Review: 'A Lifetime of Impossible Days' by Tabitha Bird
Synopsis: On one impossible day in 1965, eight-year-old Willa receives a mysterious box containing a jar of water and the instruction: ‘One ocean: plant in the backyard.’ So she does - and somehow creates an extraordinary time slip that allows her to visit her future selves.
On one impossible day in 1990, Willa is 33 and a mother-of-two when her childhood self magically appears in her backyard. But she’s also a woman haunted by memories of her dark past - and is on the brink of a decisions that will have tragic repercussions...
On on impossible day in 2050, Willa is a silver-haired, gumboot-loving 93-year-old whose memory is fading fast. Yet she knows there’s something she has to remember, a warning she must give her past selves about a terrible event in 1990. If only she could recall what it was.
Can the three Wiullas come together, to heal their past and save their future, before it’s too late?
There are some books that completely suck you in from the beginning with the writing. For me this is key in setting the book up, to relate to the characters and see the setting in my mind as I read. With this book, that 100% happened, not only to follow the story but for all the other elements that are so frequently overlooked that make a story stay with you for a long time.
In particular, amongst many things that I loved about this story, was the role that tone had in the writing. This book is both heartbreaking and playful, harrowing yet smile-inducing. It works because of the tone that Ms Bird has set throughout the story, and enables the plot to be swept up in so many emotions and in so many different times all at once.
Many of these topics are not easy, and to those that may wish to read it, I give a warning that this book includes domestic abuse and mental illnesses. Yet, the way in which the author weaved this into the book was done sensitively and as a result I found that I liked the three Willas more. The inclusion of magical elements in the plot also helped lessen the heavines and helped to create the childlike, and wondrous tone within the story that I enjoyed so much.
Furthermore, whilst this centres on the one character, I really loved the mischievousness of Willa aged 93. Her zest for life and being unapologetically herself brought a smile to my face as I was reading.
One criticism that I did have came with the switching between Willa at different points of her life. Though at times it could be effective, I also could find it somewhat confusing to follow along with, predominantly when time travel became part of the story, and at climax points crucial to the story.
However, for a book that touched on heavy subject matters, and included magical and time travel elements, it remained raw and realistic with well crafted characters which was tied together so beautifully by such graceful writing.
* I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
ISBN: 9781760899905
RRP: $19.99
Publication Date: June 2019
Publisher: Penguin Books
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