Review: A Lifetime of Impossible Days by Tabitha Bird

A thoughtful, uplifting and magical story of childhood, family and finding ways to change the inevitable . . .

Meet Willa Waters, aged 8 . . . 33 . . . and 93.

On one impossible day in 1965,

eight-year-old Willa Waters 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 decision that will have tragic repercussions . . .

On one 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 Willas come together, to heal their past and save their future . . . before it's too late?

 Paperback, 395 pages

Published June 4th 2019

by Viking

 ****

I think it was on Instagram that I spotted this yummy cover. I was further peeked as a debut from Australia author Tabitha Bird, the synopsis just clinched it for me. Three different time periods with the same characters at different stages in life sounds like a very intricate plot but taking it another step is timeslip - can it be done? Of course, it can be done, but in an appealing manner to capture and keep this reader’s attention and hold it?

There is 8-year-old Willa, 33-year-old Willa, and 93-year-old Willa. There are gumboots, jam drops and an ocean to plant. I loved each stage of Willa’s life, they were heartbreaking and so well written, I cared for each of the Willa’s,  what they were going through and the mysterious element of what was to come.

It did take a bit for the story to really take off but the author laid a strong foundation for a story that kept me captivated. A Lifetime of Impossible Days is a story of strength, hurts, heartbreaking at the same time as being comical and magical. There are risks, guilt and mature subject matters that made this a unique story and one I highly recommend.

This book is part of my '2019 reading off my shelf' challenge.