The Impossible Thing

The Impossible Thing brought me face to face with a sort of curio I'd never heard of: birds' eggs. In the 20th century, before environmentalism was wide-reaching, wealthy people collected the eggs of a whole variety of birds, which could be absolutely beautiful, and which fetched incredible sums. The insides of the eggs - fetal birds - were blown out and the shell preserved, often in collections of similar bird types or colours. This practice led to the decimation of bird populations all across Britain and across whichever other countries the eggs were sourced.

This novel focuses on the scarlet red eggs of a particular guillemot who nested on the cliffs in a part of rural North Yorkshire. To access these eggs, young Celie, thin as a show more reed, is lowered in a harness through a hole in the coastal rock and lowered to the particular nest. Celie hates it. Not only is it incredibly dangerous to be hanging above a three hundred-foot drop, but she feels for the birds and their lost eggs. However, Celie's bounty makes such a financial difference to her family that she feels that she cannot say no. A man from London, a Mr. Ambler, gives forty pounds a year for the prized eggs, and in the 1920s and 1930s that was a lot of money.

There's another story going on in the present. Young Nick finds a rare red egg in a beautiful box in his house's attics. He and his neurodivergent friend Patrick try to find a buyer for their egg, which action turns the two young teens' lives upside down. Patrick and Nick are unlikely heroes, but they are one of my favourite pairs of amateur sleuths in literature. They are written so well.

I really loved this book, especially because it's based on a true story, which I find incredible. If you've a hankering for historical fiction that is strange and weird yet arresting, you'll love this book. It has a particularly good narrator, and is intelligent and tense. A full five stars from me. show less

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 show more 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. show less

In the wilds of Yorkshire during the 1920s, men (and a few women) go "climming." A team lowers the climmer to the cliff face with a strong rope, and he or she takes eggs from migratory birds who nest there. Wealthy collectors pay a great deal for these eggs, which are prized for their unusual shape and unique pigmentation. In addition, brokers act as middlemen between the egg thieves and the buyers. Belinda Bauer's imaginative and evocative novel, "The Impossible Thing," brings to life a bizarre world in which fanatical individuals go to great lengths to acquire these extraordinary eggs.

Among Bauer's memorable characters is Celie, the only person slim and adept enough to fit into an overhang, where she obtains red "Metland Eggs." show more Afterwards, she rises safely from her precarious perch with the capable assistance of her close friend, Robert. Also worth noting is the villainous George Ambler, a broker who is universally hated for his greed, viciousness, and immorality. Bauer veers back and forth from the early twentieth century to the present day, when we meet a pair of Welsh neighbors, Nick and Patrick, both in their twenties. Nick is chatty, has no job, and spends countless hours playing video games. Patrick, who has Asperger’s syndrome, has difficulty interpreting idiomatic expressions and dealing with social interactions. However, Patrick is more observant, detail oriented, and intelligent than Nick, who relies on his friend to solve challenging problems.

The elements of this book are complex and occasionally confusing. Fortunately, there is a great deal of clever humor along the way to lift our spirits. Not only does Bauer go back and forth in time, but she also tantalizes us with enigmatic clues whose significance will become clear later on. In lyrical and vivid passages, the author portrays how hordes of birds converge on the cliffs of Yorkshire, as if they are making a sacred pilgrimage.

Bauer deftly develops her intriguing and thought-provoking themes about the best and worst traits of humanity. We are horrified by certain deliberate acts of selfishness and cruelty, and heartened by the deeds of good-natured people who treat others with kindness and respect. This suspenseful mystery offers fascinating historical information about the theft and sale of birds' eggs, a practice that is now illegal in a number of countries. "The Impossible Thing" features betrayals, violent confrontations, a touch of romance, and an exploration of thorny family dynamics. I enthusiastically recommend this creative and compelling work of fiction. show less

This novel about male collectors who essentially kidnap birds' unborn offspring and kill them ("Stealing birds eggs and murder were two very different things. Weren't they?") just to admire the objects and use them for social status has, in my reading, interesting feminist undertones. Recommended for all libraries.

On the rationale of collecting:
""You...collect 'em!,' he said, as if Patrick were stupid. 'And then you look at them! And you show them to other people. You have them. That's the whole point.'"

Little Celie Sheppard is a small, hungry child but when she discovers an unusual red guillemot egg on the cliffs behind her family farm her family is set for life. Mr Ambler is an egg broker, selling to the most powerful collectors and the famed Metland Egg is sought after. Patrick is a strange boy who only friend, Weird Nick, has just had a precious heirloom stolen from him. The obsession for egg-collecting draws together the past and present.
This is a wonderful book which works on so many levels. It a modern day crime novel involving a cast of characters that are beautifully and sparingly drawn. It's also a historical novel about the exploitation of the poor and the stretching of morals in poverty-stricken East Yorkshire between the show more wars. However most of all it is a book about obsession and it's a spot on in terms of underplaying yet emphasising the lengths that people will go to to fulfil their obsessions show less

What a fascinating read! And all of it is true, which blew my mind, as I had no idea of the shenanigans of wild birds’ egg contraband.
This is the real story of The Metland Egg, which is a rare, red egg from a guillemot. It is the story of how the life of the little girl who first collected that egg changed forever; and not just her life, but countless others.
The story spans through decades and it is heartbreakingly good.
Recommending this to everyone I know.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

This is told mainly from the points of view of (in the present day) Patrick, whose best friend's rare and valuable red guillemot egg is stolen, and (in the 1920s-1940s) Celie, who is so small and light that she can access particularly rare red guillemots' eggs. However, there are many many more characters and viewpoints - the broker who buys Celie's eggs, the broker's customers, the broker's maid, an RSPB officer, a professor of ornithology, a volunteer RSPB guardian couple, a man who is prosecuted for possessing birds' eggs (as it is now illegal) and so on and so on. It was very confusing at times keeping everyone straight, and working out all the connections was a show more challenge.

Having said that, I enjoyed the writing and Patrick was a delight. I also learnt a lot about the hobby of collecting birds' eggs, although I don't see the attraction myself! show less