Review by Booklist Review
Haig's anxiously awaited follow-up to The Midnight Library (2020) proves that it's never too late to change your life. Grace Winters is a retired math teacher and widow who lost a young son many years ago. In an extended letter to a former student, Grace spins the tale of her move to Ibiza, a Mediterranean island off the coast of Spain. An old friend has willed Grace a home there. While she is shocked, she is compelled to go, even at the age of 72. The island is lush and green; the house is not so much, but Grace is entranced all the same. When she realizes that her friend may have disappeared under mysterious circumstances, Grace becomes obsessed with finding out what happened. It turns out the answer is far more complicated than a simple murder or kidnapping, and it leads Grace to a bizarre and transformative experience deep under the sea. Haig's incomparable style, complete with short chapters and lovely descriptions, will draw readers back; they will be captivated by Grace's shrewdness and bravery.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
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. (Sept.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Four years after the death of her husband, retired math teacher Grace Winters is still trudging through life in her bungalow in Yorkshire, with an unchanging routine, no real interests, and a sense of fading away. Then a letter arrives to inform Grace that Christina, an old university friend, has bequeathed Grace her house on the Spanish island of Ibiza. Grace soon learns that Christina's suspicious death is under investigation. Compelled to find out about the mysterious circumstances, she packs her bags and sets out to find out exactly what happened to her old friend. As Grace reaches out to Christina's family and friends, strange and mystifying experiences challenge her to assess her own emotional well-being. After years of denying herself simple pleasures and paying penance for past missteps, Grace must overcome her lifelong feelings of guilt and inadequacy in order to save those who need her in their lives. VERDICT Bestselling Haig (The Midnight Library) skillfully and humorously wraps a fantastical tale around his exploration of the transformative nature of emotions as individuals connect with each other, much like in the work of Fredrik Backman.--Joy Gunn
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A British widow travels to Ibiza and learns that it's never too late to have a happy life. In a world that seems to be getting more unstable by the moment, Haig's novels are a steady ship in rough seas, offering a much-needed positive message. In works like the bestsellingThe Midnight Library (2020), he reminds us that finding out what you truly love and where you belong in the universe are the foundations of building a better existence. His latest book continues this upbeat messaging, albeit in a somewhat repetitive and facile way. Retired British schoolteacher Grace Winters discovers that an old acquaintance has died and left her a ramshackle home in Ibiza. A widow who lost her only child years earlier, Grace is at first reluctant to visit the house, because, at 72, she more or less believes her chance for happiness is over--but when she rouses herself to travel to the island, she discovers the opposite is true. A mystery surrounds her friend's death involving a roguish islander, his activist daughter, an internationally famous DJ, and a strange glow in the sea that acts as a powerful life force and upends Grace's ideas of how the cosmos works. Framed as a response to a former student's email, the narrative follows Grace's journey from skeptic (she was a math teacher, after all) to believer in the possibility of magic as she learns to move on from the past. Her transformation is the book's main conflict, aside from a protest against an evil developer intent on destroying Ibiza's natural beauty. The outcome is never in doubt, and though the story often feels stretched to the limit--this novel could have easily been a novella--the author's insistence on the power of connection to change lives comes through loud and clear. Haig's positive message will keep his fans happy. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
