I picked up a signed copy of Isaac and the Egg by Bobby Palmer on a complete whim whilst browsing the shelves of one of my favourite bookshops in Edinburgh – Topping and Company. If you’re ever in the city I highly recommend you pop in. It’s just down from the Playhouse. The shelves are packed from ceiling to floor with hidden gems and upstairs you’ll find a mini labyrinth of rooms with lots of nooks and crannies to explore. Did I mention it also has Beauty and the Beast-inspired ladders? It’s literally a book lover’s dream. Anyway, let’s get back to the book…
“He’s estranged from his own sanity, like an egg from its mother in a lonely forest clearing. He’s so far from his normal self that he’s not sure he’ll ever be able to find his way back.”
At only 288 pages long, I read Isaac and the Egg in just one evening. I remember briefly acknowledging some general praise for the book across social media but I went in completely blind, which really added to my enjoyment of the book. With less than a week of 2022 left, I’m happy to say Isaac and the Egg is my final 5-star review of the year.
This modern-day fable is a heartwarming and widely imaginative tale of heartbreak, grief, hope, and friendship. When we first meet Isaac he has abandoned his car by the side of the road and is standing on top of a bridge completely broken and alone. I couldn’t help but picture George Bailey in his last moments of desperation. Holding on to the railings and contemplating suicide, he sobs and screams into the icy waves below… and something screams back. He follows the noise to a clearing in the woods and there he finds an egg.
Isaac and the Egg is an underrated classic that I wish more people were talking about. It’s a brutally honest depiction of grief and the story will resonate with anyone who has lost someone. It manages to find humour and light in even the darkest of circumstances. It’s a wonderfully wacky and beautiful read; something truly special and unique.
Isaac and the Egg by Bobby Palmer is available to purchase HERE.
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