Foresight is not always a gift…
Natasha Rothwell leads a sheltered life with her beautiful, bohemian mother in a crumbling house by the sea. From a young age she has been beset by strange dreams that she believes predict the future.
The summer Natasha turns fifteen, strange dancing lights appear in the sky above her small seaside town, lights that she interprets as portents of doom and which lead her to reveal her gift to the small, insular community. Meanwhile, the arrival of a new lodger, the handsome Mr Bowen, threatens to upset the delicate equilibrium between mother and daughter.
As news of the lights spreads, more and more visitors arrive, creating a feverish atmosphere of anticipation and dread. Then a local teenager goes missing, and Natasha is called on to use her powers to help. But her actions over that long, hot summer will have unforeseen and ultimately tragic consequences that will cast a shadow for many years to come…
The Beauty of Impossible Things was a melancholic and haunting novel, with some absolutely beautiful writing and a pervading sense of unease throughout.
Natasha is not like other children, her way of seeing the world is different and often disturbing. Over the course of one long and intimate summer, her inner self will affect the world around her in an enduring and life changing way.
I wouldn’t want to say much beyond that, this novel is one its best to approach with no preconceptions. Rachel Donohue has a poetic way with words and a strong sense of place and people that just sinks you into the world she creates here. It is a story that ultimately invades your unconscious mind and leaves you picking at the edges of it long after you are done.
The Beauty of Impossible Things is a literary delight, a short sharp snapshot of time, a time that affects all who live through it for the rest of their lives.
Terrific. Recommended.
You can purchase The Beauty of Impossible Things (Corvus) Here.
Happy Reading!
