Patrick Fort (first encountered in the author's Rubberneckers) is back in a story that is utterly engrossing and totally original. I'm delighted the author trusts her readers enough to put the pieces of a puzzle together.

Like many stories these days, the narrative has sections from the past interwoven with the present. In the past, collectors and bystanders enjoyed watching daredevil hunters gather birds' eggs off a steep cliff over the ocean. A family has access to piece of that cliff that nobody has touched because it's so difficult to access, but a tiny girl is able to be lowered down on a rope. The egg she brings back is red - a rarity, and worth a lot of money to collectors. She returns year after year to steal eggs from the same nest, and her family's fortunes change until she refuses to do it again - and the agent who handled the eggs decides to take action that results in tragedy.

In the present, Patrick Fort and his good friend, the amiable Weird Nick, have found something unexpected in an attic - a gorgeously carved wooden case with a red egg inside. Is that what thieves were looking for when they broke into the cottage and ransacked the place? Patrick and Nick go on a quest to find out why someone wants the egg so badly, getting involved with an eccentric and obsessive collector, a passionate antagonist of egg-collecting, and a museum curator overseeing a massive historical collection of eggs.

It's brilliant, and sometimes funny, sometimes touching, always gorgeously written and constructed. Top marks.

I loved this book. It took me less than 24 hours to read, and given my aging eyes, that’s impressive.

But, as with many Belinda Bauer books, how do I organize the review. It begins with Finn Garrett stalking Matthew Barr in the woods. An exciting moment, and then it’s over. Garrett and Barr will appear sporadically throughout the novel, but they are minor characters. Then the timeframe switches to the 1920s, and a description of men who steal bird’s eggs to sell to egg collectors. Do I start here, because the story is about egg collectors? But Chapter 3 is about Celie Sheppard at Metland Farm, an outcast due to the fact that she looked nothing like her mother’s husband. He left the family to fend for itself, and it was all Celie’s fault in the eyes of her mother and siblings. Do I start here, because Celie is the first character in the novel who continues to play a major part in the narrative.

Or do I start at Chapter 4, with the main theme?

*****

“The Impossible Thing” marks the return of Patrick Fort, the autistic young man who player an important role in “Rubberneckers”. Now in his mid-twenties, Patrick and his friend, Weird Nick (who played a minor role in “Rubberneckers”), are on a quest. Patrick discovers Weird Nick and his mother tied up after a home invasion. But the only thing stolen was a bird’s egg that Nick had briefly listed on eBay. It was listed for only 30 minutes because Nick discovered that it was illegal to sell the eggs of wild birds—but as Patrick and Nick later discover, before egg collecting became illegal, a coterie of wealthy men had maintained unique collections.

As Patrick and Nick carry on their quest to retrieve Nick’s egg, we learn about egg collectors and their obsessive nature. Only Belinda Bauer could take such a boring topic and make it fascinating.

Throughout the novel, the timeframe periodically changes from Patrick and Nick in the present to the past (1920 to 1939), as we follow Celie Sheppard of Metland Farm, who becomes a heroine when she discovers a way to obtain a special guillemot egg—special because of its colour. Only Celie is brave enough to take the perilous cliff swing to obtain what becomes called the “Metland Eggs” and consequently, over time, Celie’s family gains enough money to live comfortably.

For Celie, it comes to a climax (in the late 1930s) when she decides she doesn’t want to steal any more eggs from the guillemot parents, but an obsessive collector refuses to heed her request. For Patrick and Nick, it comes to a climax (in the present) when they attempt to retrieve the stolen egg from an obsessive collector.

*****

This is a story about (1) a noble quest; (2) irrational obsessive collectors; (3) a young girl’s bravery; and (4) Patrick’s unusual but effective thinking patterns. It is difficult to classify, but if you are a Belinda Bauer fan, you won’t want to stop reading.

Thanks to Grove Atlantic for providing an electronic copy of this book via Netgalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinions.

I am always a wee bit sad to end a book written by Belinda Bauer, I just wanted it to go on, you know :)
Another story by her that got me hooked from the beginning with lots of surprising things happening. Thankfully, no weird twists and turns, chasing, etc., as I am not into those sort of mystery and thrillers which I find exhausting. Instead, we read about people who are mostly winging it. And you just see where that gets them...

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.