Review: Across the Blue

Across the Blue by Carrie Turansky

Waterbrook Multnomah, 2018.  Trade paperback, 320 pages.

Dreams of writing and flying permeate this novel.  Isabella “Bella” Grayson longs to follow in her father’s footsteps and become a journalist.  However, it is 1909 and her parents do not approve.  Her father, who owns a newspaper, finally relents, it is with a catch-Bella must write under a pseudonym and must accept a proposal before the year ends.  Meanwhile, Bella and her father, Charles, both aviation enthusiasts, befriend a young pilot and his mentor.  James Drake was orphaned young and brought up by Thaddeus Steed, the brother of his late mother’s friend.  Together they designed and tested a monoplane.  It was on one of these flights that James had a malfunction and crash-landed on the Grayson property.  From that chance encounter, the two family groups work together to help James meet his goal to be the first to fly the English Channel.

As preparations for the flight occur, Bella and James grow closer.  They bonds over aviation and his wish for her dream to come true, which unbeknownst to him is.  When their dreams collide, what will happen in their relationship?

As a whole, readers of gentle fiction will appreciate this book.  The characters were relatable and believable. I also loved how forward-thinking Bella was for her era and how her father found ways to thwart her mother and support that. The novel also kept accurate historical details, right down to Bella’s sister’s preparation for her debut to the king and queen and the London season.  However, for the avid readers of aviation books you will feel underwhelmed.  Why?  You’ll probably already know the outcome of the race to be the first to do many of the aviation milestones and part of the book’s draw is to keep readers who do not know these facts on the edge of their seat. That leaves only the outcome of the relationships within the novel as a draw.  Call me nit-picky if you want, but while I enjoy Turansky’s writing it was a letdown to know how parts would end.

If you are interested in some great non-fiction reads on this era of aviation, try:

• Birdmen: The Wright Brothers, Glenn Curtiss, and the Battle to Control the Skies by Lawrence Goldstone

• Enduring Courage:Ace Pilot Eddie Rickenbacker and the Dawn of the Age of Speed by John F. Ross

• The Wright Brothers by David McCullough

I received Across the Blue for review from Blogging for Books.  It will be released in February, 2018.

Do you think you will read this novel?  Do you have any other fiction books on aviation to recommend?

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