The Snowbirds, Christina Clancy
The Snowbirds, Christina Clancy
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The Snowbirds
A Novel

Author: Christina Clancy

Narrator: Graham Halstead, Karissa Vacker

Unabridged: 9 hr 58 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/04/2025


Synopsis

The Last Thing He Told Me meets Fleishman Is in Trouble in this engrossing story of a couple who flee winter in the Midwest for Palm Springs, where they find their relationship at a crossroads.

"Vacker's easily distinguishable voices and Halstead's clear readings combine for an enjoyable listening experience.” —AudioFile

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.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.

About Christina Clancy

Christina Clancy is the author of The Second Home and Shoulder Season. Her work has also appeared in the New York Times, The Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, The Sun magazine, and in various literary journals. She splits her time between Madison and Palm Springs.

About Karissa Vacker

Karissa Vacker has narrated over 500 audiobooks, and can most frequently be heard in the thriller, YA, and rom com genres. She is Audie nominated, and a proud recipient of many AudioFile Earphones awards and is also a SOVAS award winning narrator. Karissa is a classically trained actor who has always loved the power of storytelling. Along with credits from major regional theaters, she has also enjoyed a career in film and TV. Some credits include NCIS, Castle, How I Met Your Mother and Chuck. She hosts a weekly sleep meditation podcast, Sleep Wave, for the app Sleepiest and does a variety of other VO work. After over a decade of living and working in Chicago and Los Angeles, she moved back to her home state Texas in 2021 with her husband and son. She is a breast cancer survivor and is passionate about finding ways to live a healthier, more present life.


Reviews

*** 9/3/24 *** Finished! Coming soon with a 2/4/25 pub date, this is really a relationship story about Kim and Grant (and their twin adult daughters), with a mystery glaze on top - will Grant be found or not??? And we have a side mystery about whether Kim and Grant will get married/stay together. An......more

Goodreads review by Shawna

TW// mentions of alcoholism, cheating, mentions of death (including parents, spouses), mention of cancer, mentions of divorce, detailed mention of self harm, mention of suicide (heavily implied) I received a physical arc of The Snowbirds from a Goodreads giveaway. Thank you so much to the publisher......more

Goodreads review by Louise

(3.75 stars) The blurb of The Snowbirds appealed to me because that’s exactly what I am! In this story, the snowbirds are from Madison, Wisconsin and go to Palm Springs, California. In my case, it’s New Jersey and Florida. (Yep, cliché!) But this story is about Kim and Grant, not me! Grant and Kim ar......more

Goodreads review by Ann

You can’t go wrong with a Christina Clancy book. This story of a marriage, two people Who love each other and her just trying to figure it out after years of marriage beautifully written deeply felt and surprising and all the right places I loved it.......more


Quotes

"Studded with witty banter and the sparkling glamour of Palm Springs, The Snowbirds is great fun, but what Clancy really gives us is a portrait of a marriage with psychological depth and pathos and characters we can’t help but fall in love with. Stunning." Rufi Thorpe, author of Margo's Got Money Troubles

"The Snowbirds is a beautifully written and propulsive novel, at once a page-turning mystery of a missing man and a moving portrait of a long-term relationship going through a midlife crisis. With humor, honesty, and keen insight, Clancy explores the struggles and joys of reexamining a 30-year relationship and remaking your life in a new community. I couldn't put it down." Angie Kim, New York Times bestselling author of Happiness Falls

"The Snowbirds is an insightful, propulsive exploration of modern marriage in middle age, equal parts sharp-eyed and heartwarming. Is it possible to commit to a relationship without losing your identity? What epiphanies might we have while getting lost? Christina Clancy's novel ponders these questions and more with humor and warmth. Set against the vivid, zany backdrop of Palm Springs and its Hollywood history, populated by a delightful cast of locals and transplants, The Snowbirds asks whether it's ever too late to find your partner—and yourself." —Chloe Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Immortalists

"The Snowbirds is a harrowing look at all the ways we find ourselves lost in relationships and what it takes to be found. Clancy has harnessed the unyielding sunshine of Palm Springs to shine new light on long-term love. Her observations are astounding." —Steven Rowley, New York Times bestselling author of The Guncle

"In The Snowbirds, Clancy plumbs the depths of love and commitment while spinning a compelling and tantalizing tale about a man who runs away one too many times in the course of a thirty-year relationship. As Kim's new winter community in Palm Springs rallies about her in the search for Grant, who has failed to return from a New Year's Day hike, the reader is shown glimpses of the couple's fraught but passionate past framed by each of his previous flights from home. A totally relatable and completely unforgettable work of literary fiction that, like the best of marriages, manages to be both rich with meaning and insight, sexy and oh-so-fun." —Natalie Jenner, bestselling author of The Jane Austen Society

"This book is a trip! An honest and authentic portrait of love, family and finding yourself told with beautiful writing and rich characters." —Byron Lane, author of Big Gay Wedding

"The Snowbirds shines a compassionate light on the complexities of life-long love, and the ways our deepest connections make us deeply vulnerable. It's emotionally wise and beautifully written—I'm going to be thinking about this one for a long time." Annabel Monaghan, author of Summer Romance

"I loved spending time in Clancy’s Palm Springs, where the local color features a passel of voluble eccentrics as magnificent as the mountain views, and a twisty, harrowing hike of a plot. This life-affirming novel of being lost and found will shake you up." Bonnie Jo Campbell, author of The Waters

"The Snowbirds is a sharp, often tender portrait of middle age: a period of life when we’re told we should know who we are but are often still trying to find ourselves. Against the intoxicating backdrop of Palm Springs, Clancy brings an incredible cast of characters to life with wit, precision, and empathy." —Rowan Beaird, author of The Divorcées

"Clancy’s latest features a long-time couple at the precipice of a romantic reckoning who head to Palm Springs, where the dry heat and their quirky neighbors only add to the tightrope tension. The perfect read for a cold winter night, and one that raises the fundamental questions of how well do we know our partner, or even ourselves? An absolute treat." —Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Stolen Queen

"The Snowbirds is Clancy’s best novel yet, and absolutely impossible to put down—a gripping, immersive story about the importance of community and the unexpressed depths of love within a family." J. Ryan Stradal, New York Times bestselling author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest

Praise for Shoulder Season


"A perfect beach read." BuzzFeed

"A burst of heady independence and excitement [that] develops into a love triangle with tragic results." New York Post

"I tore through this vibrant coming-of-age tale. Clancy’s vulnerable characters come roaring to life in full eighties glamour, before spiraling toward a central tragedy that will define their adult lives and the very definition of home." —Steven Rowley, New York Times bestselling author