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The Life Impossible

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The Life Impossible

By: Matt Haig
Narrated by: Joanna Lumley, Jordan Stephens
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About this listen

 The remarkable new Sunday Times bestselling novel from the author of the international sensation The Midnight Library

‘A beautiful novel full of life-affirming wonder and imagination' BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH

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

When retired Maths 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 Balearics 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.©2024 Matt Haig (P)2024 Canongate Books Ltd Best of 2024 Editors Select Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Inspiring Heartfelt Feel-Good

Critic Reviews

Stunning. It's not only exquisitely written but has so much magic woven through it (Fearne Cotton)
Okay, folks, buckle up. Matt Haig, the wonder, is back (Lemn Sissay)
All stars
Most relevant
a book of hope, growth and awakening. Loved its optimism and the view of the supernatural in life, both mystical and uplifting.

Hope

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Matt Haigh is a wonderful storyteller and the book was also beautifully narrated. I didn’t want the story to end :)

Beautiful story full of wonders of life

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beautiful, bizarre and absolutley wonderful.
Waiting for his next novel already.
if you like any of his prior books and the way he romanticises mathematics and philosophy leaving you thinking about what you've just read until you can continue you'll enjoy this too.

matt haig has done it again!

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I like the positivity of the plot (story) as well as the storyline itself and without giving anything away, the very idea that often we lose sight of the beautiful world we live in and need to look again through a child’s eyes and without the lifetime of baggage clouding our vision. And maybe just occasionally giving someone a helping hand through friendship. I thought the reading by Joanna Lumley fitted the main character beautifully.

Engaging interesting positive plot & narration.

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I loved this transformational story of a dried up old maths teacher finding salvation and her true calling on the Spanish party island of Isbiza.
Joanna Lumley’s reading is superb (although I kept seeing Maggie Smith as Grace).
The humour and matter-of-fact narration took me along for the ride on all the improbable twists and turns.
The rawness of Grace’s grief also adds a lense of reality.
Exhilarating and uplifting.

Salty flight of fancy

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