Enormous Wings by Laurie Frankel
Fiction
Narrated by Becky Ann Baker
Finished on September 24, 2026
Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)
Publisher's Blurb:
At seventy-seven, Pepper Mills is too old to be a stranger in a strange land. She didn’t choose the Vista View Retirement Community of Austin, Texas—that would be her three grown children—but when she grudgingly moves in, she not only makes new friends, she falls in love. Then the exhaustion, vomiting, and confusion start. Her children and grandchildren worry it’s cancer, dementia, a stroke. But a raft of tests later, the news is even more shocking: she’s pregnant.
Once word gets out, everyone wants a piece of her: the press and the paparazzi, activists and medical researchers, all descending on Vista View as Pepper tries to determine her next move. Soon Pepper has some hard decisions to make—and some she’s not allowed to make.
Enormous Wings is an urgent novel about female agency and bodily autonomy, morality and mortality. It’s about what happens when you don’t get to choose. It’s about motherhood and family, sex and love and friendship, and how those bedrocks—even so late in the day—can still change, and then change everything.
Enormous Wings is the fourth novel of Laurie Frankel's that I've read. Other than This Is How It Always Is, which was a 5-star read for me, her novels tend to be just okay. They keep me entertained, but they aren't keepers, nor do I feel compelled to recommend them to my book group. Enormous Wings is an unbelievable, yet timely story. One must suspend disbelief that a seventy-seven-year-old can get pregnant, but the challenges she encounters in Texas (Pro-Choice vs Pro-Life) are sadly believable under the current administration. Frankel also touches on themes such as retirement communities, aging, and death. Maybe there are enough topics here to discuss with others.
I believe every woman has the right to choose, but I felt Enormous Wings went on too long, bordering on didactic or preachy. It did have moments of hilarity, as well as a few tender moments between characters, but I didn't love the book. However, the audio, which is narrated by Becky Ann Baker, is well done. I had no trouble distinguishing between characters, male or female, and especially loved Moth's British accent.
Click on links for reviews of previously read novels by Frankel:
This Is How It Always Is (5/5)
One Two Three (3/5)
Family Family (3/5)
Other than This Is How It Always Is, I have absolutely no recollection of the details for these books. Completely forgettable.
