Grace Flahive imagines a queer retirement community in a climate-ravaged world in Palm Meridian

Grace Flahive’s debut novel, Palm Meridian, imagines a radiant queer retirement community in a climate-ravaged Florida, set in the not-so-distant future.

Blending joy, heartbreak, camp and mortality, Flahive’s book has landed with uncanny resonance, especially in the wake of heightened political turmoil and renewed threats to queer rights in the US.

When we spoke, Grace had just wrapped a week of signings and celebrations, and was planning her upcoming North American tour.

“I was in shops yesterday, signing books,” she said. “It’s surreal, still all very new.”

Palm Meridian began with a simple idea: a “lesbian retirement resort.” From that seed, a world bloomed.

“I’d never written a queer story before,” Flahive admitted, “even though I’m queer. Once I made that decision, the inspiration came faster and it was more fun, more authentic.”

Set in a lush, surreal Florida, partially submerged by climate change, the novel focuses on Hannah, a resident of the retirement community who decides to throw one last party after receiving a life-ending diagnosis.

Flahive, who has visited The Sunshine State many times, knew she wanted to set a story there, but the deeper symbolism wasn’t lost on her, especially when real-world politics caught up with fiction.

“I finished the book before Trump was elected a second time,” she said. “So, it’s coming out in a very different climate. I’m glad that this unapologetically queer, joyful story is set in Florida. It accidentally became a kind of act of defiance.”

One of the novel’s most striking features is its time-hopping structure, which moves between Hannah’s present and pivotal moments from her past.

“Once I decided the book would be set over her last 24 hours, I asked myself: what would someone remember at the end of their life? The happiest and the saddest moments. That became my guide.”

Far from being clinical or sentimental, Palm Meridian is deeply alive. Each character pulses with vitality. None more so than Esme, Hannah’s campy best friend. “She was the most fun to write. She doesn’t take herself seriously but she’s got so much depth. I wanted readers to really see her,” the author said.

Flahive is aware of the limited depictions of older queer people in literature. Although the focus on elderly characters was initially unintentional, “I was writing about my friends in the future, and suddenly they were in their seventies”, it became one of the novel’s most impactful elements.

“There’s this idea that you become irrelevant after 60. But these are still full, vital people. I don’t expect to feel any less me at 77, and I wanted to reflect that.”

At the heart of the story is a vision of queer resilience and chosen family. It’s one that’s drawn directly from Flahive’s life.

“The community Hannah builds is modelled on my own queer friend groups. They’re different, they clash, but they show up for [one another],’ she said. “That’s what’s going to get us through whatever’s coming.”

Despite being set in the future, the book resists the trappings of sci-fi.

“People hear 2067 and think of flying cars. But it’s as close to now as 1983 [is]. That makes the story feel more immediate. This could be our future.”

Flahive talks of how she spent a day writing about all the activities the characters get up to in the resort. So, there’s plenty of material for a sequel. And she isn’t ruling it out.

“I’d love to dive back into the day-to-day lives at Palm Meridian. Just vibes, no plot. There’s so much more to explore.”

She’s also working on a new project, although it’s in its very early stages. “Right now, it’s just vibes too. But the voice, the themes of hope and bittersweet joy, I think they’ll carry through.”

In a literary landscape where queer stories are too often framed by trauma or tragedy, Palm Meridian is a celebration of life. It’s a party at the end of the world.

“I hope readers walk away with a sense of what resilience can look like,” Flahive said. “Because if we’re going to make it to 2067, it’s going to be because of communities like this.”

Palm Meridian is out now.

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