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A review by ejl2623
The Impossible Thing by Belinda Bauer
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The characters and the story crafted around wild bird egg collecting are stunningly well written. It opens in the present day with someone named Garrett trying to catch a man named Barr as he digs up some sort of contraband. They show up much later on and all is explained. Then, we are on a cliff in Yorkshire overlooking the sea. It is 1920m and the "climbers" are at work. Men are lowered down via ropes to steal seabird eggs from nests which they sell, sometimes for quite a lot of money.
Next, we meet Celie, a tiny little girl who is obviously not the offspring of her mother's husband. She is always treated as less than, blamed for the family's fall into poverty when the other four kids' father left their mother. Their rental farm now has only one farmhand, Robbie, who has some sort of intellectual disability. Celie is left to his care and she feels very close to him. While their farm, Metland, borders on the cliffs, there is an overhang that prevents climming, so no one works this area for the lucrative birds' eggs. And then, Celie convinces Robbie to drop her down in this dangerous area because she wants the family to get some eggs for omelettes. They must sell the farm eggs and she is not fed very well, so this is something of an obsession for her. And one of the eggs she grabs and saves without breakage is so unique it becomes known as the Metland egg. This gives rise to an egg hoarding greedy man's efforts as well as those of other egg collectors. to secure ownership of the egg and leads to years of resentment and competition over what happened to it and who ended up purchasing it. Can't share why, exactly without a spoiler, but I will say that much is learned about different seabirds as we follow the machinations of the many 1920 egg afficionados, and it is not boring but fascinating and totally integrated into the story.
Meanwhile in a remote area of present day Wales, Patrick, a young man with some sort of intellectual disability finds his friend Nick (next door neighbor/friend to but user of Patrick) and Nick's mother tied up. They were robbed of something odd that Nick had tried to sell on eBay. He had withdrawn from offer the scarlet egg nestled in an elaborately carved box because, he was notified by eBay that in 2025 it is illegal to possess wild bird eggs. Oh, there's a museum with a large collection, but new collecting is forbidden and possession can lead to serious criminal charges. Nick is not one to take this lying down. He is a man of principals, as is hilariously illustrated in a story over an argument he had about a set of silver spoons he bought on eBay. In fact, the relationship between Patrick and Nick and their escapades connected with trying to track down the egg are often slapstick.
Celie's story is a more serious tale of how her life was both changed for the better but caused her to live a restrictive life for quite a while after her find improved her family's financial well-being. We follow her from her original find to young adulthood and root for her all the way. The story of Celie is lovely and complex and she is a person we want to see be okay. At all times, she has a strength beyond her stature and years.
The novel unwinds in the two timeframes and not always chronologically in each, although it is not hard to follow. The legal status of eggs and egg collecting as well as the unpleasant nature of the collectors featured in the past and present in this piece of historical fiction plays an important role throughout. Read the shorter vignettes that pop up, as well as all the pieces of the longer stories because everything is interesting. The smaller interspersed stories do show that there are environmentally conscious good folks out there protecting eggs.
In any event, I read this novel in the equivalent of one sitting with a night's sleep in the middle. A very late start to that night's sleep. The characters alone make this an exceptional book, but to make eggs so interesting to a reader who did not come to this novel with such an interest takes a gift beyond my comprehension. Read this if you care about good writing, like a good mystery, enjoy historical fiction and enjoy learning new things in an interesting way.
Next, we meet Celie, a tiny little girl who is obviously not the offspring of her mother's husband. She is always treated as less than, blamed for the family's fall into poverty when the other four kids' father left their mother. Their rental farm now has only one farmhand, Robbie, who has some sort of intellectual disability. Celie is left to his care and she feels very close to him. While their farm, Metland, borders on the cliffs, there is an overhang that prevents climming, so no one works this area for the lucrative birds' eggs. And then, Celie convinces Robbie to drop her down in this dangerous area because she wants the family to get some eggs for omelettes. They must sell the farm eggs and she is not fed very well, so this is something of an obsession for her. And one of the eggs she grabs and saves without breakage is so unique it becomes known as the Metland egg. This gives rise to an egg hoarding greedy man's efforts as well as those of other egg collectors. to secure ownership of the egg and leads to years of resentment and competition over what happened to it and who ended up purchasing it. Can't share why, exactly without a spoiler, but I will say that much is learned about different seabirds as we follow the machinations of the many 1920 egg afficionados, and it is not boring but fascinating and totally integrated into the story.
Meanwhile in a remote area of present day Wales, Patrick, a young man with some sort of intellectual disability finds his friend Nick (next door neighbor/friend to but user of Patrick) and Nick's mother tied up. They were robbed of something odd that Nick had tried to sell on eBay. He had withdrawn from offer the scarlet egg nestled in an elaborately carved box because, he was notified by eBay that in 2025 it is illegal to possess wild bird eggs. Oh, there's a museum with a large collection, but new collecting is forbidden and possession can lead to serious criminal charges. Nick is not one to take this lying down. He is a man of principals, as is hilariously illustrated in a story over an argument he had about a set of silver spoons he bought on eBay. In fact, the relationship between Patrick and Nick and their escapades connected with trying to track down the egg are often slapstick.
Celie's story is a more serious tale of how her life was both changed for the better but caused her to live a restrictive life for quite a while after her find improved her family's financial well-being. We follow her from her original find to young adulthood and root for her all the way. The story of Celie is lovely and complex and she is a person we want to see be okay. At all times, she has a strength beyond her stature and years.
The novel unwinds in the two timeframes and not always chronologically in each, although it is not hard to follow. The legal status of eggs and egg collecting as well as the unpleasant nature of the collectors featured in the past and present in this piece of historical fiction plays an important role throughout. Read the shorter vignettes that pop up, as well as all the pieces of the longer stories because everything is interesting. The smaller interspersed stories do show that there are environmentally conscious good folks out there protecting eggs.
In any event, I read this novel in the equivalent of one sitting with a night's sleep in the middle. A very late start to that night's sleep. The characters alone make this an exceptional book, but to make eggs so interesting to a reader who did not come to this novel with such an interest takes a gift beyond my comprehension. Read this if you care about good writing, like a good mystery, enjoy historical fiction and enjoy learning new things in an interesting way.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship