Grace Flahive: Palm Meridian [2025]

'A masterful love story' Nicola Dinan
'Very special ' Laura Kay
'Wildly entertaining, lovingly written' Jess Kidd
'Rib-achingly funny' Curtis Garner
'Delicious' Lily Lindon
'A firecracker of a book' Emma Morgan
'Achingly funny and utterly heartrending' Sara Nisha Adams

It's 2067 at Palm Meridian Retirement Resort, Florida, and the last day of Hannah's life. Tomorrow, as the sun burns the dew off the lawns, she'll close her eyes for the very last time.

But she won't be going quietly. Tonight, Hannah's throwing an end-of-life party: the drinks are on ice, and the palm trees are strung with lights beneath technicolour skies. And though Hannah has less than twenty-four hours left, she's holding out for one last, impossible thing...

Amongst the guest list is Hannah's long-lost love Sophie - the woman who Hannah can't forget, even after forty years. Hannah has to give her greatest love one last try.

Soon, the party is in full swing. Hannah waits nervously, unaware that before her last ever dawn breaks, a devastating secret will come to light. If Sophie shows, how can Hannah say goodbye all over again? And is there enough time to fix the past?

Brimming with heart, and just as hilarious as it is heartbreaking, Palm Meridian is a one-of-a kind novel that will stay with you forever. Grace & Frankie meets The Notebook, for fans of Malibu Rising, this bittersweet novel affirms that life is what we choose to make of it, and any story can be a love story, if you let it.

'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

'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 Eileen's, and everyone at Palm Meridian' Sara Nisha Adams, author of The Reading List

'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

'Hilarious, heart-wrenching and hopeful, Palm Meridian is the modern lesbian novel I've been waiting for' Anna Bailey, author of Tall Bones

'Hilarious and wise with an enormous heart, Palm Meridian is an extraordinary achievement. Fun to read, while also bittersweet, Flahive's prose can sneak up on you. One minute you're laughing aloud, and the next you're choked up by a poignant punch to the gut. Consider yourself warned. This novel will make you feel alive' Camille Perri, the author of The Assistants

'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 The Split

'This book is an absolute hoot. It's also a poignant celebration of love, life and friendship in all its forms. Flahive's debut is wildly entertaining, lovingly written and beautifully anarchic - a visit to Palm Meridian Retirement Resort is a must' Jess Kidd, author of The Night Ship

'A firecracker of a book - an enchanting mixture of hilarity and moving observations on love and loss' Emma Morgan, author A Love Story for Bewildered Girls

'A brilliantly warm and nostalgic journey through the highs and lows of surviving life's drama' Justin Myers, author of The Last Romeo

'A riotous novel marking the arrival of an exciting new voice in fiction' Steven Rowley, author of The Guncle

'A stunningly original, heartbreaking yet brilliantly funny story of the power of love and friendship. Grace Flahive has perfectly depicted end-of-life millennials: an older, wiser version of 2025's Hannah's and Sophie's, surviving in a frighteningly realistic climate-change-devastated world. One of my favourite novels of the year by far, this is absolutely destined for the big screen!' Laura Price, author of Single Bald Female

'Fresh, funny and full of hope. Grace writes with such originality and heart, I know readers are going to fall in love with Hannah and her joyfully life-affirming end-of-life party' Freya Sampson, author of The Last Library

'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, author of Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead

'Boldly and beautifully written, with an audacious and unforgettable heroine - everybody's going to want to move to Palm Meridian! A book that, without ever being mawkish or sentimental, simply reminds us of the joy of being alive' Marianne Cronin, author of The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot

'Palm Meridian is packed with humour and wit, has a cast of wonderful characters and is powered along by a gripping, twisty plot. Books like this make me feel positive about the future of fiction!' Matt Cain, author of The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle

'What a beautiful book. Gorgeously written, you can feel the warmth of the sunset of Hannah's life on every page. So funny and so sad. Compulsory queer reading this summer!' Chloe Michelle Howarth, author of Sunburn