This Impossible Brightness

A Novel

By: Jessica Bryant Klagmann

Narrated by: Caroline Hewitt

Taking refuge on a remote island, a grieving woman develops unlikely connections with the community and the wild in this haunting novel of hope and perseverance from debut author Jessica Bryant Klagmann.

After the mysterious disappearance of her fiancé, Alma Hughes moves to a remote island in the North Atlantic, where she hopes to weather her grief and nurture her ailing dog. But the strange town of Violette has mysteries as well.

Townsfolk say that the radio tower overlooking their town broadcasts messages through their home appliances, their dreams, even the sea itself. When lightning strikes the tower, illuminating the sky in a brilliant flash, Alma finds herself caught in the unexplainable aftermath of one of Violette’s deadliest storms.

As the sea consumes the island, threatening its very existence, the deaths and lost memories of the recently departed also devastate the community. Alma, with a unique link to the lost, may be the only one who can help them move on. But to do so, she must confront a tragic loss of her own.

On this doomed island haunted by echoes of the departed, Alma searches for meaning in her future—and dares to discover the power of hope among the living.

©2024 Jessica Klagmann. (P)2023 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“An original and inherently fascinating novel by an especially gifted author, This Impossible Brightness by Jessica Bryant Klagmann will have a particular attraction for readers with an interest in family life/women's domestic life novels whose deft crafting raise them to an impressive level of literary excellence.”—Midwest Book Review

“At once haunting and visionary, Jessica Bryant Klagmann’s This Impossible Brightness asks us to consider ghosts in their many forms—literal ghosts, the ghosts of grief that follow all of us, and the ghost of a present-but-disappearing earth amid climate devastation. In the face of sweeping loss, this novel resists despair by weaving an expansive web of interconnectedness and also of hope. Klagmann’s debut is both wildly imaginative and gorgeously moving.”—Anne Valente, author of Our Hearts Will Burn Us Down

“In the eyes of This Impossible Brightness, humans bear a particular mark of distinction, one that’s spiritual or psychological rather than physical. We are the species that tries to change direction in midair; we attempt, impossibly, to take our fall and transform it into an ascent. Jessica Bryant Klagmann’s writing seems motivated by this same desire. Everywhere in her novel’s pages, you sense some force yearning to turn the future into the past—to forestall the autumn of the world, spin it around, and allow it to burst into spring. Through her focus on this effort, she produces a feeling that’s sustained and powerful, a clear-eyed grief leavened by a mad hope.”—Kevin Brockmeier, author of The Ghost Variations

𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲

This was a great listen with an agreeable narrator I listened to this during my morning and I enjoyed it!

Beautifully written and narrated

The author weaves a tale of the inevitability of change and the importance of discerning what is in our power to have an affect on all the changes, large and small, and what is not. She speaks for the planet, the wildlife, the stars, and the hearts of human beings in a way that gently but clearly says," Take of of one another." I also love,love, love the way the story shows the shift in the global awareness that we truly have more than our 5 senses. Can't wait for her next book!

Immersive and unexpected

While I put this down once, I picked it up again and I’m really happy I did. The more I read, the more captivated I became with the world building and characters of The Impossible Brightness. As the town around them succumbs to the effects of climate change, a type of irreparable loss, the characters echo this struggle. By playing with magical realism, the reader is drawn into a fascinating and curious exploration or grief, love, friendship and what it means to be understood. Impeccable narrator. Excellent read, I’m still thinking about it days later.

Hard to follow at times…

I simply had trouble engaging in the story. Generally that is not an issue, but I found myself replaying chapters feeling I had missed an important component. I’m glad I completed the story as it has some good philosophical points.

Nice little sad Sci fi story

It's well written and enjoyable but for some reason it just didn't click with me...

Cinematic and serene!

Sometimes (but not often) a book is so well written, and a narration so perfectly delivered, that listening to the audiobook is like watching a movie. The words come at you like full-fledged scenes with color and light, sound and ambiance. It’s a strange phenomenon, to get so much sense and feeling from your ears, and so rare. But why I love audiobooks so much! From the prologue to the epilogue of this novel, I was transported to this quiet island in the North Atlantic, and hugged tight by this story of solitude. I didn’t want to leave, even as the waters were rising.

original, thought-provoking

An interesting study of individuality, mortality and the process of letting go. Such an original presentation, interesting and captivating. The narration only complimented the characters and prose. Entirely delightful; I’ll be looking for more reads from this author, who is new to me.
Thank you for time well spent.

A Tour de Force

The author’s amazing use of words to convey feelings is nothing short of magic. The text is a rich tapestry of intertwined emotions that seep to the reader’s core and nestle in the psyche. This book resonates in a way that leaves the reader somehow changed for having been a witness.

Never Again

I read (and delighted in) the written pages first, and then I listened to the novel's audio a few days later. I'm so glad I did it in this order. They very much complement one another. The writer has given us gripping stories within the story, and compelling characters with complicated, intricate relationships. The sequence of reading and listening, for me, brought to life these stories, as well as the book's beautiful imagery, exquisite language, depth of emotion, and profound feelings of grief tempered by fragile hope. (In the audio version I also loved hearing the "French," spoken in a way I could never have read it!)

There are moments now, big and small, in my daily life that unexpectedly take me to Violette and the "characters" who live there. I will never again see a mushroom "clinging gently" to the earth without thinking of that little girl Alma, infuriated by her fieldtrip classmates who, without another thought, kicked the mushrooms from living to dying for sport.

Never again will I brew a pot of tea without imagining messages emanating from the kettle.

Never again will I nuzzle our big sweet aging dog without seeing Jupiter and wondering with deep sadness when the day and "that thing" will be at hand. And knowing full well that my pain will not be unlike that of Alma, whose love for her furry best friend was so deep she could not bring herself to move on, no matter how much she was told she should.

Never again will I listen to an echo without hearing the reverberations of the Echoes of Violette, unveiling the possibility of a happy ending, no matter how deep the grief....

Well done, Jessica. Encore please!

The main character's authenticity, as she finds, and slowly creates her self, and her independent life

For a long time, you wondered what story these chronicles of people's lives would add up to.