Migrations

Content Warning: This novel depicts suicidal ideation and a suicide attempt

Five years after Franny’s realization about her mother, she gives birth to a stillborn baby girl. In her grief, she runs away from Galway for months. As she wanders alone through Yellowstone National Forest, Niall calls to tell her he can’t bear another abandonment. Franny agrees to accompany him to Scotland, to work at a conservation society called MER, but once there they are disappointed by the pessimism and human-centric viewpoint of the other employees. MER prioritizes saving pollinator species and conditioning their behavior to up their odds of survival. They have captured several Arctic terns, seeking to teach them to eat plants rather than fish. Niall believes that the terns will never adapt. They will keep flying until they find fish or die, because it is “in their nature” (218). Frustrated, he leaves MER and returns to Galway.

Soon afterward, Franny and Niall attend a party in Galway. As Franny drives them home, Niall surprises her by ending their relationship. He tells her that she shouldn’t be ashamed of her wandering nature and doesn’t want their marriage to tie her down. Heartbroken and suicidal, Franny intentionally steers into another vehicle, killing both Niall and the young mother in the other car.