This is my review of the audio version of Enormous Wings, narrated by Becky Ann Baker. Wow. Just… wow. Enormous Wings is the whole package, a study of all aspects of returning abortion access to the states written in a thoughtful, scarily believable, entertaining and comprehensive way. Pepper, aged 77 has a minor car accident but hit the wrong guy. He causes her to lose her license, her three adult children get involved and shoehorn her into the same senior living place where her ex-husband, their father lives. Her life feels out of control, but Pepper has no idea what is coming. She lives in Austin, Texas post the US Supreme Court’s decision ending Roe v. Wade. Little by little, she connects with other residents, including Moth, a widower. One could say that Pepper blossoms in this place that she resented initially. So much so, that when she and Moth become intimate, she finds herself pregnant. Her doctor is sure that, at her age, she will spontaneously miscarry. But, she doesn’t. And she cannot get an abortion in Texas, nor get help to go get one in another state without potentially causing legal problems for her doctor or others.
By the time this novel ends, we’ve met people who will violate Pepper’s legal rights to prevent her from leaving the state; people who attempt to enforce the law against her at one point; people who want her for the pro-choice poster child, but only if she looks miserable; people who want to feature her as the upcoming mother of all time; and family members involving themselves in their distinctive personal ways that reflects a nice variety of approaches to this unexpected situation. We easily get what it would look like to become national news due to such a fantastical situation, with intrusive news people, paparazzi and people picketing her residence both pro and con a 77 year old pregnant woman. The world, both near and far seeks to influence her decisions, her fundamental views on choice (she’s pro) and her autonomy over her body.
The characters, central and minor, are uniformly great in this novel in terms of the points to be made and the situation that needs to be handled. The story moves quickly and covers all possible bases. The resolution for each person is what’s right for him/her and very satisfying. Pepper, at the center, mostly maintains her equilibrium in the face of enormous pressure and exposure and does what she needs to do at 77, then continues the fight to help others do what they need to do. Great novel. Excellent narrator.
They Called me Bookworm 