I would say Susan Crandall is on the road again with The Flying Circus, but in the air might be more truthful. Her title gives a clue. The book begins in 1923 in the era of stunt pilots who came to communities to draw a crowd and show off dangerous stunts with those newfangled flying machines.
Gil, Henry, and Cora with their own hidden agendas come together as they attempt to escape their secret demons. A line well into the book encapsulates their circumstances. “. . . were bound by our exclusion” along with Henry’s reply, “Bound by exclusion. Many people like us are always drawn together like that.”
Like a fisherman letting out a line bit by bit, Susan reveals the hidden secrets even as she weaves an exciting story of the three companions’ attempt to support themselves with daredevil tricks on the small plane and a motorcycle and the background tension of whether Cora has romantic feelings for either Henry or Gil.
If you are a lover of epilogues, as I am, you will find hers set in 1970 quite satisfying.
In the first Susan Crandall book that I read, Whistling Past the Graveyard, a journey begins in Mississippi in 1963 and travels on foot to its destination in Nashville. This one begins in the Midwest and travels across several areas of the country – including the Mississippi Delta. While I must admit locations in Mississippi are an added attraction to me, a reader who lives somewhere else will enjoy both books, and I was glad to set out on another journey with Susan wherever she chooses to travel.
If you would like to take a trip with The Flying Circus, it’s available on July 7 wherever interesting books are sold.