Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History
By: Keith O’Brien / Narrated By: Erin Bennett
Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
A look at women who crashed, a look at women who soared.
Huzzah that a man undertook this telling of the tale of exuberant and intrepid women! Huzzah, I tell you!
Fly Girls tells of the golden age of flying, covering ten years spanning 1927-1937, when amazing feats were accomplished, and tragic ends were met. It’s about entrenched prejudice against women whose abilities were questioned at best, and scorned outright otherwise. Amelia Earhart is one of the women, the most famous woman, but only one of five skilled and daring individuals featured. The five came from all walks of life, from all types of socioeconomic backgrounds, but they banded together to be a group who had each other’s backs.
There are tales of men in the book, but they’re used only to illustrate how the times were. And let’s face it: How many people here have ever heard of Charles Lindbergh? C’mon, raise those hands. Okay. Now how many people here have ever heard of Louise Thaden? What? No hands?!?
Truly, you’ll WANT to know about Louise Thaden! She was a mother of two who kinda sorta, was going for but had no hope of… Well, she rocked! She dominated in a race against men, which was unheard of. The race that allowed women to compete with men, I mean. Not that she dominated. Because when you listen to Fly Girls, you’ll discover exactly what a lively woman she was, how her drive came straight from the heart and soul.
There are other women here, and not all of their escapades end well. They suffered their fair share of losses, but unfortunately, at the time, it was all chalked up to being women, not so much that flying was just damned risky. But they knew those risks, and one of them flew in a bright orange airplane. It wasn’t because she liked the color; it was because she knew that wreckage, bits and pieces, of crashed airplane would stand out more against the steel grays and blues of ocean waters. If she crashed, dammit, she wanted her death to be noted, her dear plane to be found, whatever remained of it.
Ruth Elder, Florence Klingensmith, Ruth Nichols? What great stories! This is a well written book, one that doesn’t feel twelve hours long. And Erin Bennett is just a nifty narrator; she’s definitely a seasoned professional who can manage both fiction and nonfiction (tho’ I must admit that I prefer her nonfiction performances best). She kept the twelve hours rolling smoothly along, adding zest when there was action, somberness when there was tragedy.
I’m really liking Women’s History Month. I’m learning quite a bit, and as I don’t listen so much as experience an audiobook, stories such as these in Fly Girls have me feeling like I’m blazing a trail, doing something daring.
Not a bad feeling considering I’m sitting leisurely in a comfy chair at the time! Go fly girls, go!
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