Late Migrations Audiobook By Margaret Renkl cover art

Late Migrations

A Natural History of Love and Loss

Preview
Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Late Migrations

By: Margaret Renkl
Narrated by: Joyce Bean
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $20.00

Buy for $20.00

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

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.
Aging Parent Environment Grief & Loss Natural History Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Parenting & Families Personal Development Relationships Science Inspiring Heartfelt Feel-Good Celebrity
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_T1_webcro805_stickypopup

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

Lyrical Writing • Interwoven Narratives • Vivid Language Mastery • Profound Reflections • Beautiful Language
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
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.

Wonderful, Deeply Moving

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This book was so wonderful it brought tears to my eyes. A bird hitting a window and a chipmunk hit by a car was so real. She is a brilliant writer.

Wonderful nature story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

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

Letters from an animal lover.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

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

Moving and poetic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

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.

A Beautiful Read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

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

Breathtaking

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

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.

So much better than I expected.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

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

Moving memoir ro life and death

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

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

Beautiful prose

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This seems more like a collection of essays than anything. Takes a certain person to enjoy this.

A collection of essays

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews