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This is beautifully written, it’s captivating with a delightful blend of humour and the heart breaking. Some scenes are so vivid, so well described you feel like a fly on the wall observing the frequent chaos. Many of the incidents make me smile and I doubt I’ll ever open a tin of beans or look at a toaster in the same way ever again!!!! It’s creative in a myriad of ways, it initially seems straightforward but it’s a more complex tale than it appears at first glance. I love the clever use of film to make pertinent points and the delightful originality of some of the language. BOBBY PALMER is an author and journalist whose writing has appeared in GQ, Esquire, Men's Health, Cosmopolitan and more. He is co-host of the literary podcast BOOK CHAT with Pandora Sykes. That’s a tough question to ask in such a place because it involves examining what has been lost (desperately painful), what is left (diminished and uncertain) and what might lie ahead (honestly, does anything?) and dragging yourself, with the help, love and support of others, to the beginning of the rest of your life.
At the start of my book, Isaac and the Egg, two things happen. Our lead character, Isaac, loses his wife. Then, on one of the darkest nights of his life, he stumbles into the woods and finds something else: a two-foot tall egg. It's a tale that might seem familiar. But how it speaks to you will depend on how you've lived until now. As Isaac comes to grips with what he finds in the forest, and as a result with the lost state of a life brought to ruin by grief, he has to ask himself what it is he wants from it going forward. Isaac Addy is contemplating suicide. While standing on the ledge of a bridge, trying to build up the courage to jump off, he suddenly hears some screaming. In following the noise, he stumbles upon a 2 foot high white egg in the forest. Isaac feels a sudden kinship with the abandoned egg and decides to take it home. Thus begins the unexpected journey of Isaac and his strange companion, whom he decides to name ‘Egg’. ( Yeah, not the most imaginative guy, this Isaac!) This review is for the audio version of the novel, I found the audio version made a great bedtime story, the narrators tone, pitch and pace matched the story perfect. I found the 30-40mins chapters just the right amount for a chapter before bed, with the excellent voices done by the narrator I felt I got a sense of how Iscca as feeling and I loved the sarcasm at times and the way the narrator conveyed this. This story made a great audiobook and I suspect it would be equally as great in print.
He eats, he sleeps and makes it through each day with the support of his sister, neighbours and his therapist while the events leading to Isaac's present state are revealed to the reader as Isaac is able to cope with them. I had no idea what to expect from this book, I went into it completely blind not knowing anything about it - and to be honest that was perfect. I don’t think anyone could have described this book to me anyway, if I had to tell you what this book was about I’d be lost for words.
It was a light and joyous read. The story gives you hope, that even when you are at your lowest point there is always hope and people/things that are there to lend you a helping hand. Jen, NSW, 4 Stars Isaac Addy is a man bereft, not just of his wife Mary, who has died, but of his selfhood. A scatty children’s book illustrator who had “always thought his biggest fear was people not liking him”, he is now aimless, bedraggled and literally about to jump off a bridge into the abyss when he hears a scream that leads him to a creature that looks startlingly like an egg and, “for the first time in weeks, feels an emotion that isn’t despair”. Measured, comic and moving… A sad, funny and original novel about grief, loss and embracing change’ DAILY MAIL This is an audiobook about a lot of things - grief, hope, friendship, love. It's also about what you'd do if you stumbled into the woods at dawn, found something extraordinary there, and decided to take it home. I read it in one breath... true and tragic and funny and hopeful and big - big enough somehow to contain all of our stories and all of our lives inside it' JOANNA GLEN
Bobby's second novel, SMALL HOURS, will publish in March 2024. BOBBY PALMER is an author and journalist whose writing has appeared in GQ, Esquire, Men's Health, Cosmopolitan and more. He is co-host of the literary podcast BOOK CHAT with Pandora Sykes. I have avoided the recent trend of books about grief and have issues with audio so this was another choice that perplexed me in hindsight – that was until I started listening. Moving and clever... Although it starts with a death and darkness, it's a story of hope and embracing newness' JUSTIN MYERS, THE GUYLINER One of the most enduring images from Jurassic Park is of the baby velociraptor first breaking out of its shell. Later, those same velociraptors will be the scariest thing about the film – but for now, they’re something small, adorable, and in need of protection.
Perhaps that’s what scares us, but also intrigues us, about eggs. It’s definitely why I chose an egg as the perfect companion to Isaac, a man who might just be something of an egg himself. Isaac has no idea where the egg has come from or what it’s doing there but he’s overcome with the need to protect it, so he bundles it up and takes it home. But if that doesn’t happen, and let’s face it, it almost never does; that kind of approach to grief is all about people finding a way they can live with someone else’s grief which is never palatable to be around because it reminds us, and we hate this, that death happens.
Sometimes, to get out of the woods, you have to go into them. Isaac and the Egg is one of the most hopeful, honest and wildly imaginative novels you will ever read. That is until he walks into the woods one day on what is undoubtedly the worst day of a life that doesn’t feel like it’s ever going to get any better, and finds his existential scream of neverending pain answered by something that sounds as lost as he is. Isaac and the Egg is a beautiful and quirky story that takes coping with grief and turns it upside down. My heart broke for Isaac and I felt an overwhelming sense of tenderness for Egg. The characters and story were well developed and the twists and turns kept me engaged until the very end. This book needs to go to the top of your TBR pile, it won’t disappoint. I look forward to reading more from Bobby Palmer. Nicole, NSW, 5 Stars Like the humble egg, we humans are fragile. We’re filled with contradictions, and we’re always bound to break. But perhaps, like Isaac and his egg, each one of us is also filled with endless possibilities – just waiting to hatch.
Maybe he will finally understand why he went there that morning. Maybe he will find a way to tell the truth.
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Though most of the plot is very intense because of grief and mental breakdowns being the prime focus, there are still some light scenes and humorous banter between Isaac and Egg. These are really well-done and don’t feel out-of-place despite the dreary theme. Original, quirky, utterly compelling. These are the words that I would use to describe this book. However don’t be fooled thinking this is just a story about a cute little egg. While it is funny in places this is a book about grief, Isaac is in a bad place and his feelings are raw. Dit is een emotioneel, krachtig, kwetsbaar, verfrissend, verrassend en uniek verhaal over liefde, vriendschap, rouw, mentale gezondheid, geheimen, verbinding, hoop en de kleine dingen die het leven zo waardevol maken. Zodra het verhaal je grijpt laat het je niet meer los, het bezorgt je kippenvel, laat je glimlachen en is zeker het lezen waard!
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