Book Review: Enormous Wings by Laurie Frankel

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Enormous Wings
Author: Laurie Frankel
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication date: May 5, 2026
Length: 304 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Library
Rating:

From the beloved New York Times bestselling author Laurie Frankel, an exuberant and timely new novel

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. She fears it’s cancer, dementia, a stroke. But a raft of tests later, the news is even more shocking: She’s pregnant.

As word gets out, everyone wants a piece of her: the press and paparazzi, activists and medical researchers, belly-rubbers and rubber-neckers all descending on Vista View while Pepper struggles to determine her next move. Soon she 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 anymore. 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.

The TL;dr synopsis of this book might just be: Pregnant 77-year old! But if you read no further than those few words, you’ll be missing out.

And yes, I’ll admit that it was exactly those click-bait-y words that caught my attention — but once I picked up the book, I realized that I was in for a delightful, nuanced, lovely reading treat, one that’s thoughtful and funny, quirky yet with pathos and urgency too.

Pepper Mills, age 77, reluctantly moves into a senior living community in her Texas town after a minor fender bender results in her adult children taking away her driving license. Pepper is a bright, lively woman, a retired English teacher who’s a stickler for grammar, and a devoted (and truly amazing) grandmother. She has not been, until now, dependent or restricted, and her entry into the world of senior living doesn’t bode well, until she meets the man next door. Moth (short for Timothy) is sweet and charming, and sparks fly almost instantly… something Pepper never expected after this many decades without any sort of romance in her life.

When she starts feeling woozy and nauseated several weeks later, she assumes it’s just part of the whole package of physical symptoms that come with aging — but eventually, a trip to the doctor reveals the shocking, no-way-this-can-be-true diagnosis: She’s pregnant. Aftre testing and more testing, the pregnacy is confirmed over and over again but, her doctor is certain, her aging body definitely is not equipped to sustain a pregnancy, and a miscarriage is expected any day now. Except it never happens.

Instead, Pepper finds herself stuck in the most absurd of situations. Obviously, she can’t possibly have a baby at her age. Except she lives in Texas, where abortion is not an option. And no, she doesn’t meet the definition of the loophole for saving a mother’s life — she doesn’t seem likely to sustain or survive a pregnancy, but she’s not actively dying from it either, so that’s that.

Dr. Blankman leaned forward from his corner. “Your mother is not in immediate danger. She’s not crashing or bleeding out. She’s not even in pain. She seems, in fact, to be having an entirely normal pregnancy.”

“She’s seventy-seven.”

“But apart from that.”

But apart from the eruption, how did you like living in Pompeii?

Pepper and her children plan a trip out of state to get her the care she needs, but she finds herself stuck without even that option once word of her condition is leaked to the media, turning her into an instant celebrity, with mobs of paparazzi parked outside Vista View tracking her every move.

Now, you may feel like the entire premise is ridiculous, but the book provides enough of an explanation (related to Pepper’s medical history) that I was willing to accept it. Is it realistic or medically accurate? Maybe not… but it was enough to satisfy me and let me enjoy the story without feeling the need to nitpick.

Pepper is an absolute gem of a character. I loved her intelligence, her humor, her devotion to friends and family, and her insistence on being treated like a person with agency. She may be older, but that doesn’t mean anyone has the right to infantilize her. The rest of the cast of characters is fantastic too. Moth is lovely as can be, Pepper’s children are interesting and involved and somewhat ornery at times, but totally in their mother’s corner. One of the most wonderful relationships in the book is between Pepper and her 15-year-old granddaughter Lola — their connection is funny and sweet and strong… and I couldn’t help laughing every time Pepper tried to decipher Lola’s emoji-based communications.

Seeing events unfold through Pepper’s perspective allows the narrative to retain her unique tone, which is often a bit sassy and wry, even as her experiences take darker turns. The extreme nature of Pepper’s predicament provides an interesting lens through which to look at the devastating impact of laws that have been enacted since the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Enormous Wings centers an outrageous situation — a pregnant 77-year-old! — as a window into the lack of choice and agency facing any woman in a state that’s outlawed abortion access.

The title of the book is a call-out to a short story by Gabriel García Márquez, A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings, which Pepper thinks of as she’s confronted both by people seeing her as a miracle and those viewing her as some sort of freak:

People aren’t good at recognizing the hand of God in the aged or unsavory. We like our miracles gold and glowing, not gray, not noisome, not mortal.

I’d never encountered the Márquez story before, but Enormous Wings has made me curious enough to want to check it out.

Enormous Wings takes a hard look at how restrictive laws limit women’s ability to control their own lives, bodies, and futures. By having a woman like Pepper as the main character, the author is able to illustrate the absurdity and cruelty that women (and girls) subject to these laws must live through.

Beyond that, the book also provides some beautiful reflections on life and living, aging and dying, cherishing loved one, and being present through daily challenges and joys. I loved Pepper’s voice and her outlook, and had a wonderful time getting to know the funny, caring people in her life. Highly recommended.

Purchase links: Amazon – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

25Feb2026

Book Review: Where the Girls Were by Kate Schatz

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Where the Girls Were
Author: Kate Schatz
Publisher: The Dial Press
Publication date: March 3, 2026
Length: 368 pages
Genre: Historical fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

In this electrifying and heartfelt historical coming-of-age novel, set against the tumultuous backdrop of 1960s San Francisco, a pregnant teenager reckons with womanhood and agency after being sent to a home for unwed mothers.

It’s 1968, and the future is bright for seventeen-year-old Elizabeth “Baker” She’s the valedictorian of her high school, with a place at Stanford in the fall and big dreams of becoming a journalist. But the seductive free-spirited San Francisco atmosphere seeps into her carefully-planned, strait-laced life in the form of a hippie named Wiley. At first, letting loose and letting herself fall in love for the first time feels incredible. But then, everything changes.

Pregnancy hits Baker with the force of whiplash—in the blink of an eye, she goes from good girl to fallen woman, from her family’s shining star to their embarrassing secret. Sent to a home for unwed mothers, Baker finds herself trapped in an old Victorian house packed with a group of pregnant girls who share her shame and fear. As she reckons with her changing body, lack of choice, and uncertain future, Baker finds unexpected community and empowerment among the “girls who went away.”

Where the Girls Were is a timely unearthing of a little-known moment in American history, when the sexual revolution and feminist movement collided with the limits of reproductive rights—and society’s expectations of women. As Baker finds her strength and her voice, she shows us how to step into your power, even when the world is determined to keep you silent.

Where the Girls Were is a powerful look at the changing world of young women in the late 1960s, centered on high school senior Baker — the bright, ambitious daughter of a suburban family that hides financial woes behind a veneer of pool parties and social engagements and neighborhood clubs. Baker is her parents’ pride and joy — until she ends up pregnant after her first sexual encounters with a hippie named Wiley.

Devastated and in denial, Baker first attempts to access an abortion through an underground provider, but is scared off before she can go through with it. When she finally confesses to her parents, her mother secures her a spot at a home for unwed mothers in San Francisco, where she’ll stay for the remainder of her pregnancy. Meanwhile, Baker’s family concocts a cover story for her: She’ll be spending a semester in Paris, before returning in the spring to start at Stanford.

At the home, Baker is surrounded by other pregnant teens, all with their own stories to tell. The girls are not allowed outside except for supervised walks — for which they put on fake wedding rings, so as not to scandalize the neighbors. The longer Baker stays at the home, the more she comes to understand about her limited choices, and how little control she has over her own body or decisions about her baby.

“We can tell you’re confused. But let me remind you: you got yourself into this situation. We are helping you out of it. Do you realize how lucky you are to be here?”

Where the Girls Were offers a spot-on depiction of the convergence of 1950s morality and 1960s rebellion. Baker’s world is full of political unrest and anti-war protests and the “turn on, tune in, drop out” mentality, but the free love vibe doesn’t last once pregnancy roles around. And how free can these girls truly be without safe access to either birth control or abortion rights? Baker and the other girls at the home have their choices taken away from them by their families, who seem to value appearance and saving face much more than the feelings or well-beings of their daughters.

Because what she realizes as she talks to the other girls is that she’s not as isolated as she’d believed. She’s not the only one to feel this, to have this happen. Other girls are angry and ashamed. Other girls are embarrassed. Other girls are full of rage. Other girls know how she feels, even if they don’t talk much.

I found Where the Girls Were to be a compelling, moving read, with a realistic depiction of the era and with a main character to truly care about. We get to really know Baker and understand her struggles and her inner life. Seeing her navigate life in the home and figure out how to stand up to those who try to manipulate her is quite inspiring.

At the same time, it’s shocking to see how little information even a well-educated girl like Baker has. Yes, she knows the basics about how pregnancies come about, but she has no information about pregnancy itself — how it progresses, what to expect, what labor entails — not to mention a very fundamental lack of knowledge about how to avoid pregnancy other than being a “good girl”.

Two very minor quibbles to note: First, I wish the ending had been a little less ambiguous. I can understand why the author chose to leave the story where it ends, but I would have appreciated a more definite wrap-up. (Not going into details here in order to avoid spoiling anything…) Second (and this is largely my own reading pet peeve, not necessarily a flaw in the book), I tend not to like when books introduce a large group of characters at once. Here, Baker meets all the girls at the home in one big round of introductions, and perhaps as a result, all but a few particular girls seem to blend together. I wished for a bit more to distinguish some of the girls who figured more as background characters.

Those quibbles aside, I enjoyed this book very much, and strongly recommend it for anyone who enjoys historical fiction, women’s history, and/or fiction set during the 1960s. The story and main character are both terrific and make a big impression.

Reading note: This is actually my 2nd book within a year about a home for unmarried pregnant girls set during roughly the same time period. The other, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix, is a horror novel, but the two books share many of the same themes and feature girls in similar circumstances. Really interesting to compare and contrast!

For further reading: In the author’s notes, she references a non-fiction book, The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade by Ann Fessler. Sounds fascinating! I’ve added this to my TBR, and hope to track down a copy. Find out more, here.

Purchase links: Amazon – Audible audiobook – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

17Oct2020

Book Review: The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Once and Future Witches
Author: Alix E. Harrow
Publisher: Orbit
Publication date: October 13, 2020
Length: 528 pages
Genre: Historical fiction/fantasy
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley

In 1893, there’s no such thing as witches. There used to be, in the wild, dark days before the burnings began, but now witching is nothing but tidy charms and nursery rhymes. If the modern woman wants any measure of power, she must find it at the ballot box.
But when the Eastwood sisters–James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna–join the suffragists of New Salem, they begin to pursue the forgotten words and ways that might turn the women’s movement into the witch’s movement. Stalked by shadows and sickness, hunted by forces who will not suffer a witch to vote-and perhaps not even to live-the sisters will need to delve into the oldest magics, draw new alliances, and heal the bond between them if they want to survive.
There’s no such thing as witches. But there will be.

Alix E. Harrow’s debut novel, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, was one of my favorite reads last year, so it’s a pleasure to have another amazing experience with her newest book, The Once and Future Witches.

The Once and Future Witches takes place in 1893, in a world similar to our own, but with some key differences. Chief among these is the history of witchcraft — a plague and a purge some years earlier have resulted in the complete annihilation of witches or witchcraft, or so the men in power would like people to believe.

While the knowledge and power of witches seem to be lost, grandmothers and mothers still pass down to their daughters the little words and ways that make life easier, from simple spells to help with cleaning or harvest to healing rituals and ways to escape from someone who means you ill. In this world, what we’d call fairy tales are known as witch tales, and they’re regarded as simple folklore, merely children’s entertainment. But for the women who tell the stories, they know there’s something more hidden in the simple words and songs.

Our main characters are the three Eastwood sisters — Beatrice Belladonna, Agnes Amaranth, and James Juniper. While raised on a family farm, they now as adults find themselves drawn together in the town of New Salem after a long separation caused by their abusive father.

When the three sisters are reunited, Bella inadvertently triggers a momentary return of the lost ways, creating both a public scare and an inspiration for women who long for more. The story is set at a time when women are rallying for the right to vote, and workers’ rights are also front and center in the wake of awful mill and factory conditions and the abject poverty of New Salem’s underclass.

The Eastwood sisters soon lead a growing underground movement of women who are willing to risk everything to rediscover their own power and make a place for themselves in their world. But there are forces working against them, who will use whatever means necessary to silence their voices and make sure they keep to their approved places.

This is a powerful, uplifting, and complicated read. At over 500 pages, the story is intricate, with ample detail on the world of New Salem, the sisters’ histories, the witch-tales handed down, and the allies and friends they make in the battle for their rights and their lives. The writing is beautiful, with magical realism in its imagery mixed with the brutality of the slums and factories and the tired lives of the women looking for more.

I love how the quest to reclaim witchcraft melds so well with the fight for the vote, for equal rights and better working conditions. The characters here are distinct and memorable — upright librarian Bella and her unexplored passions, independent Agnes and her devotion to protecting what’s hers, Juniper with her fierce, feral nature and her readiness to fight. The sisters are amazing, as are the other women (and one man) who populate their story.

Likewise, the relationships between the sisters is gorgeously depicted. There is a lifetime’s worth of hurt and betrayal and resentment between them, but beneath all that, there’s also the bonds of sisterhood and love. As truths emerge that shed light on misconceptions about their shared pasts, they have to deal with their bitterness and pain in order to wage their fight for power and freedom.

I can’t say enough good things about The Once and Future Witches. It has to be read and experienced to really get what it’s all about. While it took me a few tries to get past the early chapters, I think that was mostly due to my distracted mind rather than the book itself. Once I shut out the world and really focused, I just couldn’t put it down.

A perfect October read. Don’t miss it!

16Jan2019

Shelf Control #152: Swimming Home by Mary-Rose MacColl

Posted in Shelf Control by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Welcome to Shelf Control — an original feature created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies.

Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out my introductory post, here.

Want to join in? Shelf Control posts go up every Wednesday. See the guidelines at the bottom of the post, and jump on board!

Title: Swimming Home
Author: Mary-Rose MacColl
Published: 2015
Length: 432 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

From the author of the international bestseller In Falling Snow. In 1925, a young woman swimmer will defy the odds to swim the English Channel–a chance to make history.

London 1925: Fifteen-year-old Catherine Quick longs to feel once more the warm waters of her home, to strike out into the ocean off the Torres Strait Islands in Australia and swim, as she’s done since she was a child. But now, orphaned and living with her aunt Louisa in London, Catherine feels that everything she values has been stripped away from her.

Louisa, a London surgeon who fought boldly for equality for women, holds strict views on the behavior of her young niece. She wants Catherine to pursue an education, just as she herself did. Catherine is rebellious, and Louisa finds it difficult to block painful memories from her past. It takes the enigmatic American banker Manfred Lear Black to convince Louisa to bring Catherine to New York where Catherine can train to become the first woman to swim the English Channel. And finally, Louisa begins to listen to what her own heart tells her.

How and when I got it:

I bought it back in 2015, right after finishing another book by this author.

Why I want to read it:

My book group read In Falling Snow by Mary-Rose MacColl in 2015, and I was really captivated by the subject matter — women staffing a field hospital during World War I. Swimming Home sounds like yet another great woman-centric historical novel. Reading about a pioneering female swimmer really appeals to me!

What do you think? Would you read this book?

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Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how:

Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
Add your link in the comments!
If you’d be so kind, I’d appreciate a link back from your own post.
Check out other posts, and…

Have fun!

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16Sep2018

Book Review: Vox by Christina Dalcher

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Set in an America where half the population has been silenced, VOX is the harrowing, unforgettable story of what one woman will do to protect herself and her daughter.

On the day the government decrees that women are no longer allowed more than 100 words daily, Dr. Jean McClellan is in denial—this can’t happen here. Not in America. Not to her.

This is just the beginning.

Soon women can no longer hold jobs. Girls are no longer taught to read or write. Females no longer have a voice. Before, the average person spoke sixteen thousand words a day, but now women only have one hundred to make themselves heard.

But this is not the end.

For herself, her daughter, and every woman silenced, Jean will reclaim her voice.

Vox is a look at a United States where the government has been taken over — not by force, but by the power of the voting booth. A magnetic leader of the Christian right has rallied his followers to vote for his puppet candidate, and suddenly, the US government is in the hands of people who very much want to restore the country to a time when women stayed home, cared for their families, and were seen but not heard.

AP science classes in high school are replaced by AP Religious Studies, focusing on Christian philosophy. Boys and girls are educated separately, with girls’ studies focusing on home economics and basic math — just enough to be able to run a household, not enough to actually encourage higher thinking or learning.

Most insidious of all, all females in the population are fitted with metal counters on their wrists, tracking their allotment of 100 words per day. Woe betide the woman who talks in her sleep! Every utterance counts. And if you exceed your daily allotment, you receive a nasty little reminder by way of electric shock.

We view this warped world through the eyes of Dr. Jean McClellan, an esteemed neurolinguist who, like all professional women, is denied her work, her money, and her independence. She’s reliant on her husband for everything, and even her jerky teen-aged son has more autonomy than she does, spouting off his anti-woman rhetoric that he’s so quickly absorbed through the poisoned atmosphere of school.

It’s a compelling and intriguing set-up, and the writing keeps the plot move along at a fast pace. While the book focuses on the awfulness of this society and the punishments meted out to those who dare bend or break the rules, it’s quite chilling. The story becomes less compelling in the final third, as the tone shifts more to scientific thriller and away from the greater societal upheavals at play.

I found the premise mostly implausible. I’ve read several of these types of books by now, and the key to making me believe in them is in providing enough information to make the world of the book feel real and possible. Vox fails to truly establish how we got from our current society to the society of the book in just one year. How exactly did the people in charge come up with the counters and get them installed on all women? How did they manage to enforce the new society so quickly and with so little opposition? There isn’t enough backstory here to make me believe in it, and that ended up being an obstacle for me in terms of getting fully engaged in the story.

Vox is a gripping read, and it tries very hard to be topical and timely, a warning for our age and a call to action. Look, it seems to say — stand up now and be heard, or face a future where you may have no voice at all. Yes, being heard and taking a stand are worthy messages to put out there, but the lack of foundation in Vox makes the actual threat feel too shadowy and unbelievable.

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The details:

Title: Vox
Author: Christina Dalcher
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: August 21, 2018
Length: 326 pages
Genre: Dystopian fiction
Source: Library

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15Nov2015

Book Review: The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

In this YA novel, hypnotism and the suffrage movement are combined in startling ways to give us a portrait of life in 1900 for a young woman who is, pretty much literally, too independent for her own good.

On her 17th birthday, Olivia Mead attends a hypnotism show headlined by the young, talented Henri Reverie, a “mesmerist” whose talents have made him famous across the country. Egged on by her friends, Olivia volunteers to be Henri’s first subject, and astonishes the entire audience by her extreme susceptibility to his hypnotism. She’s so far under that he’s able to make her stiff as a board, suspend her between two chairs (as in the cover photo), and even stand on her torso, all without her knowledge.

Olivia is slightly embarrassed, but also enjoys the newfound attention her moment in the spotlight brings, especially from wealthy, out-of-her-reach Percy, the judge’s son. Olivia’s own father, the local dentist (with a truly horrifying collection of tools), is less than pleased. He wants nothing more than for Olivia to be good and obedient, especially after learning that she’d attended a suffragists’ rally the day before. He arranges for a private hypnotism session with Henri, during which Henri compels Olivia to see the world as it truly is, to understand the roles of men and women, and to be able to say nothing but “all is well” when she becomes angry.

This backfires, of course. Olivia is an avid fan of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and thanks to the hypnotism, when she looks at her father, she sees him as he truly is — fanged, clawed, and monstrous. She sees the truth of many of the women of her town as well, who fade into invisibility as Olivia watches. Desperate, she tracks down Henri and begs him to fix her — but there’s a reason why he can’t just yet, and the two form a scheme to give Olivia back control of her own mind and voice and to get Henri what he desperately needs.

The Cure For Dreaming is a captivating portrait of the plight of women at the dawn of the 20th century. The author does a wonderful job of weaving together an individual’s personal struggles with the struggles of women at that time. It’s easy for us, sitting here in the comforts of 2015, to take for granted the rights we enjoy, and this book reminds us of the venom and hostility that confronted the women’s suffrage movement. The women who dared to take a public stance and speak out were demonized, ridiculed, accused of being unwomanly or even insane, and were subjected to all sorts of horrible public humiliations. In this book, looking through Olivia’s eyes, we see how far the men — and even many women — were willing to go to silence the voices of women who stood up for equality and the right to speak their minds.

As one character describes to Olivia:

“My father leaned over to me and said, “Now, that’s womanhood perfected, Percy my boy. That’s the type of girl you want. Silent. Alluring. Submissive.”

I can’t say enough about how powerful and engrossing this story is. Olivia is a marvelous lead character — smart, warm-hearted, and unwilling to keep silent when she sees something wrong. Her need to speak out is what gets her into trouble, of course, but at the same time, she makes a difference in all sorts of unexpected ways, even when forced through the power of hypnotic compulsion to be compliant and stifle her anger.

Olivia’s interactions with Henri do not take the anticipated route, and despite the growing feelings between the two, this book does not go down the dreaded path of showing a young woman throwing away her own plans in order to follow a guy. Olivia has a backbone and a commitment to staying true to herself, and that’s a lovely thing to see in a YA heroine.

The book itself is wonderful to page through, as chapter breaks are illustrated by historical photos from the book’s era, as well as by a selection of powerful quotes by everyone from Kate Chopin to Mark Twain to Carrie Nation.

The Cure for Dreaming is a fast read — I gobbled it up over the course of 24 hours! I was hooked almost instantly, and just couldn’t bear to put the book down. The characters are well-drawn, the subject of hypnotism is fascinating, the relationships between the characters are pitch-perfect, and the context of the fight for women’s votes and the right to one’s own voice is powerfully presented. While written for a young adult audience, the book does not oversimplify or talk down in any way. As an adult reader, I loved the book and was never bored. This would be a great choice for teen girls, and could also provide some great discussion starting points for mothers and daughters who want a book they can share and enjoy together.

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The details:

Title: The Cure for Dreaming
Author: Cat Winters
Publisher: Amulet
Publication date: October 14, 2014
Length: 352 pages
Genre: Young adult fiction
Source: Library