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Migrations  By  cover art

Migrations

By: Charlotte McConaghy
Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik
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Publisher's summary

"Seasoned narrator Kreinik showcases her prowess as a dialect coach as she embodies McConaghy’s vast cast.... With deft agility, Kreinik guides McConaghy’s spectacular Moby Dick-esque journey towards an all-too-imminent dystopia in which humanity faces a future alone." (Booklist, starred review)

Instant national best seller

  • "Visceral and haunting." (New York Times Book Review)
  • "Hopeful." (Washington Post)
  • "Powerful." (Los Angeles Times)
  • "Thrilling." (Time)
  • "Tantalizingly beautiful." (Elle)
  • "Suspenseful, atmospheric." (Vogue)
  • "Aching and poignant." (Guardian)

Franny Stone has always been the kind of woman who is able to love but unable to stay. Leaving behind everything but her research gear, she arrives in Greenland with a singular purpose: to follow the last Arctic terns in the world on what might be their final migration to Antarctica. Franny talks her way onto a fishing boat, and she and the crew set sail, traveling ever further from shore and safety. But as Franny’s history begins to unspool - a passionate love affair, an absent family, a devastating crime - it becomes clear that she is chasing more than just the birds. When Franny's dark secrets catch up with her, how much is she willing to risk for one more chance at redemption?

Epic and intimate, heartbreaking and galvanizing, Charlotte McConaghy's Migrations is an ode to a disappearing world and a breathtaking pause resister about the possibility of hope against all odds.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books

"Migrations is a nervy and well-crafted novel, one that lingers long after its voyage is over. It’s a story about our mingling sorrows, both personal and global, and the survivor’s guilt that will be left in their wake." (New York Times Book Review)

"True and affecting, elegiac and imminent.... The fractured timeline fills each chapter with suspense and surprises, parceled out so tantalizingly that it took disciplined willpower to keep from skipping down each page to see what happens.... Ultimately hopeful." (The Washington Post)

“Thrilling.... In piecing together who this mysterious protagonist really is, McConaghy creates a detailed portrait of a woman on the cusp of collapse, consumed with a world that is every bit as broken as she is.” (Time)

©2020 Charlotte McConaghy (P)2020 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Gutting and gorgeous, Migrations is an astounding meditation on love, trauma, and the cost of survival. With soulful prose and deep empathy, Charlotte McConaghy weaves parallel stories of a woman and a world on the brink of devastation, but never without hope. Equal parts love letter and dirge, this is a true force of a book that I read holding my breath from its start to its symphonic finish." (Julia Fine, author of What Should Be Wild)

"Few books have so completely enveloped me into the character’s life (and entwining with mine as well) as Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy. Reminiscent of Annie Proulx’s honest and raw words, this story is poetic and melancholic, with bursts of insight." (Michelle Bear, Edmonds Bookshop, Edmonds, WA)

"Migrations is a wonder. I read it in a gasp. There is hope in these pages; a balm for these troubled times. Charlotte McConaghy's words cut through to the bone." (Lara Prescott, New York Times best-selling author of The Secrets We Kept)

Editor's Pick

Love, adventure, climate change & self-discovery
While I’ve always been able to appreciate the great outdoors and love animals and travel, I’m more inclined to take a long walk on a paved path through a scenic park and cuddle with my tabby, Tallulah, on the couch than to venture into the harsh wilderness. Migrations has broadened my worldview in the most welcome way, and in a way I didn’t realize I needed. First off, narrator Barrie Kreinik’s Irish accent and subtly powerful performance put me immediately at ease. While listening, I quickly came to consider Franny Stone, the woman at the center of this expansive and meditative listen, a friend—I feel like her confidante. Franny goes to the ends of the earth to track the migration of Arctic terns on one level, and as a journey of self-realization on another. From Antarctica to a prison in Ireland, Australia to Galway, Franny traverses the globe, and as the story progresses you learn more about why she’s always on the move. I highly recommend taking this journey with her. —Tricia F., Audible Editor

What listeners say about Migrations

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excellent read

Deeply emotional story that drags you into the characters lives. you will enjoy this book.

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Excellent book and surprising

Surprising, thoughtful, gentle humility throughout the book and performance. I fell in love with the characters.

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Burden of Guilt

Everything in Frannie's world has gone bad -- the Earth, her family, her love. Because of climate change, few animals survive except for the world's greatest migrant, the Arctic tern. Can you run from problems by finding solace in nature? The themes here are lofty, but the writing (especially dialogue) is stilted; many situations are unbelievable; and the moralism are pounded home with a jackhammer. Still, I give the writer points for ambition and originality. The narrator is passable but unable to convey excitement, even in the most nerve wracking scenes.

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Understanding Migrations

This is a deep and powerful story of the numerous effects abandonment can have on a child. You really have to read chapters slowly to process what is truly going on beneath the surface.
Strong determination echoed throughout this story. I enjoyed the way the author wound things together at the end!!

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Slow to ramp up, but strong finish.

Slow to ramp up, but strong finish. Emotional. Thought provoking depictions of climate change future.

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Narrative poetry like i’ve never known.

Brilliant merger of narrator and author, ecology and fiction. Listened to it again and again, partly to try to bring order, partly loving it. Deft characterization. Appropriately apocalyptic.

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All-Around Perfect Audible Experiece, This One.

Got this on my sister's recommendation and I'm glad I took her advice. I'll be presenting this one at my book recommendation club for sure. The category this month is Adventure Fiction and Migrations nailed it! Rarely does a book cause my jaw to drop anymore, but Migrations pulled that off three times! Just the thought-provoking yet light read I needed.

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Fulfilling!

Loved the story. Perfect narration! Thought provoking. A true love story in so many ways!

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poignant page turner with a theme to last

Author weaves multiple timelines and elegant writing at the bleeding edge of postmodern environmental fiction. If you loved the Overstory you will love this!

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Beautiful Story!

It took me a good couple of chapters to get into this book and then to recognise the shifts of timeline. After that, the story became more enduring and more beautiful chapter by chapter. I definitely cried towards the end of this book.

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