The Impossible Us

Starred review from January 10, 2022
Lotz (Missing Person) impresses with this witty and gentle sci-fi tale of love across the multiverse. In 2019, 45-year-old freelance editor Nick Belcher’s nasty email to a nonpaying client accidentally ends up in 39-year-old wedding dress upcycler Bee Davies’s inbox, and their ensuing correspondence sparks immediate attraction. When Nick’s moribund marriage ends suddenly, he and Bee decide to meet in person—but when they can’t find each other at their meeting place, they realize they live in slightly different universes. Nick’s world has no Tinder and Donald Trump is not president but rather convicted of ecocide, among other changes. As they can’t be together, they hatch a plan for the next best thing: each finding the version of the other in their own world. Bee manages to connect with Nick’s doppelgänger, a successful author, but the Bee in Nick’s world is already married to a millionaire. Nick holds out hope when he senses not all is well in her marriage—before a dangerous possibility of bridging the glitch between worlds upends everything. Lotz perfectly balances the heavy with the light, and creates a feeling of genuine connection between her protagonists. The eccentric side characters and strong humor meshes nicely with the earnest, tender romance. The result is simply delightful. Agent: Oliver Munson, A.M. Heath Literary.

February 15, 2022
Across parallel universes, Bee and Nick live in dramatically different Englands. While Bee runs a business repurposing wedding dresses, Nick ghostwrites as a failed author in a much greener dimension. But when a misplaced email somehow connects them, their easy banter soon escalates into an intense bond. An unsuccessful rendezvous leads to a comparison of politics and pop culture, revealing a devastating reality: they're worlds apart and can never meet. A heart-wrenching endeavor ensues to find happiness with each other, from quantum theory to pursuing their alternative selves. The star-crossed soul mates become dangerously involved with the multiverse, unable to sever ties and longing for what's meant to be. Bee and Nick's "serendipitous synchronicity" is witty, fast paced, and funny in all the right places, told in chapters from their alternating first-person points of view, interspersed with their correspondence. With bated breath, readers will find themselves rooting for a love story that bears a penchant for tragedy and a shimmer of hope. A charming blend of romance and sf for fans of both genres, in every dimension.

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Starred review from February 1, 2022
Two lovers struggle with a seemingly insurmountable obstacle--they're living in parallel universes. When Nick, a down-on-his-luck ghostwriter, sends out a profanity-laced email to a client who hasn't paid him, he doesn't expect to end up connecting with his dream girl. But that's exactly what happens when he sends his email to the wrong person and Bee, who runs a business repurposing wedding dresses, ends up the recipient of his angry missive. In what seems like the start of a conventional romantic comedy, the two of them keep their conversation going and discover that they actually have quite a lot in common. But when they decide to meet in person, it becomes clear that theirs is no simple love affair. Even while standing at the same train station, they can't see each other. They soon find out the reason: they're living in different universes. In Bee's world, Brexit happened, Donald Trump was president, and climate change is a massive threat. In Nick's world, Al Gore was president for two terms, the terrorist attacks of 9/11 never occurred, and the government has enforced widespread environmental rules, like completely banning plastic, that curbed climate change to a manageable level. Unable to communicate in any way but email, Bee and Nick decide to find each other in their own universes--but when Bee meets her timeline's Nick and Nick locates his timeline's Bee, things get complicated. Lotz takes what could be a confusing concept and makes it fun, heartbreaking, and eminently readable all at once. Bee and Nick's emails are witty and romantic, while their supporting characters are entertaining in both worlds. Lotz manages to combine romance and science fiction into a book that will produce laughter and tears. Readers will find themselves wondering how, or if, Bee and Nick will end up together until the very last pages. A thought-provoking and clever genre-bending blend of romance and science fiction.

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