One of Summer's Most Anticipated Reads, according to Goodreads,
SheReads, and Bookish
"I think Beatriz Williams is writing the best historical fiction out
there. It's lush with period detail but feels immediate."--Elin
Hilderbrand
The beloved author returns with a remarkable novel of both raw
suspense and lyric beauty-- the story of a lost pilot and a wartime
photographer that will leave its mark on your soul.
In 1947, photographer and war correspondent Janey Everett arrives at a
remote surfing village on the Hawaiian island of Kauai to research a
planned biography of forgotten aviation pioneer Sam Mallory, who joined
the loyalist forces in the Spanish Civil War and never returned.
Obsessed with Sam's fate, Janey has tracked down Irene Lindquist, the
owner of a local island-hopping airline, whom she believes might
actually be the legendary Irene Foster, Mallory's onetime student and
flying partner. Foster's disappearance during a round-the-world flight
in 1937 remains one of the world's greatest unsolved mysteries.
At first, the flinty Mrs. Lindquist denies any connection to Foster. But
Janey informs her that the wreck of Sam Mallory's airplane has recently
been discovered in a Spanish desert, and piece by piece, the details of
Foster's extraordinary life emerge: from the beginnings of her flying
career in Southern California, to her complicated, passionate
relationship with Mallory, to the collapse of her marriage to her
aggressive career manager, the publishing scion George Morrow.
As Irene spins her tale to its searing conclusion, Janey's past gathers
its own power. The duel between the two women takes a heartstopping
turn. To whom does Mallory rightfully belong? Can we ever come to terms
with the loss of those we love, and the lives we might have lived?
