The Life Impossible cover art

The Life Impossible

 Preview

Audible Standard 30-day free trial

Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Standard auto renews for £5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Life Impossible

By: Matt Haig
Narrated by: Joanna Lumley, Jordan Stephens
Try Standard free

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £14.88

Buy Now for £14.88

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 Feel-Good Inspiring Thought-Provoking Heartfelt Funny

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
I loved The Midnight Library so much it made me very excited to listen to this and I was not disappointed. It’s a story that deals with love , grief , guilt and many other things. The narration by Joanna Lumley really brought the story to life and I see Joanna as Grace in a tv or film adaptation. The blurb for this novel does not give away where the plot goes and I couldn’t have imagined going the way it did and it was a great surprise. I highly recommended this book, another great book by Matt Haig.

Another great story from Matt Haig

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The start and about first quarter of the story was very good. But when it got into the detail it became more and more far fetched and fantastical - too much to believe., it read as though it was a childs book. There was a lot of over emotive descriptions that seemed to be trying to justify the content which further detracted from the story

A bit too far fetched

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Not as good as the amazing Midnight Library. I would have stopped reading it halfway through if I hadn't bought the audio . Some good philosophical / stuff help comments.
Joanne Lumbley narrated the story beautifully, but it was very bizarre that in the novel, Grace said she had she haf never been to Spain and couldn't speak Spanish. However she read signs of cafes, billboards and hospital signs in a Spanish accent. That was not believable and I'm surprised the producer didn't notice .

interesting concept

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I absolutely loved this book, beautifully told by the wonderful Joanna Lumley; what a voice! I haven’t read a fiction book in some time and ached to find something I could lose myself in; something heartfelt, something spiritual, something fantastical, something hopeful. This beautiful tale had it all and left me feeling that sense of hope about humanity, about life that you yearn for when times are truly dark. Thank you for this wonderful book Matt Haig. It was totally uplifting. I adored listening to this.

A Beautiful Tale

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
… I can’t find the words. But thank you Mr. Haig - not for the first time, your words make me feel ‘a part of’.

Thank you.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews