Migration (A Memoir of Moving On)

A stunning debut memoir examining the end of a marriage and the path to self-discovery—and the wisdom of birds that guides the way.

After the heartbreaking and surprisingly swift end of her marriage, Elizabeth Grey surveys the remnants of a life no longer hers and wonders, “Which self goes on living after it ends? And who is she anyway, when she is not a part of us?” Stunned and unmoored, she begins to disentangle her life from what she once called home. From the Oregon coast awash in sea spray to the blufftop meadows in rural Wisconsin, Grey embarks on a migratory journey to rediscover the boundaries of herself.

Leaning on the wisdom of birds, she searches for a place to call her own and learns to let the beauty of a former life live on without remaining tethered to the past. She witnesses a kildeer collecting scraps to make her tiny square of earth beautiful and learns of the bar-tailed godwit and the impressive 7,000-mile flight between her wintering grounds and where she will attempt a nest. Grey calls attention to moments in nature that are often overlooked, pausing to inhale the spectacular: waking in a hammock to discover a lone feather on her belly; an egg cracked into a pan, revealing a double yolk; poppies and wild mustard; a painfully beautiful blue sky. She pauses and notices—and each serendipitous occasion sparks awakening, guiding her toward the person she is becoming. 

With writing that sings from the page, “a western meadowlark crying in exaltation of spring,” Migration is a love letter to solitude and beauty, a poignant meditation on discovering meaning and solace in the teachings of the avian world.