Laurie Frankel joins Book Gang to discuss Enormous Wings, a bold, bighearted novel about aging, autonomy, and the messiness of modern family life.

This week’s Book Gang conversation welcomes New York Times bestselling author Laurie Frankel, whose latest novel delivers a juicy book club premise wrapped in the chaos and warmth of a multigenerational Jewish family. When breast cancer survivor Pepper Mills loses her home and independence, she’s thrown into a new world at Vista View Retirement Community—only to face the unimaginable: a pregnancy at seventy-seven, and a gauntlet of opinions from loved ones, doctors, and the wider world.

In this lively, surprising conversation, we discuss:

📚 Radically ordinary desires: Frankel unpacks the inspiration behind Pepper’s late-life pregnancy, exploring how aging, romance, and reproductive choice are rendered with empathy and humor. We talk about the importance of portraying older women’s desires as deeply human, never tragic or comedic.

📚 Family, autonomy, and the messiness of care: We dive into the family dynamics at the heart of Enormous Wings—how adult children can both rally around and inadvertently bulldoze their parents in the name of safety, and why there’s no right way to navigate the complexities of midlife and elder care.

📚 The riotous specificity of family: Frankel shares how she builds such vivid, lived-in characters—like grandkids who speak in emojis and National Coming Apart Day—without losing the emotional core. We discuss the joys and challenges of balancing humor, tradition, and heart in a story that celebrates both individuality and belonging.

📚 📚 BONUS WEEKLY BOOK LIST:

Celebrate ageless adventures with this week’s list: 60 Books with Older Protagonists—stories that prove life’s boldest chapters can begin at any age. This has a lovely mix of upcoming releases, new releases, and backlist gems to browse. Patrons can grab a printable checklist for their next reading spree!

Meet Laurie Frankel

Laurie Frankel is the New York Times bestselling, award-winning author of 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. She lives in Seattle with her husband, daughter, and border collie. Enormous Wings is available now from Henry Holt & Co.

Mentioned in this episode:

Download Today's Show Transcript

2026 MomAdvice Book Club Books (All 12 Selections)

UPDATED BOOK LIST: 60 Books With Older Protagonists

Janelle Brown Interview (What Kind of Paradise)

Join the May Book Club 4/30 at 8 PM ET (What Kind of Paradise)

Enormous Wings by Laurie Frankel

A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel

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