Grace Flahive’s ‘Palm Meridian’ is a queer jamboree.

On this episode of Fully Booked, Grace Flahive joins us to discuss Palm Meridian (Avid Reader Press, June 24), an exuberant debut set at a queer Floridia retirement community circa 2067. After receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis, popular founding resident Hannah Cardin decides on a medically assisted death—but not before throwing a clubhouse blowout to celebrate her extraordinary life.

Flahive was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. She studied English literature at McGill University in Montreal before moving to London, in 2014, where she’s lived ever since.

Here’s a bit from Kirkus’reviewof Palm Meridian: “‘It was the second half of the twenty-first century and everything was flavoured with apocalypse. And yet—this gelato-coloured place, its rolling lawns riddled joyfully with lesbians, flush with bisexual women, blessed by a bevy of trans and non-binary people—how could you leave a home like this?’ Hannah Cardin, 77, has nonetheless decided the time has come. She’s spent the last 10 years of her life in this lezzie paradise, a place that bobs along on the surface of the climate disaster that’s submerged the state partly due to the environmentally friendly cooling system supergenius Hannah invented in her 20s. It’s been a bright and busy decade, but now that she has a terminal cancer diagnosis, Hannah’s chosen to close it with a bang of a party, then check in for euthanasia in the morning. In addition to all her beloved pals at the resort, she’s invited her old business partner, Luke, and her great lost love, Sophie. Will they show?...There is much to enjoy in Flahive’s high-spirited debut.…The funnest book about death and post-apocalyptic living to date.”

Flahive describes the great big party she threw for the U.K. launch of the book—at the iconic gay bar Royal Vauxhall Tavern—and her eager anticipation of the U.S. launch on June 24. We talk about the people Palm Meridian serves, medically assisted death, living funerals, Flahive’s former career in publishing (digital marketing, nonfiction), cli-fi, our shared love of surprising language, and much more.

Then editors Laura Simeon, Mahnaz Dar, John McMurtrie, and Laurie Muchnick share their top picks in books for the week.

EDITORS’ PICKS:

The Singular Life of Aria Patel by Samira Ahmed (Little, Brown)

Mafalda: Book One by Quino, trans. by Frank Wynne (Elsewhere Editions)

The Last Sweet Bite: Stories and Recipes of Culinary Heritage Lost and Found by Michael Shaikh (Crown)

Auditionby Pip Adam (Coffee House)

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

Heathen & Honeysuckle by Sarah A. Bailey

Maya Blue by Brenda Coffee

Fully Booked is produced by Cabel Adkins Audio and Megan Labrise.