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Searching... Salem Main Library | Notaro, L. | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Soar back to the fearless 1920s with #1 New York Times bestselling writer Laurie Notaro--beloved author of The Idiot Girls' Action Adventure Club --in a stunning historical novel that tells the true, little-known story of three aviatrixes in a race to be the first woman to fly across the Atlantic.
Ten thousand feet in the sky, aviatrixes from London to Paris to New York--fueled by determination and courage--have their eyes on the century's biggest prize. The year is 1927, and Amelia Earhart has not yet made her record-breaking cross-Atlantic flight. Who will follow in Charles Lindbergh's footsteps and make her own history?
Three women's names are splashed daily across the front page: Elsie Mackay, daughter of an Earl, is the first Englishwoman to get her pilot's license. Mabel Boll, a glamorous society darling and former cigar girl, is ardent to make the historic flight. Beauty pageant contestant Ruth Elder uses her winnings for flying lessons and becomes the preeminent American girl of the sky.
Inspired by true events and real people, Notaro vividly evokes this exciting time as her determined heroines vie for the record. Through striking photos, meticulous research, and atmospheric prose, Notaro brings Elsie, Mabel, and Ruth to life, pulling us back in time as the pilots collide, struggle, and literally crash in the chase for fame and a place in aviation history.
Author Notes
Laurie Notaro is an American writer who was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. She graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in Journalism. Notaro was a columnist for ten years at The Arizona Republic. She is the author of The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club, Autobiography of a Fat Bride, I Love Everybody, We Thought You'd Be Prettier, and An Idiot Girl's Christmas. Her book, It Looked Different on the Model, became a New York Times bestseller in 2014.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Notaro (The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club) leverages her humor and keen eye for human foibles in an ambitious fictionalized account of three real-life aviatrixes whose daring exploits catapulted them into global headlines prior to Amelia Earhart's record-setting flights. This action-packed, character-rich romp through the 1920s' transatlantic race captures the era's excitement and sense of possibility. With cash prizes and fame glittering on the horizon, men and women on each side of the Atlantic rushed to be the first to successfully complete the treacherous, storm-ridden flight across it. Notaro shines a spotlight on the now largely forgotten stories of the three women: Elsie Mackay, a courageous and kind-hearted English heiress who braved her family's disapproval to follow her dreams; Mabel Boll, the scandalously renowned "Queen of Diamonds" and aspiring "Queen of the Air," who used her wealth and influence to buy herself the fame she craved; and Ruth Elder, a young Southern beauty queen who lifted herself from poverty and obscurity through the strength of her own convictions. Initially slow to get off the ground, the story lumbers through ponderous backstories and hits rough patches of stilted dialogue before soaring into a page-turning, stomach-churning, hilarious, and heartbreaking adventure. Elsie, Mabel, and Ruth defied the odds stacked against them, and their indomitable spirits and vibrant, larger-than-life personalities provide much inspiration. Agent: Jenny Bent, Bent Agency. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Three daring and determined women, inspired by Charles Lindberghs flight, take to the skies in a risky race to be the first woman to make the dangerous trans-Atlantic flight.It's 1927. There is danger in the skies above the Atlanticfierce winds, driving rain, lightning, and temperatures so cold that ice builds up on the wings of airplanes, dragging them out of the sky to the churning sea below. Lindbergh has made his historic flight to great acclaim; Amelia Earhart has yet to make hers. But for English heiress Elsie Mackay, wealthy society widow Mabel Boll, and Ruth Elder, a young beauty pageant winner from Alabama, the thrill of being the first woman to cross the Atlantic in the air is deemed worth risking their lives for. Notaro (The Potty Mouth at the Table, 2013, etc.) breaks from her self-deprecating comedic style to enliven a year when trans-Atlantic air travel was in its daring infancy, bringing to life these three real-life women from the pages of aviation history. In a decade of transition (women voting, hemlines rising, roles changing), there are still people who disapprove of women who want to be more than a traditional wife and mother. Not that that mattered one whit to Mackay, Boll, or Elder, as they battled family, friends, financial constraints, and most of all the weather while preparing for their life-or-death flights. Notaro portrays this exciting sliver of time with historical accuracy, providing an authentic glimpse of the era (including photographs), and then adds a pump of adrenaline by including dialogue and drama of her own imagination, creating a captivating historical fiction. Be prepared to hold tight as you're boosted into the cockpit for a two-day flight across the horizon. The odds of making it are against youbut what a ride! Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
In the months following Charles Lindbergh's famous flight across the Atlantic, Elsie McKay, Ruth Elder, and Mabel Boll each wanted to be the first woman to fly across the pond. In this fictional treatment of real people, Notaro uses documentary sources to inspire the dialog. Aristocratic Elsie, American girl-next-door Ruth, and brassy New Yorker Mabel are very different but are all determined and focused on the goal. The book is slow to start; three discs in and listeners will wonder why they should care about these people. But the determined will finally be absorbed by the dangerous flights and entertained by Mabel's wackiness. Reader Hillary Huber uses accents to express the personalities: cool, clipped consonants and lightly spoken syllables accentuate British Elsie's haughty self-confidence; sweet and Southern, Ruth's drawl is part of her persona as she successfully manipulates every man she encounters, especially investors and journalists. With a flat, nasal voice as hard as the diamonds she wears, Mabel pursues the men who will help her become the "Queen of the Air." VERDICT None of these women are wholly likable, and this may be more evident in the recording than in the print version. Not an essential purchase.-Juleigh Muirhead Clark, Colonial -Williamsburg Fdn. Lib., VA © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.