Editorial review
Platinum Palms
By Naomi Elana Zener
What happens when three retirees unexpectedly inherit a secret baby? Pure chaos—and one unforgettable adventure.
Reviewed by CANREADS
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What happens when three retirees unexpectedly inherit a secret baby? Pure chaos—and one unforgettable adventure.
Set against the colourful backdrop of a Florida retirement community, Naomi Elana Zener’s Platinum Palms is a warm, witty, and utterly irresistible story about friendship, forgiveness, and finding purpose in life’s most unexpected moments.
Cookie, Ethel, and Ruthie—better known as the Boca Bitches—are best friends whose days revolve around cocktails, charity events, gossip, and the occasional sex party. Their comfortable routine is shattered when their sworn enemy, the fiercely antisemitic Gertrude, discovers a baby who was meant to be abandoned on Cookie’s doorstep. What follows is a fast-paced adventure filled with surprising twists, genuine emotion, and no shortage of laugh-out-loud moments.
Zener has a remarkable gift for blending outrageous comedy with authentic emotional depth. Beneath the humour is a touching exploration of second chances, chosen family, and the discovery that life can still surprise you at any age.
The novel’s greatest strength is its indelible cast of women who have loved, lost, stumbled, survived, and reinvented themselves countless times. The Boca Bitches are impossible not to love. Cookie, Ethel, and Ruthie are far more than reluctant babysitters; they bring decades of wisdom, complicated histories, and hard-earned perspective to every page. Sharp, funny, flawed, and fiercely loyal, Cookie is the undeniable standout—the kind of character readers will be reluctant to leave behind. Yet Gertrude proves equally compelling. Rather than reducing Cookie’s fiercely antisemitic adversary to a one-dimensional villain, Zener gives her unexpected complexity, making her evolving journey one of the novel’s most impressive achievements. The supporting cast is equally memorable, transforming Platinum Palms into a community overflowing with eccentricity and charm.
Readers who loved Colleen Oakley’s The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise will feel right at home with Platinum Palms, thanks to its spirited older heroines, found-family warmth, and winning balance of comedy and heart.
Hilarious, heartfelt, and full of personality, Platinum Palms leaves readers hoping the Boca Bitches aren't finished with their adventures just yet.
—CANREADS BOOK REVIEW