Starred review from July 22, 2024
In Haig’s magnificent latest (after The Midnight Library), a retired math teacher unexpectedly inherits property in Ibiza and escapes her static life in Lincolnshire, England. Upon hearing the news, widowed Grace Winters takes up residence in the ramshackle house left to her by her old friend Christina. In a note, Christina suggests Grace find a man called Alberto to show her the miraculous seagrass meadow beneath the Mediterranean. Grace, who doesn’t know how Christina died, determines to follow her late friend’s advice but is unable to appreciate the island’s scenery due to her guilt over her 11-year-old son’s death in a bicycle accident 30 years earlier. Her mood changes, though, when Alberto takes her scuba diving and she’s touched underwater by a shape-shifting blue light, which Alberto calls La Presencia and claims is a portal to another planet. Her encounter with the light also gives her mind-reading and telekinetic powers, which she first tries out in quotidian situations, often to humorous effect, such as when she makes an obnoxious restaurant patron stab himself with a fork. Soon, though, she applies her newfound abilities to a higher purpose, joining a battle to save the island from an unscrupulous developer. Haig’s spellbinding descriptions of the portal and its powers lend themselves to the convincing conceit that Grace, thanks to her encounter with La Presencia, is not only able to change her life but to make a difference in her new community. In Haig’s sure hands, magic comes to breathtaking life. Agent: Clare Conville, C&W Agency.
December 6, 2024
Seventy-two-year-old widow Grace Winters is shocked out of her dreary complacency and lingering grief when she unexpectedly inherits a house in Ibiza from Christina, an acquaintance she met decades earlier. Against conventional reason and her doctor's orders, Grace boards a plane to the Spanish island and embarks on an unexpected, life-altering journey. Though the house turns out to be less than picture-perfect, Grace is charmed by Ibiza and the people she encounters, including Alberto, an eccentric scuba instructor whose secrets may be the key to understanding Christina's mystery-shrouded death. Actor Joanna Lumley narrates Grace as she describes, in the form of a letter to Morris (a down-on-his-luck former student), the supernatural wonders that upend her life and help her find strength, forgiveness, and joy. Lumley's voice rings with tenderness and wonder as she recounts Grace's wild adventures, which introduce telekinetic powers, mind-reading, and even extraterrestrials into her life. Jordan Stephens narrates the return correspondence from Morris, where his gloom turns to hope, providing a satisfying window into the good that Grace brings into the world. VERDICT Some fans of Haig's The Midnight Library may be perplexed at the fantastical turns in his new novel, but others will find this gracefully narrated audio a balm. Expect many holds and consider purchasing multiple copies.--Sarah Hashimoto
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