First published 2018
Between the world wars, airplane racing drew massive crowds to dangerous competitions that made heroes of male pilots while dismissing women as foolish intruders. Keith O'Brien tells how five determined women fought entrenched prejudice to claim their place in the sky. Florence Klingensmith left her job at a North Dakota dry cleaner to pursue flight. Alabama divorcee Ruth Elder defied social expectations. Amelia Earhart became the most celebrated, though not the most skilled. Ruth Nichols escaped her wealthy family's rigid constraints. Louise Thaden balanced motherhood with her passion for aviation after starting out selling coal in Wichita. These women banded together to demand the right to compete against men in high-stakes national races. Their struggle culminated in 1936 when one of them claimed victory in the most challenging competition of all. O'Brien weaves their individual stories into a larger narrative about breaking barriers and proving that courage and skill matter more than gender in the cockpit.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, biography-memoir, aviation
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: breaking-barriers, overcoming-adversity, underdog
Setting: Alabama, North Dakota, Wichita
Period: Between the World Wars
352 pages · Hardcover · Mariner Books