ENORMOUS WINGS
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,
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.
- Henry Holt and Co.
- Hardcover
- May 2026
- 304 Pages
- 9781250423771
Buy the Book
$28.99
About Laurie Frankel
Laurie Frankel is the New York Times bestselling, award-winning author of the novels Family Family, One Two Three, Goodbye for Now, The Atlas of Love, and the Reese’s Book Club Pick This Is How It Always Is. Frankel lives in Seattle with her husband, daughter, and border collie.
Praise
A May 2026 Indie Next pick
“Hilarious and humane, this big-hearted book captures the urgent state of women’s rights post-Dobbs.” —Ms. Magazine
“Only the fearless, funny, and endlessly inventive Frankel could have written this one-of-a-kind yet amazingly down-to-earth book about a woman’s right to choose.” —Oprah Daily
“Brilliantly makes the impossible plausible, intricately collaging questionable medical treatments, geriatric sexuality, teenage pregnancy, women’s fertility and autonomy, religious and political oversteps, and so much more. . . . Frankel is poised (again) to make plenty of readers uncomfortable while also offering entertainment and illumination.” —Booklist (starred review)
“In the hands of a lesser writer, this story would flounder, but Frankel’s deft understanding of nuance makes each argument, interaction, and forced conversation between the characters into an epiphany for modern readers to ponder and appreciate. VERDICT: An unusual premise, supported by great writing, makes this novel work.” —Library Journal
“Frankel blends humor and gravitas in her portrait of an expectant mother who’s also facing her own mortality. Fans of the author’s quirky family stories about hot-button issues will find much to enjoy.” —Publishers Weekly