Books & Audiobooks
Laurie Frankel’s Enormous Wings is a delightful story about the possibilities that abound at each stage of life. It is also a story about reconciling oneself to the ravages of time both in one’s physical being but also in its emotional and spiritual essence….. how, in the middle, is the juiciness that is love, joy, family, friendship, laughter and pain.
Our protagonist is Pepper Mills, a 77-year-old woman who has recently been moved, through no will of her own, to Vista View Retirement Community in Austin, Texas. Her family has taken away her car and she is feeling upended by the loss of control and independence she is experiencing. To her surprise, she makes new friends, one in particular becoming a “friend with benefits.” Against all odds, she finds herself pregnant and begins to learn first hand how truly little control she has over her own life.
As she faces this incredible turn of events, her friends and family circle the wagons to protect Pepper from the ravenous forces desperate to make her story their story. From Pro-life to Pro-choice and everything in-between, she is buffeted by the hostility of evangelical zealots and the self-serving minions of social media.
Through it all, the love of her children, grandchildren and friends provide a port in the storm, a place of refuge where she can, with humour and integrity, be her best self. A charming read!