The Life Impossible

Grace writes back to Maurice, thanking him for his email. She expresses her condolences for all he’s been through and sympathizes with him. By way of advice, she says that she’s going to tell him a story about her recent experiences in Ibiza. She understands his guilt and grief and hopes that the story will help. She attaches it to the email.

Grace starts her story in the third person. She is living in a bungalow in Lincolnshire. Since retiring, she has spent her time visiting the doctor and cemetery and volunteering at the charity shop. Otherwise, she watches television, reads, or does word puzzles. She’s 72 and has let her former hobbies go. She’s felt lonely and guilty ever since her son, Daniel, died in 1992. She blames herself for the tragedy and feels even more alone now that Karl is dead. She was recently scammed out of her savings, too, and feels foolish.

Grace apologizes to Maurice for being melancholy and promises that the rest of her story will be better.

Grace gets surgery “to reverse the blood flow” in her legs (8), as she’s been worried about her varicose veins. While lying in the chair, she muses on her prolonged state of sadness and displeasure. To distract herself, she thinks about the letter she received before the surgery.

Grace received a letter from a lawyer saying that her former colleague Christina van der Berg, formerly Christina Papadakis, left Grace her house in Ibiza, Spain. Grace didn’t know her well but invited her to spend Christmas together in 1979. Over drinks and food, Christina told Grace about her dreams of becoming a famous singer. Grace encouraged her to follow her dreams and gave her her childhood St. Christopher pendant. Back at school after the holidays, Christina profusely thanked Grace for her kindness. Despite this evening together, Grace couldn’t understand why Christina would leave her home to her.

Grace asked the solicitor how Christina died. The Spanish authorities were investigating her death but only knew that she’d died at sea. This mystery intrigued Grace.

Grace thinks about math problems during her surgery. Then, the doctor asks if she’ll be flying soon. Grace lies and says no, although she’s decided to go to Ibiza. Before leaving, she visits the cemetery.

Grace sits in front of Daniel’s grave. She doesn’t normally talk to him the way she talks to Karl. His death still haunts her. In April 1992, she refused to take Daniel to the shops. He took his bike and headed to town alone in the rain and was hit by a truck. Finally, she tells Daniel that she loves and misses him. Then, she visits Karl’s grave. She tells him that she’s going to Ibiza, apologizes for what she did, and says that she loves him.

Grace flies to Ibiza. On the plane, she studies the other passengers and listens to their conversations, feeling out of place. A woman and her baby trigger memories of Daniel. Finally, the plane starts its descent, and Grace studies a large rock down below. After landing, she sits in her seat, feeling transposed like a number in an equation. Outside the airport, she watches two attractive women saying goodbye. She realizes that she has no idea what she’s doing.

Grace takes a taxi to Christina’s house. She and the driver, Pau, chat along the way, as Pau is familiar with the house. He also tells Grace about Ibiza, insisting that the island is strange and mysterious. Grace notices that she’s feeling an unfamiliar emotion while studying the passing landscape. Then, she sees a red bike on the ground and starts working out percentages in her head.

Pau continues telling Grace about Ibiza and how the island is changing. Residents don’t like the development. However, Ibicencos are superstitious and believe in aliens. Grace isn’t sure what he means.

The house underwhelms Grace when she arrives. She notices a billboard across the street “for a deluxe hotel” (34), the latest Eighth Wonder spa and resort.

Grace feels tingling when she lets herself in, unsure if it’s due to the surgery or fear. Inside, she notices that the house is dusty. She studies the framed photos on the walls and wonders again why Christina chose her.

Grace moves around the house, searching for answers. She studies Christina’s vinyl and book collections. The book Impossible Life by Alberto Ribas intrigues her. Then, she finds an opened jar of olives filled with briny water. She dumps the water and then finds a letter from Christina to her in the hall. In the letter, Christina thanks Grace for coming and explains her love for Ibiza. She reveals that she knows she’s going to die and then encourages Grace to enjoy life on the island, listing the places she should visit. She reminds Grace that age doesn’t matter there and that she should enjoy herself. The car in the driveway is also for her.

Grace tries to make sense of the letter, unnerved that Christina predicted her death. She wonders about the places she told her to see and reflects on her life since Daniel’s death while unpacking. She lies down and tries to nap but can’t sleep.

Grace realizes that she needs to figure out the truth about Christina’s death.

Grace gets up and notices that the olive jar is filled with water again. She dumps it out, wondering if something is wrong with her.

Grace doesn’t believe in magic, as she grew up Catholic. She prefers math because it’s factual.

Grace tells Maurice about set theory. The theory makes her wonder if she might see the world differently.

Grace drives to the Santa Gertrudis supermarket, Christina’s first recommended stop. She walks around asking about Es Vedrà, discovering that it’s a rock in the sea where strange things have happened.

Grace talks to a woman named Rosella at the grocery store. She knows who Grace is, as Christina told her that she’d be coming. Rosella explains that Christina worked as a psychic in more recent years. She also reveals that Christina was married to a man named Johan, with whom she had a daughter, Lieke. Lieke has since become a famous singer and DJ and often plays at the local Amnesia club. However, Christina and Lieke didn’t have an easy relationship. Rosella then encourages Grace to try diving but warns her about Atlantis Scuba and its owner, Alberto Ribas.

Grace returns to the house and discovers a yellow flower out front that she didn’t notice before. The olive jar is also refilled with seawater. She thinks about Alexandre Dumas’s books and her favorite Sherlock Holmes stories, unsure what’s going on.

Grace makes herself some food and puts on a movie. The film reminds her of Daniel. Then, someone knocks on the door, startling her. She feels scared when she opens the door to a large man. He asks for Christina and gives Grace a bag of gummy bears to give to her.