The Life Impossible, by Matt Haig

 

Characters

Grace Winters Karl – husband, deceased Daniel – son, deceased   Christina Papadakis van der Berg – friends with Grace as a young adult Johan – husband Lieke van der Berg – daughter, musician   Alberto Ribas - biologist Marta – daughter, astrophysicist and environmentalist   Art Butler – Eighth Wonder resorts   Sofia Torres – politician   “La Presencia”   Francisco Palau – priest, saw the arrival of La Presencia in 1855, disappeared in ocean like Christina, left handwritten biography in church   Es Vedra – rock formation in ocean offshore of Ibiza   Maurice Augustine – Grace’s former student, recipient of letter/story

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the hardback edition.

1.      Discuss Grace.  When she came to Ibiza, she “sincerely believed I wasn’t a good person who deserved happiness” (page 71).  How did she change and grow throughout the novel?  Were you able to understand how she felt about Daniel’s death?  

2.      How did Grace being a mathematician influence her character in the story?

3.      Discuss the other characters, particularly Alberto and Christina.  Were you able to connect to them and understand their motivations?

 

4.      Did you like all of the references to math?  Did that add to or subtract from the story line for you?  For example:

a.      Page 49 – “Politics and sociology and history and psychology have facts you have to interpret.  But in mathematics, facts are just facts.”

b.      Page 314 – “it was only recently that she understood why the subject (math) was such therapy for her. It is because, in mathematics, you realise that balance and symmetry is actually in everything, even when it feels like chaos and pain.”

5.      What did you think at the beginning of the story when the olive jar magically refilled with liquid and glowed?

6.      When Grace was examining Francisco Palau’s manuscript, she thinks “I suppose that is one of the purposes of all reading.  It helps you live lives beyond the one you are inside” (page 173).  She compared reading to time travel and writes “It connects us to everyone and everywhere and every time and every imagined dream” (page 173).  Have you had these experiences when reading?  If so, what was a memorable one?

7.      There are a lot of miscellaneous things referenced in the book: Miss Marple (page 70), Sherlock Holmes (page 66), the Bible (page 182), reading, and mathematics throughout.  Did they add to the story for you?  Why do you think the author did that?

8.      Did you like the format of the novel being a letter to Maurice? 

9.      Was the end of the story satisfying to you?  For example, when Grace collapsed at the press conference, she had a vision where she was talking with Daniel when he told her to let her guilt go.  Also, the cormorants and a man o’ war jelly fish came ashore and killed Art.

10. Why do you think Alberto decided to die a human death as opposed to swimming through the portal?

11. On page 226 in the chapter “Islands Don’t Exist,” Grace thinks, “We need to look after each other.  And when it feels like we are truly, deeply alone, that is the moment when we most need to do something in order to remember how we connect.”  Do you think the author is sending this message to the reader or is it just part of Grace’s character?