The Snowbirds by Christina Clancy
ARC from Macmillan Audio, St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for an honest review
Book Blurb:
Kim and Grant are at a turning point. A couple for thirty years, their “separate but together” partnership is running up against the realities of late middle age: Grant’s mother has died, the college where he taught philosophy was shuttered, and their twin girls are grown and gone. Escaping the bitter cold of a Midwestern winter for the hot desert sun of Palm Springs seems as good a solution as any to the more intractable problems they face.
When they arrive at Le Desert, a quirky condo community where everyone knows everyone’s business, Kim immediately embraces the opportunity to make new friends and explore a more adventurous side of her personality. Meanwhile, Grant struggles to find his footing in this unfamiliar landscape, leaving Kim to wonder if their relationship can survive the snowbird season. But when Grant goes missing on a hike in the Palm Springs mountains, Kim is forced to consider two terrifying outcomes: either Grant is truly lost, or this time he’s really left her.
Is it ever too late to become the person we wanted to be—and is there still time to change into someone better? The exhilarating, but often confusing transitions of midlife are pitched against the promise and glamour of Palm Springs in this tender, honest story of what it takes to commit to someone for a lifetime. With compassion and humor, Clancy explores the redemptive power of finding ourselves, and of being found.
My Review: 3.75 stars
The Snowbirds by Christina Clancy is a compelling story that follows the intricacies of a couple going through midlife strife, while trying to find a balance after their kids have flown the coop.
Women of a certain age will certainly relate to both Kim and Grant, the two main characters, as they are tested during their first time snow-birding in Palm Springs. From the start, Grant has no interest in going to Palm Springs, yet he surprises everyone when he unleashes a love for hiking. It’s during one such hike, when Grant goes missing, that really sets the story in motion.
Grant and Kim both have unusually healthy relationships with their exes, which I found to be a crazy yet likable attribute for both. It’s interesting that they’ve been together for thirty-years yet never married. The why behind that leaves much for discussion. There are many topics that touched on how we change as we age, becoming new versions of ourselves and being lonely versus being alone.
The town of Palm Springs comes alive with great detail, and you can tell the author has spent a lot of time there. The friends they met in their condo community were a crazy cast of characters that kept a keen lightness to the book. This was overall, an introspective and enjoyable read.
Quotes I liked:
Fear can kill you before anything else does.”
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