100 Pages A Day.... Stephanie's Book Reviews
  • Blog Tours
  • Historical Fiction
  • Sci Fi & Fantasy
  • Thriller & Horror
  • Non-Fiction
  • Middle Grade & Children's
  • Literary Fiction and Other Genres
  • Challenges
  • Promo's
  • Product Reviews

The Secrets of Flight

5/5/2016

3 Comments

 
Picture

About 
The Secrets of Flight
• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (May 3, 2016)
​
This captivating, breakout novel—told in alternating viewpoints—brings readers from the skies of World War II to the present day, where a woman is prepared to tell her secrets at last.
Estranged from her family since just after World War II, Mary Browning has spent her entire adult life hiding from her past. Now eighty-seven years old and a widow, she is still haunted by secrets and fading memories of the family she left behind. Her one outlet is the writing group she’s presided over for a decade, though she’s never written a word herself. When a new member walks in—a fifteen-year-old girl who reminds her so much of her beloved sister Sarah—Mary is certain fate delivered Elyse Strickler to her for a reason.
Mary hires the serious-eyed teenager to type her story about a daring female pilot who, during World War II, left home for the sky and gambled everything for her dreams—including her own identity.
As they begin to unravel the web of Mary’s past, Mary and Elyse form an unlikely friendship. Together they discover it’s never too late for second chances and that sometimes forgiveness is all it takes for life to take flight in the most unexpected ways.


Purchase Links
HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
​

​Review: 
Mary Browning has spent most of her life hiding from her past. Now, she is an 87 year old widow trying to live out her days in dignity.  Mary heads up a seniors writing group, since she is a published author of exactly one book, even though she has not submitted any writing to her group in a decade.  When 15 year old Elyse stumbles upon the writing group, Mary feels connected to Elyse and decides to hire Elyse to type her memoir.  Mary opens up to Elyse about her true identity-Miri Lichtenstein, and past- a Women’s Airforce Service Pilot during World War II.  As Mary rehashes her past, Elyse’s present is crumbling and they will need each other to keep hope.
This is one of those books that make me happy to read historical fiction, through Mary/Miri I learned of the brave women who were WASP’s.  Mary/Miri’s character grabbed me in both the past and the present.  Even as an 87 year old, Mary/Miri showed mettle, spunk and humor through her interactions; and even though she was still hiding her true identity, she never lost the personality of the determined teenager who risked everything to fly.  Miri’s character overcame a lot of diversity; she was discriminated against for being a woman and faced adversity for being Jewish. Eventually, this led to an entire identity change.  It was very interesting to read about Mary finally coming to terms with her true self as she delves into her past with Elyse.  On the other hand, Elyse was a typical 15 year old girl with typical teenage problems. Her character was well developed and does grow throughout the story, but I really wanted her to have more passion so there would be an even stronger bond between her and Mary.  The writing took me back and forth through time from WWII with Miri’s point of view to the present alternating between Mary and Elyse.  I do love a good dual time story, but every once in a while in the present, it took me a second to realize the point of view.  While I did see the overwhelmingly endearing ending coming from a mile away, it did wrap up everyone’s story very neatly and was very emotional and heartwarming.  Overall, a sweet historical fiction that focuses on finding your true self.
 
This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 


Picture
About Maggie Leffler
Maggie Leffler is an American novelist and a family medicine physician. A native of Columbia, Maryland, she graduated from the University of Delaware and volunteered with AmeriCorps before attending St. George’s University School of Medicine. She practices medicine in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she lives with her husband and sons. The Secrets of Flight is her third novel.
Find out more about Maggie at her website, and connect with her on Facebook.

3 Comments
trish link
5/6/2016 08:19:44 pm

It's always a good reminder to stay true to ourselves. :)

Thank you for being on the tour!

Reply
Elizabeth link
5/6/2016 09:21:09 pm

Very nice review.

I really enjoyed the book too.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Elizabeth
Silver's Reviews
<a href=http://silversolara.blogspot.com>My Blog</a>

Reply
Heather J @ TLC Book Tours link
5/6/2016 11:05:47 pm

I always enjoy WWII stories as they give me insight into what my grandparents experienced. I don't know a lot about the WASPS so that part of the book really appeals to me.

Thanks for being a part of the tour!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Follow at Bloglovin!

    Author

    Hi there! I'm Stephanie and I obviously love reading.  As, the title suggests, I read at least one hundred pages a day.  I enjoy most book genres; however, my favorites are historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, thriller, horror and YA.  I also read a lot of non-fiction science and gardening books for my occupation.  I enjoy reviewing books and as always, any book that I receive for free is read in return for my honest review.  

    ​https://share.simonandschuster.com/stephanierhildreth

    Archives

    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    Picture
    Challenge Participant
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Reading Addiction Blog Tours
    Xpresso Book Tours
    b00k r3vi3w Tours
    - See more at: http://b00kr3vi3wtours.blogspot.com/p/collect-badges.html#sthash.R4DGlIHF.dpuf

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Picture
    Pump Up Your Book

    This website uses marketing and tracking technologies. Opting out of this will opt you out of all cookies, except for those needed to run the website. Note that some products may not work as well without tracking cookies.

    Opt Out of Cookies
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.