephens narrates the gloomy email, and listeners feel his pain. Grace responds by telling her amazing story of how she, at age 72, found new energy and a sense of joy from her preternatural adventures on the Spanish island Ibiza. The British actress Johanna Lumley perfectly portrays the crotchety British widow, who is reborn after an alien encounter. She experiences a renewed sense of purpose and new telepathic powers. For some listeners the extraterrestrials and paranormal events may be too much, but others may find them therapeutic. D.L.G. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

SEPTEMBER 2024 - AudioFile

2024-08-03
A British widow travels to Ibiza and learns that it’s never too late to have a happy life.

In a world that seems to be getting more unstable by the moment, Haig’s novels are a steady ship in rough seas, offering a much-needed positive message. In works like the bestsellingThe Midnight Library (2020), he reminds us that finding out what you truly love and where you belong in the universe are the foundations of building a better existence. His latest book continues this upbeat messaging, albeit in a somewhat repetitive and facile way. Retired British schoolteacher Grace Winters discovers that an old acquaintance has died and left her a ramshackle home in Ibiza. A widow who lost her only child years earlier, Grace is at first reluctant to visit the house, because, at 72, she more or less believes her chance for happiness is over—but when she rouses herself to travel to the island, she discovers the opposite is true. A mystery surrounds her friend’s death involving a roguish islander, his activist daughter, an internationally famous DJ, and a strange glow in the sea that acts as a powerful life force and upends Grace’s ideas of how the cosmos works. Framed as a response to a former student’s email, the narrative follows Grace’s journey from skeptic (she was a math teacher, after all) to believer in the possibility of magic as she learns to move on from the past. Her transformation is the book’s main conflict, aside from a protest against an evil developer intent on destroying Ibiza’s natural beauty. The outcome is never in doubt, and though the story often feels stretched to the limit—this novel could have easily been a novella—the author’s insistence on the power of connection to change lives comes through loud and clear.

Haig’s positive message will keep his fans happy.

Kirkus Reviews