Book Review: The Life Impossible by Matt Haig

A new book by Matt Haig always seems to turn into a publishing ‘event’. He’s a bestselling author with many hits under his belt, but his latest release The Life Impossible seemed to have slipped under the radar – I haven’t seen it on many lists since it came out in September. It’s still considered a bestseller, but not quite the mega-seller his books typically become. The reason? Likely because it’s a bit more ‘out there’ than his other books (which admittedly, do tend to feature some fantastical elements); this book has a stronger whiff of the magical, along with the suggestion of alien beings.

Plot Summary

Grace Winters is in her early seventies, living a sad and small life in the UK, essentially waiting to die. She doesn’t feel as though she deserves happiness, and makes no attempt to find it; her husband died a few years ago, and she blames herself for the biking accident her only son died in when he was 11. But out of this desolation comes a strange invitation; Grace receives a letter informing her that a house in Ibiza, Spain has been left to her in a will by an old colleague, Christina, who she hasn’t spoken to in decades. Curious, Grace travels to Ibiza, ready to sell it off and return back home, but she’s convinced to stay a bit longer when some clues to this unexpected gift arise. Christina has left a letter for Grace, insinuating that she knew she was going to die while also advising Grace to visit a few places in Ibiza, and speak to a few people to help discover where Christina has gone. Her death was ruled an accident under investigation, as she disappeared while scuba diving with an old friend, but Grace suspects there is more going on. Curious about this strange letter, and a bit creeped out by the unexplainable occurrences in this humble yet cozy house, Grace follows Christina’s last wishes in an attempt to determine how her old friend really died. She quickly becomes embroiled in a dangerous plot by a billionaire developer to place a massive resort on an ecologically fragile island off Ibiza, but she’s also acquired some special powers to help combat this evil genius and his destructive plans.

My Thoughts

Suspending your disbelief is a requirement for reading almost all of Matt Haig’s fiction – and once you do that, you’ll find yourself swept away in a delightful adventure that offers both entertainment, and life insights. This book is no different; on the surface it’s a story of an otherworldly power that touches only certain people in the depths of the ocean, but it’s really about learning to love life again and allowing oneself to be happy, and imperfect. These special powers that Grace receives from ‘La Presencia’ allow her to communicate with animals and read the minds of others, which serve to connect her with the world she lost touch with many years ago. She doesn’t become a superhero, she simply becomes a well-rounded human being again. So even though it feels like Haig is straying into some very bizarre science-fiction territory, he’s still firmly writing within what he knows best: life, the wider world, and our humble place within it. I tend to avoid science fiction and fantasy, I very rarely read those types of books, but I loved the whimsical nature of this novel, finding it never straying too far from my comfort zone.

Even though what I’ve loved about other Haig books is also found in this one, I do have a few minor complaints too. The entire story is framed as a letter from Grace to a former student of hers, Maurice, where she is recounting these adventures. Maurice writes her a letter at the beginning of the book admitting he is feeling lost, and because Grace was his favourite teacher, he’s hoping she can offer some advice. Aside from this improbability (who writes an old math teacher from decades ago for life advice?), it’s completely unnecessary. Occasionally a chapter will begin with a mention of Maurice, but it’s awkward-sounding and intrusive. The few mentions of this long-lost student could have been removed entirely as they were only distraction, and didn’t offer anything to the narrative. My other complaint is one that I’ve noticed in his earlier novels too; sometimes his protagonists and narrations can slip into becoming a mouthpiece for Haig’s life advice. I’m already well-aware of the author’s thoughts on the beauty of life, but there’s a little too much emphasis on this as Grace reaches a form of enlightenment, so it begins to feel repetitive and didactic.

But to end this review on a positive note, Grace’s voice (when it’s not being hijacked by Haig) is a wry and humourous one, and this gave me more than a few chuckles. As she finds herself about to scuba dive for the first time at 70 years old, she makes a keen observation about the rickety old boat she stands in:

“It was clear the paint was peeling like scabs, so much so that only the last two letters of its name – Neptuno-were visible. If I was a believer in signs from the universe, a boat called ‘no’ would have been a further reason not to have boarded it. But there I was.” (p. 95 of The Life Impossible by Matt Haig, ARC edition)