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"A novel to remember, a novel of originality and considerable skill. "Leaving Earth is an auspicious debut and a feat in itself."
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
Set in 1930s Canada, this novel tells the story of Willa and Grace, two female pilots attempting to break the world record for non-stop flight. As they take to the air, the focus shifts to Maddy, a young girl who idolizes the two women whilst fearing for her safety as the Canadian Nazis move in.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Pioneering aviatrix Grace O'Gorman takes young pilot Willa on a record-breaking 25-day endurance flight. She is trying to break her husband's record. She depends upon him for refuelling and for all communication with the ground. While flying, they learn that the husband is dictating a completely fictitious account to the press. Willa gradually falls in love with Grace. And as the plane flies round and round above the lake shore, a little girl watches, adoring. The quality of the writing is like nothing else I have read. It is poetic and gripping from beginning to end. The best book I read in 2000.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
6 reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
In flight
7 Jan 2003
Format:Paperback
In August 1933, the famous aviatrix Grace O'Gorman recruits the inexperienced Willa Briggs to accompany her in breaking the world flight endurance record. While circling Toronto, the women must deal with fatigue, the weather, and the sabotaging efforts of Grace's husband. Meanwhile, on the ground, anti-Semitism erupts and affects some of those connected with the women. Unable to communicate with words in the sky, Grace and Willa find new ways of communicating that change their views of the world, and Willa, with this new awareness, finds her feelings for Grace becoming more complicated. "Leaving Earth" is a magical and adventurous story, based on some true events, about women challenging the often-stifling roles of the 1930s. The book glimmers and comes alive, showcasing Humphrey's lush style in her first novel.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Glad I found this one.
25 Nov 1998
Format:Hardcover
I liked everything about this book. It is like a strange dream you have one night and wake up not knowing how things are really going to turn out. If you like books you can feel and smell, you will like this great little read.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Leaving Earth
1 Oct 2004
Format:Hardcover
'Leaving Earth' by Helen Humphreys is an engaging story of two women aviators from the 1930s in Canada. It's a tale of two women Air Ace Grace O'Gorman and Willa Briggs defying convention and other odds, taking to the skies in their Moth for an endurance test to break the record of non-stop flight of 25 days. The book captures the exhilaration of flight itself and reminded me of the reasons why I love flying so much. The story moves with the pilots circling endlessly over Toronto Bay, inventing a new sign language to communicate when their paper and pencil flies away in a storm. It tells us of Maddy, a 12 year old girl who idolizes them and who would trade in her own mother for Air Ace Grace, not least because Maddy fears the prejudice against her mother's Jewishness as Canadian anti-Semitism gathers momentum.
A lovely book, very evocative and draws us into the flight with a profound sense of aviation and a passion for leaving earth. Recommended reading for anyone who loves the thrill of taking off and staying in the air. Never mind Jet lag.
A lovely book, very evocative and draws us into the flight with a profound sense of aviation and a passion for leaving earth. Recommended reading for anyone who loves the thrill of taking off and staying in the air. Never mind Jet lag.
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