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Table of Contents
About The Book
“A riotous novel about a farewell party that celebrates all of life’s emotions—big and small—while marking the arrival of an exciting new voice in fiction.” —Steven Rowley, New York Times bestselling author of The Celebrants
For readers of Less and The Wedding People—a rollicking, big-hearted story of long-lost love, friendship, and a life well-lived, set at a Florida retirement resort for queer women, on the last day of resident Hannah Cardin’s life.
It’s 2067 and Florida is partially underwater, but even that can’t bring down the residents of Palm Meridian Retirement Resort, a utopian home for queer women who want to revel in their twilight years. Inside, Hula-Hoopers shimmy across the grass, fiercely competitive book clubs nearly come to blows, and the roller-ski team races up and down the winding paths. Everywhere you look, these women are living large.
Hannah Cardin has spent ten happy years under these tropical, technicolor skies, but after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis, she has decided that tomorrow morning she will close her eyes for the very last time. Tonight, however, Hannah and her raucous band of friends are throwing one hell of an end-of-life party. And with less than twenty-four hours left, Hannah is holding out for one final, impossible thing…
Amongst the guest list is Sophie, the love of Hannah’s life. They haven’t spoken since their devastating breakup over forty years ago, but today, Hannah is hoping for the chance to give her greatest love one last try.
As Hannah anxiously awaits Sophie’s arrival, her mind casts back over the highs and lows of her kaleidoscopic life. But when a shocking secret from the past is revealed, Hannah must reconsider if she can say goodbye after all.
Spanning the course of a single day and seventy-odd years, and bursting with irresistible hope, humor, and wisdom, this one-of-a-kind novel celebrates the unexpected moments that make us feel the most alive.
For readers of Less and The Wedding People—a rollicking, big-hearted story of long-lost love, friendship, and a life well-lived, set at a Florida retirement resort for queer women, on the last day of resident Hannah Cardin’s life.
It’s 2067 and Florida is partially underwater, but even that can’t bring down the residents of Palm Meridian Retirement Resort, a utopian home for queer women who want to revel in their twilight years. Inside, Hula-Hoopers shimmy across the grass, fiercely competitive book clubs nearly come to blows, and the roller-ski team races up and down the winding paths. Everywhere you look, these women are living large.
Hannah Cardin has spent ten happy years under these tropical, technicolor skies, but after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis, she has decided that tomorrow morning she will close her eyes for the very last time. Tonight, however, Hannah and her raucous band of friends are throwing one hell of an end-of-life party. And with less than twenty-four hours left, Hannah is holding out for one final, impossible thing…
Amongst the guest list is Sophie, the love of Hannah’s life. They haven’t spoken since their devastating breakup over forty years ago, but today, Hannah is hoping for the chance to give her greatest love one last try.
As Hannah anxiously awaits Sophie’s arrival, her mind casts back over the highs and lows of her kaleidoscopic life. But when a shocking secret from the past is revealed, Hannah must reconsider if she can say goodbye after all.
Spanning the course of a single day and seventy-odd years, and bursting with irresistible hope, humor, and wisdom, this one-of-a-kind novel celebrates the unexpected moments that make us feel the most alive.
About The Author
© Robin Silas Christian
Grace Flahive was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. She studied English literature at McGill University in Montreal before moving to London, UK, in 2014, where she’s lived ever since. Palm Meridian is her debut novel.
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster (May 27, 2025)
- Length: 256 pages
- ISBN13: 9781668080535
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Raves and Reviews
“A joyous ode to the truth that it’s never too late for love, friendship, and living the life of your dreams. Beautiful and funny, this book stole my heart and then handed it back full of hope.”
— ASHLEY HERRING BLAKE, USA Today bestselling author of Delilah Green Doesn't Care
“The kind of read that takes you for a ride – backwards and forwards and in directions you didn't know you could go. I love a story that spans joy and grief, love and loss, laughter and tears. What a thrilling novel this is.”
— HILLARY YABLON, author of Sylvia's Second Act
“Bursting with humour, queer joy, and heart. A unique and deeply touching celebration of both community and life.”
— EMILY AUSTIN, bestselling author of We Could Be Rats
“Oh, this beautiful, brilliant book. WHAT a debut. Achingly funny and utterly heartrending, written with so much joy and hope and love. I am bereft to have finished and to have left Hannah, Sophie, Esme, Nate, Luke, the Eileens, and everyone at Palm Meridian.”
— SARA NISHA ADAMS, author of The Reading List
“A riotous novel about a farewell party that celebrates all of life's emotions—big and small—while marking the arrival of an exciting new voice in fiction.”
— STEVEN ROWLEY, New York Times bestselling author of The Celebrants and The Guncle
“I defy anyone to read this novel and not wish they too were living in a Floridian lesbian retirement community in 2067 (and that is not a sentence I ever thought I'd write). Palm Meridian is artfully crafted, a love story, a tragedy, a comedy, a meditation on life and death – our own, and that of the planet we are, for now, lucky enough to occupy. I laughed out loud, I turned pages hoping against hope, and I wept. This is a very special novel, and in these extraordinary times, I think it is exactly what we all need to read. I will be thinking about it for a long time.”
— LAURA KAY, author of Wild Things
“Palm Meridian is a masterful love story set in a time of crisis and in a burnt and shredded world. Flahive deftly weaves between the past, present, and future. It is heartful and hopeful in equal measure.”
— NICOLA DINAN, author of Bellies
“Palm Meridian is the bizarre sapphic riot you didn't know you needed. I'm speechless, which is a rarity. A single page can make you both cackle with laughter and want to burst into ugly tears – it's balanced beautifully that way. Explosively, joyously human, it bursts with hope and kindness, and it's rib-achingly funny.”
— CURTIS GARNER, author of Isaac
“Bittersweet lesbians try to enjoy one last farewell party at the end of the world – this is a delicious debut. I read the first chapter standing on my doormat, having just received the book in the post and expecting to just flick quickly through, but instead I got hooked in and finished the first few chapters with the delighted grin of someone who knows they're going to love reading the rest.”
— LILY LINDON, author of Double Booked
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