The Life Impossible

Recently I read Susie Dent's novel, Guilty by Definition, which reveals the plot through the examination of language and the solving of puzzles. In The Life Impossible by Matt Haig, mathematical concepts frequently appear throughout the novel as former mathematics teacher, Grace Winters, tells her story.

When Grace received an email from a former student who was going through a difficult time she replied by sending him a story about her recent challenges as she attempted to come to terms with perceived mistakes in her life.

When Grace received a letter saying she had received an inheritance of a cottage in Ibiza she decided to take a one-way ticket to the island. A letter from Christina provided suggestions of things she should do including visiting Albert at Atlantis Scuba at Cala d'Hort. Albert suggests that if she really wants to discover what happened to Christina she should go on his boat with him to explore part of the sea at midnight. While swimming she encounters a blue light in the water and her life changes.

As Grace endeavours to learn how to use her new power she also has to come to terms with the grief and guilt she is still suffering after the death of her son and later her husband. In time Grace realises that she needs to work with Marta and Albert to carry out Christina's goals of protecting the wildlife on the island and saving the island from further development.

Matt Haig has written another thought provoking novel taking the reader into another world.

The Midnight Library

For Nora there appeared to be no reason for living until she found herself in a space between life and death. In the Midnight Library she once again met her former school librarian, Mrs Elm, who introduced Nora to a heavy volume listing the many regrets that Nora had about life. The rest of the library was full of books that allowed Nora to slide back to the incident causing the regret and discover the outcome good or bad that could have occurred. What may her life been if she had made other choices? The more life events that Nora encounters, the lighter the book of regrets becomes.

As Nora investigates how her life may have been she gradually realises that much of her life had been lived endevouring to please family and friends and often the regrets that she accrued were not necessarily due to her own faults. As Nora learns more about herself she realises that she really wants and needs to live.

In The Midnight Library Matt Haig uses the concept of the possibility of many lives lived governed by choices made and allows characters to slide (time travel) between those lives. However this only works when the clock in the Midnight Library remains at 12 pm. Once time moves on the Midnight Library will be destroyed. The Midnight Library is about the many choices we make in life and adjusting to the relationships and consequences that can arise from those choices.