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lizzie_wann 's review for:
This Impossible Brightness
by Jessica Bryant Klagmann
I started this book then got caught up in the Nora Roberts series so put this one off. But I'm so glad I finally got back into it. What an interesting and bleakly hopeful book! I know that sounds odd, but it's a story that looks ahead to our world as it takes on, or really, suffers from, the climate change crisis. But it's done so beautifully. Alma Hughes, after suffering a deep loss, decides to move to a small coastal town, Violette, where her aunt and cousins live. The town is slowly sinking due to climate change and taking the brunt of ever-increasing fierce storms. The people of the town are hearty as you can imagine but also eccentric in various ways. Plus the radio tower at the top of a mountain near the town allows for some random broadcasts to be heard through various items in the town like tea kettles and light bulbs. Alma is a quiet person, almost off-puttingly so, and shortly after she arrives, a massive storm hits Violette, and things change a bit. She is suddenly able to see and interact with three people plus her dog who died at the same time that the storm hit. In a strange twist, the people of the town no longer remember any of the people who died. It is only until Alma shares their stories that the bodies are discovered and the memories are restored.
This novel was so original to me, and when the metaphor extended to Alma setting off to tell the stories of the earth and what once was (now in the year 2058) was quite beautiful, and like I said, bleakly hopeful.
This novel was so original to me, and when the metaphor extended to Alma setting off to tell the stories of the earth and what once was (now in the year 2058) was quite beautiful, and like I said, bleakly hopeful.