"A buoyant and affecting portrait of four disparate souls striving to
become their true selves on the cusp of major social change." --
Kathleen Winter, author of Undersong
"With intimacy, acuity, and grace, Pamela Mulloy captures the complex
inner lives of her characters, who yearn to become themselves as England
lurches into war." -- Jack Wang, author of We Two Alone
It is 1938 and rumours of a coming war are everywhere. On a quiet
morning in September outside a small town in England, a plane crashes
and four people are brought together in the aftermath. Miriam, a young
woman devastated by multiple miscarriages, rises from her bed and
hurries to the scene. There she meets Frank and together they pull the
wounded pilot, Peter, from the wreckage. Miriam soon meets Frank's aunt
Audrey, the family rebel, who has refused to marry and travels the
country as a reproductive-rights activist.
It is Frank who teaches Miriam to fly. As Miriam prepares to co-pilot
with Frank in a prestigious air race from London to Manchester, she uses
flight to escape from confronting her inability to bear children. Miriam
is also drawn into Audrey's activism, and the women dig in even as the
looming war threatens to set back their cause.
Rich with historical detail, As Little As Nothing beautifully explores
themes of resistance, the strength of new bonds, and the various ways we
reinvent ourselves.
