Finished July 3
The Beauty Chorus by Kate Lord Brown
This novel focuses on women pilots in World War II, specifically the ferry pilots working for the Air Transport Auxiliary. We see the lives of three pilots up close: Evie, a girl from a wealthy privileged background; Stella, married with a young child and trying to find a future for herself; and Megan a girl from Wales who longs to make her dreams come true.
Evie's father Leo works for the Air Ministry and is reluctant at first to have her fly. Stella has come to England from Singapore, leaving her young son with her in-laws in Ireland. Megan is still mourning the loss of her brother, but wants to make a difference in the war and come back to run her parents' farm.
We see the not-so-glamorous lives of the pilots, the hard work and long hours. We also see some of the resentment from the men they serve with, while other men respect the hard work they do.
This was eye-opening and very interesting in showing a side of war I hadn't been aware of before, and oddly enough one also touched on in another book I am reading. It's nice to learn history and be well entertained at the same time.
I didn't realize there were women pilots either. We hardly hear of the hero women in the war.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was interesting. The women didn't fly combat missions at all. They ferried planes between locations (like from one base to another or from manufacturer to base. They had no weapons, although sometimes they were fired upon by enemy planes. There was also (very rare) internal sabotage where resentful men did things that put the women in danger, and on occasion even killed them, like putting sugar in the fuel tank.
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