Matt Haig has a knack for writing supernatural stories with depth and meaning that explore what it means to be human. The Life Impossible fits this description. The novel is philosophical in a fun and imaginative way, with a bit of a mystery woven into the plot. Add to that superb reading by Joanna Lumley, and you get a recipe for a very enjoyable story.

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I’ll begin with a quick summary of The Life Impossible. Wish me luck – it’s a little hard to describe.

Retired math professor Grace is alone and out of sorts. Her husband of many years recently died, and she’s still haunted by the death of her young son in a tragic accident many years ago. She’s consumed by guilt for what she perceives as the parental neglect that led to her son’s death. When she looks back upon her life, she concludes that she was a terrible mother, a bad wife (for cheating on her husband), and a mediocre teacher.

However, her friend, Christina, from long ago has a very different opinion of Grace. Decades back, Christina was facing a solitary Christmas when Grace invited her over for the evening and kept her company. This one gesture of kindness left a lasting impression on Christina, so much so that she leaves her island house to Grace when she mysteriously disappears and is presumed dead.

Grace is perplexed by her inheritance. She had only known Christina for a few months before she left for Ibiza and she hadn’t heard from her since. Nevertheless, she’s curious and available, so she packs her bags and buys a one-way ticket to Ibiza in hopes of finding out what really happened to her friend.

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When she reaches the island, she is greeted by a rundown house, a rather mysterious letter from Christina, and a glowing bottle of seawater that refills itself after Grace dumps the water in the yard. These are all pieces of a puzzle she slowly begins to assemble. As Grace searches through the contents of Christina’s former home and speaks to people who know her, she comes to realize that her friend had unusual powers and an uncanny ability to accurately see into the future.

One of the people Grace speaks to about Christina is Alberto, a former biologist who now runs a dive shop after leaving his former profession in disgrace. Everything about Alberto is derelict – his body, his manners, his shop, and his boat – but the reader soon learns there’s a heart of gold under his overly profuse body hair.

Alberto was on a dive with Christina when she disappeared, and Grace throws caution to the wind and hires Alberto to teach her how to dive. She wants to see where her friend spent her last moments. On her fateful first dive, Grace has an extraterrestrial encounter, winds up in a hospital, and wakes up to find that she now has magical powers even stronger than Christina’s.

For the sake of brevity and not revealing too much, I’ll say this about the rest of the book: Grace teams up with Alberto and his daughter, an environmentalist, to stop the development of a landmark off the island’s coast. This culminates in an X-men like battle. Grace also has a type of vision in which she talks to her son and comes away from that conversation with her heavy burden of guilt lifted. With that gone, she’s ready to make a fresh start and decides to stay in Ibiza with her new friends.

Parts of my The Life Impossible summary might make it sound a little hokey, but it totally worked for me. Matt Haig is talented at blending the real with the supernatural to create engaging and sometimes wryly humorous stories with meaningful themes.

I liked the use of humor in the novel, especially the banter between Grace and Alberto, as well as Grace’s sometimes irreverent musings. This makes the characters extra likeable and human. I also appreciated the themes of self-forgiveness, saving the environment from unnecessary development, and remaking yourself at any age.

I’m glad I listened to the audiobook version of The Life Impossible because the reader, Joanna Lumley, is fantastic! Lumley, a former Bond girl and star of the BBC comedy series Absolutely Fabulous, seems to be new to book narration. I hope she does many more!

If you’ve read The Life Impossible, what did you think?

For another good read from Matt Haig, check out The Midnight Library.