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Book Summary and Reviews of The Life Impossible by Matt Haig

The Life Impossible by Matt Haig

The Life Impossible

A Novel

by Matt Haig

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  • Published:
  • Sep 2024, 336 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

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.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
  1. Throughout the book, Grace uses mathematical concepts, equations, and thinkers to understand the world around her. This often brings her comfort and allows her to cope with moments that unsettle or worry her. How do you see the world? Do you use a particular lens, like Grace, to explain certain phenomena?
  2. Grace's kindness towards her student Maurice leads him to reach out to her for guidance years after they last spoke. Likewise, Christina gifts Grace her house because of her generosity decades earlier. What do these interactions show us about the importance of our interactions with acquaintances, and even strangers? How can we practice these small acts of kindness in our own lives?
  3. By the time Grace arrives in Ibiza, she...
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Reviews

Media Reviews

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

"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 Reviews

"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

This information about The Life Impossible was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Matt Haig Author Biography

Photo: Kan Lailey

Matt Haig is the number one bestselling author of Reasons to Stay Alive, Notes on a Nervous Planet and six highly acclaimed novels for adults, including How to Stop Time, The Humans and The Radleys. His latest novel is The Midnight Library and the audiobook edition is read by Carey Mulligan. Haig also writes award-winning books for children, including A Boy Called Christmas, which is being made into a feature film with an all-star cast. He has sold more than a million books in the UK and his work has been translated into over forty languages.

Author Interview
Link to Matt Haig's Website

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