Leaving prison

I believe the book ends with an unlikely character picking Franny up from prison, someone that she didn’t appear to have contact with and didn’t want to know anything about. Did anyone else find this odd/explainable?

It made sense to me although I was surprised that Niall's cold distant mother found the compassion and connection to care for Franny in the end. This was just one of many episodes in the book that surprised me but was believable.

The book had many twists and turns. Why not end it on one?

We find that Franny leaves prison, not once, but twice, and each time she is picked up by a person we least expect. I think this is in keeping with the entirety of the novel, since we learn very slowly the background as to how she wound up in prison in the first place, through all of the twists and turns of the book and of her life.

I was surprised it was her father there to pick her up as she was obviously expecting someone else. I don't remember if the book tells us how long he was supposed to be in prison. But who else could possibly understand what Franny had been through. I think it was an excellent way to end the story.

There are so many twists and turns; some of which were hard to believe . I wonder what her next book will be like. Can she write about a woman less damaged?

Two of the dominant themes of Migrations are Franny’s life-long quest for a place she belongs--a place she often associates with family, and her need to expiate her guilt for the harm she has done to others whether it was intentional or accidental. Completing her second prison term and the possibility of beginning a relationship with her estranged father address both themes and offer hope that she will find peace and belonging as she moves forward. While I was not at all expecting her father to suddenly appear, I was no longer surprised that McConaghy could pull this final rabbit out of the hat without ruffling the feathers of my ability to accept and believe the story. Did I like the ending? Perhaps not so much as I loved the rest of the book. While it ties everything up neatly, I prefer a more open-ended final chapter—one where I can imagine my own future for Franny’s journey and how she will face the next challenge in her complicated moral system. But that’s a minor complaint. I loved the book and will reread it till its pages are yellow and soiled.