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bookish1ifedeb 's review for:
The Flight Girls
by Noelle Salazar
We meet Audrey Coltrane, aged 22 and free of her well-to-do Dallas oil family for the first time, on a beach in 1941 Hawaii, surrounded by military personal and young women working in related professions. Audrey isn't man-hunting or sun-bathing--she's watching for a scheduled flyover of Curtiss P-40 Warhawks heading to a nearby airstrip. Audrey and her roommate Jean are flight trainers at Wheeler Army Airfield, part of a pre-World War II program allowing women aviators to train young men for possible entry into the European war. But the idyllic life of flying and Hawaiian beach excursions comes to a violent end on December 7 when the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor.
Lives are altered forever, and Audrey loses close friends. One friend, Lt. James Hart, becomes closer still. Audrey and he discuss their dreams--he to travel and build a military career, she to buy and manage her hometown airfield--and agree that they are meant, at least for now, to "fly solo." Soon the war takes them back to Texas, then to follow other goals. James, of course, is sent to Europe to fight. Audrey applies to join a newly formed women's effort, the Women's Airforce Service Pilots, a.k.a. the WASPs.
Ms. Salazar does a lovely job recreating the camaraderie and daily lives of these daring women from all walks of life who loved flying and wanted to contribute to the war effort. Trained with the same level of attention as male cadets, they learned to fly nearly every aircraft in military use, navigate across the nation and fly by night. They were never inducted as an actual unit of the military, so received no benefits or recognition for their service. If one of their number died in service (as several did flying damaged planes that crashed due to mechanical problems), their families had to pay to bring their bodies home. They also had to deal with sexist military officers and servicemen who scorned these "girls" taking men's jobs--even though they were asked to do so to free men for battle duty. And when men began rotating home from service overseas, the WASPs were abruptly disbanded with little notice, to return to more traditional women's roles.
I really enjoyed spending time with Audrey and her comrades. The stories of brave, adventurous young women--and the men they loved who served around the globe during the war--need to be told and retold, as a reminder of a time when we pulled together in a way we seem to be unable to replicate today.
The novel hints at darker stories from the era, including the Japanese internment camps, and the impact of war on Europe as hostilities concluded. But this is largely a home-front tale. It's a nice entree for reading a more serious history of the Women's Airforce Service Pilots.
Lives are altered forever, and Audrey loses close friends. One friend, Lt. James Hart, becomes closer still. Audrey and he discuss their dreams--he to travel and build a military career, she to buy and manage her hometown airfield--and agree that they are meant, at least for now, to "fly solo." Soon the war takes them back to Texas, then to follow other goals. James, of course, is sent to Europe to fight. Audrey applies to join a newly formed women's effort, the Women's Airforce Service Pilots, a.k.a. the WASPs.
Ms. Salazar does a lovely job recreating the camaraderie and daily lives of these daring women from all walks of life who loved flying and wanted to contribute to the war effort. Trained with the same level of attention as male cadets, they learned to fly nearly every aircraft in military use, navigate across the nation and fly by night. They were never inducted as an actual unit of the military, so received no benefits or recognition for their service. If one of their number died in service (as several did flying damaged planes that crashed due to mechanical problems), their families had to pay to bring their bodies home. They also had to deal with sexist military officers and servicemen who scorned these "girls" taking men's jobs--even though they were asked to do so to free men for battle duty. And when men began rotating home from service overseas, the WASPs were abruptly disbanded with little notice, to return to more traditional women's roles.
I really enjoyed spending time with Audrey and her comrades. The stories of brave, adventurous young women--and the men they loved who served around the globe during the war--need to be told and retold, as a reminder of a time when we pulled together in a way we seem to be unable to replicate today.
The novel hints at darker stories from the era, including the Japanese internment camps, and the impact of war on Europe as hostilities concluded. But this is largely a home-front tale. It's a nice entree for reading a more serious history of the Women's Airforce Service Pilots.