The Life Impossible by Matt Haig

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The Life Impossible by Matt Haig is one of the best books I have read this year. It was about a student who grew up and emailed one of his favorite teachers about a hard time in his life. The teacher wrote back with an entire book attached to her email. The teacher, Grace Winters, was a retired math teacher from the US who inherited a house in Ibiza. When she travels to Ibiza, she is immediately introduced to the mysteries that had caused the death of her friend. She meets many different people, one of whom is a scuba diver, Alberto. Alberto knew her friend and was hiding something from Grace. This leads to many adventures and new information. At the end of the story, we see more emails from the student, which I thought was a really nice touch.

I really liked the entire system of magic that Matt Haig established. He does a great job blending reality with magical ideals. It's a concept that is found in a lot of Latin American literature, notably in Gabriel García Márquez's novels. The concept of magical realism seamlessly blends the real and tangible aspects of the world with magical elements.

I also found the whole emailing your teacher idea really interesting. I like the idea of keeping in touch with teachers through adulthood. Even just feeling comfortable enough to reach out is such an amazing thing. Grace Winters was an amazing character because she had been through so many traumatic and heartbreaking things, but was still able to keep going. 

I have read other Matt Haig books, and this one is my favorite so far. He did a really good job with Grace Winters and made her a relatable character. Winters experienced so much and still kept going because it felt like something that she needed to do. She went to Ibiza on a whim to figure out what happened to her friend. This feels like something an actual person would do. Haig also made the setting just beautiful. It took place in Ibiza, but there was a lot of time spent in the local restaurants and scuba diving places. I think that brought a lot more character to such a famous location.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes books about grief, old age (in a funny way), and environmentalism.

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