The Life Impossible

Alberto is a primary character. He is an elderly man in the narrative present. His wife, Julia, died some time before the narrative present. Her death created “all kinds of issues” for Alberto and particularly caused him to become reliant on alcohol and pull away from his daughter, Marta (161). After he encountered La Presencia, however, he began to change. The underwater spiritual presence helped him “to get sober” (161), appreciate his life, and inspire his relational growth with Christina and Marta. Alberto tells Grace that before he met Christina, he was as lonely as a blue whale. Unlike others, Christina seemed to understand Alberto and helped him appreciate his self-worth. Christina, therefore, acted as a force for good in Alberto’s life and character evolution. In turn, Alberto becomes a positive influence in Grace’s life.

Alberto acts as Grace’s archetypal guide after she arrives in Ibiza. The other islanders insist that he knows what happened to Christina, claims that lead Grace into Alberto’s orbit. When they first meet, Grace is terrified of Alberto. She tells Maurice that he has “the look not so much of a pirate but a castaway, with the unkempt hair and the beard escaping his face in every direction, and youthful eyes that sh[i]ne like a sunrise through an ancient ruin” (81). Despite his alluring eyes, Alberto “trigger[s] a primal sense of disgust” in Grace and convinces her that he’s both untrustworthy and dangerous (81). However, the more time that she spends with Alberto, the more attached she becomes to him. She begins to see his humanity and empathizes with his experience. Furthermore, Alberto invests in Grace’s life in unexpected ways. He constantly reminds her that she is special and worthy of happiness. He helps her understand life in Ibiza and explore herself and the world around her in new ways.

Alberto is dying of cancer in the narrative present and passes away in the latter chapters of the novel. Grace doesn’t discover the truth of Alberto’s condition until she accesses his oncologist’s mind at the airport. Afterward, Alberto opens his mind to Grace and allows her to see his vulnerability. The characters become closer as a result. In the days preceding his death, Alberto considers going to Salacia. However, he decides against doing so when he realizes that he’s had a good life and that he wants to live out the rest of his days on Earth. This decision captures the heart of Alberto’s character and his longing to live and die authentically. Grace and Marta mourn his death together, scatter his ashes into the sea, and celebrate his life on his boat at the novel’s end. They also fulfill Alberto’s dying wish by living fully on his behalf after he passes. His enigmatic and magnetic character helps Grace open herself to new experiences and people.

Christina is another primary character. She and Grace knew one another in the 1970s when they were working as colleagues in the school system. At this time, Christina used her birth name, Christina Papadakis. In December 1979, Grace noticed how sad and lonely Christina seemed and invited her to spend Christmas with her. This display of kindness changed Christina’s life. Grace’s empathy and care inspired Christina to leave the school system and move to Ibiza to pursue her dreams of becoming a singer. Over the following decades, Grace continued to occupy an important place in Christina’s heart. The women didn’t stay in touch, but Christina told all her new friends about Grace. At the start of Grace’s narrative, Christina has left Grace her home in Ibiza after her alleged death.

Christina is a mysterious character who was imbued with mystical gifts after she encountered La Presencia. She became clairvoyant and decided to use her talents to help others. She became particularly passionate about protecting the fragile ecosystems of Ibiza and protesting the development company Eighth Wonder’s attempts to destroy the island habitats to build new resorts and hotels. When she realized that someone was going to kill her, she retreated to the underwater planet of Salacia and summoned Grace to Ibiza to complete her work.

She doesn’t appear in scenes throughout the novel, but her presence is a constant force in Grace’s new island life. Grace often channels Christina’s thoughts, memories, and feelings. She sees Christina’s past when studying her photographs and hears her voice when Alberto shows her videos of Christina talking. In these contexts, Christina is caring, empathetic, and gracious. Christina is another guide in Grace’s life and helps lead Grace through her grief and toward a more meaningful, fulfilled life.

Maurice is a secondary character and is Grace’s former student. In the narrative present, he is 22 years old and on the verge of completing his university degree in mathematics. At the novel’s start, he emails Grace after running into another of his former teachers. His email is intimate and confessional and reveals Maurice’s fragility; his mother recently died, and Maurice is in a state of despair. He expresses a desire to help his sister but feels stuck in a state of depression—due to both his loss and the state of the world. As a character, Maurice is unmoored, largely due to the grief that immobilizes him.

Maurice contacts Grace because he remembers how kind she always was to him and he wants help and guidance. Grace immediately relates to Maurice’s emotional state and offers him her story as a way to help him heal and grow. The entirety of Grace’s narrative is addressed to Maurice. Much like Christina’s character, Maurice doesn’t appear in any scenes, but his presence pervades the narrative.

Art is a secondary character and is also the novel’s antagonist. He is the owner and operator of the development company Eighth Wonder. Roughly a year before the narrative present, he struck a deal with Ibiza’s powerful politician, Sofía Torres, to start a new development project on the island. He has luxury hotels and resorts all over the world and has made plans to build a new resort on Ibiza’s Es Vedrà. Throughout the novel, the characters endeavor to stop Art from destroying this fragile ecosystem. His wicked, heartless attempts to develop Ibiza’s land augment the narrative tension.

Grace later discovers that Art encountered La Presencia when he was a boy. Art is English, and he was visiting Ibiza with his family during a summer holiday. Distracted, his parents didn’t notice when Art disappeared into the water. He almost drowned, during which time he saw the enigmatic underwater light. He has the same powers as Grace, Christina, and Alberto, but he uses them for evil instead of good. His character is an archetypal villain, as he is greedy, self-involved, and nefarious. He doesn’t change as a result of his experiences. Ultimately, he dies during the climactic press conference scene when a snake bites him.

Marta is a secondary character and is Alberto’s daughter. Grace is immediately drawn to her when they meet. Marta’s activist endeavors and determination to stop Art Butler from destroying Es Vedrà also move her. Marta, in turn, helps Grace see the power that one individual has to create change. This demonstrates her dedication to fighting for what is right. After they successfully save Es Vedrà, Grace and Marta become close friends, and they become particularly invested in one another’s lives after Alberto’s death. Marta is as caring and gentle with Grace as Christina and Alberto and reminds Grace of the importance and power of close friendships.