This is a fictional account of the real-life stories of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) in WWII. Many of the events are real, but the characters are all fictional. The story if from the point of view of Eva Forrest, née Scott. She is testifying at the 1977 congressional hearings on giving the WASPs military recognition. The book opens with Nina and her husband Jack and son Alex at a market. Her son has met women organizing for the WASPs to testify in front of congress, and it triggers a flashback for Eva. She was in a horrible crash, that killed her co-pilot Helena. It is after this that she defies her husband and decides to testify, unless the records are militarized she cannot access them to find out what happened the day of the crash, and she fears she is to blame for her friend’s death. The remaining chapters start out with a question from congress and Eva’s response, then it moves into a flashback to 1943/1944. We follow Eva from her choice to join the WASPs with her best friend Nina up until the fateful accident.
I really enjoyed this book. It was full of very strong women characters overcoming discrimination. I felt that at times the timeline jumps were jarring. Sometimes Carey forgets to give lead ins that 3 months have passed, or that someone has entered the room. This happened more at the beginning then the middle and end, but it caused me pause.
I also felt like a good portion of the book was spent on Eva and Nina getting into the WASP program, and training in Sweetwater. The parts once they were assigned to Camp David and aftermath of the crash seemed really short, but maybe it was because the storyline had really picked up by then. I admit I spent the last part of the book crying, from the moment the hearing ended until the end of the book. It was so heart wrenching in a good way. Needless to say this was a book "Couldn't Put Down" as I finished it in two days.
#BeyondTheHorizon #NetGalley
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