Late Migrations

A Natural History of Love and Loss

By: Margaret Renkl

Narrated by: Joyce Bean

Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

Selected as a TODAY Show #ReadWithJenna book club pick, Late Migrations is an unusual, captivating portrait of a family - and of the cycles of joy and grief that inscribe human lives within the natural world - from beloved New York Times opinion writer Margaret Renkl.

Growing up in Alabama, Renkl was a devoted reader, an explorer of riverbeds and red-dirt roads, and a fiercely loved daughter. Here, in brief essays, she traces a tender and honest portrait of her complicated parents - her exuberant, creative mother; her steady, supportive father - and of the bittersweet moments that accompany a child’s transition to caregiver.

And here, braided into the overall narrative, Renkl offers observations on the world surrounding her suburban Nashville home. Ringing with rapture and heartache, these essays convey the dignity of bluebirds and rat snakes, monarch butterflies and native bees. As these two threads haunt and harmonize with each other, Renkl suggests that there is astonishment to be found in common things: in what seems ordinary, in what we all share. For in both worlds - the natural one and our own - “the shadow side of love is always loss, and grief is only love’s own twin.”

Gorgeously illustrated by the author’s brother, Billy Renkl, Late Migrations is an assured and memorable debut.

©2019 by Margaret Renkl. (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Joyce Bean's narrations are always genuine and down-to-earth, and this performance of Margaret Renkl's short essays on the natural world and her family is no different." —AudioFile Magazine

Wonderful, Deeply Moving

The author’s frank exploration of emotion and beautifully vivid mastery of language unexpectedly drew me in, with narration that further enriched the experience. This touching memoir crosses barriers of culture, time and gender, at once both strongly personal and upliftingly universal.

Letters from an animal lover.

A collection of short but eloquent stories written by one of the best. They cover one life but oh, such a life

Well written and melancholy

Late Migrations combines rhythmic, lively descriptions of flora and fauna. Being a birder, the birds and butterflies are especially lovely for me. The many short stories pull together the cycles of life in nature and in the writer's family.

Having said that, this book is not for the faint hearted. It is much more about life's endings rather than its beginnings. I would not recommend it to those who are depressed, who are looking for a light read, or who are dealing with recent grief.

Beautifully written

Often melancholy, sometimes downright sad, but always heartfelt and beautifully phrased and very well read.

Moving and poetic

Tales of family and the natural world, reflecting on the joys and griefs of living.

A Beautiful Read

A beautiful book of motherhood dealing with loss aging , parenting, and mysteries of beauty of nature. Highly recommended if you're in to nature heavy memoirs . If you're caring for small children or elderly parents this book is for you.

Breathtaking

Beautifully written. Poignant, personal tales of loss and joy reflected in the natural world. Highly recommend.

So much better than I expected.

I had not listened to this type of book before and found the author's musings of the natural world and her childhood enchanting. This continues into her midlife as she migrates from southern Alabama to Nashville,Tenn.

Moving memoir ro life and death

The telling of death is hard, and reminds us to value life while it exists.

Beautiful prose

Enjoyable information on birds and other animals. Too much death and grief. Different type of book than I imagined