At the height of WWII, Eva Scott dreams of flying. When herself and best friend Nina are accepted in the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), they leave California for training at Avengers Field in Texas, and eventually stationed to the formidable Camp Davis in North Carolina.
Vastly outnumbered by men and often facing contempt, discrimination and even sabotage, Eva and her friends manage to stay true to their mission and each other. Until a fatal assignment sees Eva’s dreams crashing to earth.
Decades later, Eva finds herself embroiled in the fight to gain military recognition for the WASP. But will she discover a truth that will change her life forever?
As a lover of history, and therefore historical fiction, I didn’t hesitate to request an ARC of this book. WWII happens to be a particular interest of mine, however, I find most novels are told from the British side of events. This story is based in America, and their participation in the war, especially the involvement of the female pilots that aided the airforce. Something I knew little about before reading this title.
I found the friendships Eva had with the other girls to be very realistic and likely representative of the time. Women from all forms of class and culture were thrown together, often forging unbreakable bonds in the face of wartime.
Each chapter started with a paragraph from 1977, with Eva being questioned by Congress as part of the fight for militarisation for the WASP. This was then followed by a flashback scene to Eva’s time as a pilot. Whilst, the story was fiction it was clear to see that the author had done a great deal of research into events that really happened. There are a few sad moments that serve to prove no one came through the war without some kind of loss.
There was a small twist towards the end, one I had begun to piece together throughout reading and therefore I didn’t feel the shock factor that others perhaps did. The conclusion for me was a little too neat, but I enjoyed this book and feel I learnt a great deal from it.
** Thanks to Lake Union Publishing, via NetGalley, for this ARC **