The Impossible Thing
-
-
4.0 • 3 Ratings
-
-
- $12.99
Publisher Description
A New York Times and Guardian Best Thriller of the Year
A Deadly Pleasures and Minnesota Star Tribune Best Book of the Year
“A cliffhanger of a tale . . . Around the mystery of the fate of the so-called Metland Egg, Bauer constructs a multigenerational drama as captivating as the fabled object itself . . . rich in humor and suspense.”—Wall Street Journal
From the exceptionally original mind of CWA Gold Dagger Award winner and Booker longlisted author Belinda Bauer, a sweeping tale of obsession, greed, ambition, and a crime that has remained unsolved for a hundred years
How do you find something that doesn’t exist?
1926. On the cliffs of Yorkshire, men are lowered on ropes to steal the eggs of the sea birds who nest there. The most beautiful are sold for large sums. A small girl—penniless and neglected by her family—retrieves one such treasure. Its discovery will forever alter the course of her life.
A century later. In a remote cottage in Wales, Patrick Fort finds his friend, Nick, and his mother tied up and robbed. The only thing missing: a carved case containing an incredible scarlet egg. Doggedly attempting to retrieve it, Patrick and Nick discover the cruel world of egg trafficking, and soon find themselves on the trail of a priceless collection of eggs lost to history. Until now.
A taut, wonderfully imagined novel brimming with skullduggery at every turn, The Impossible Thing is a blazing testament to Belinda Bauer’s status as one of our greatest living crime writers.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bauer (Exit) tugs at the heartstrings in this extraordinary literary mystery that unfolds across intersecting timelines. In 1926, young Celie Sheppard retrieves a striking red egg from a guillemot's nest near her home in Yorkshire. With rare egg collecting booming in the region, Celie's discovery rescues her family from poverty—the egg's particular hue has never been seen before, and Celie finds it on a cliff near Metland Farm that's too treacherous for full-grown men to navigate. Her mother sells the egg to pay months of back rent, and enters into a contract to sell any other eggs that Celie finds. Eventually, the broker who buys Celie's egg is murdered. Bauer alternates that narrative thread with one set in the 21st century, in which a post about one of the so-called "Metland eggs" on eBay triggers a robbery that pits brothers Patrick and Nick Fort against an international crime ring. Bauer's deep empathy—for both her human characters and for the birds whose nests are looted—elevates the immersive and unpredictable plot. It's another winner from an impressively versatile writer.
