“The Long Flight Home” by Alan Hlad

Title: The Long Flight Home
Author: Alan Hlad
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp
Year: 2019
Genre(s): historical fiction, romance
Part of a Series: No
Rating: 

Why I read it: Once Upon a Book Club pick

Summary: As Nazi bombs rain down on London, Susan and her grandfather Bertie are pulled into the war effort when Source Columbia recruit their pigeons to carry important information between Britain and occupied France. A young American volunteer named Ollie Evans joins them and a relationship blooms between him and Susan. But when a mission goes wrong and Ollie ends up behind enemy lines, he and Susan only have her beloved pet pigeon Duchess to share messages between each other. Will they be able to make it back to each other? Or will their relationship be another casualty of the war?

Review: This had a bit of a slow start but it eventually sucked me in and I couldn’t put it down until I finished it. It was a bit spooky as the Spanish Flu pandemic haunts the story due to Susan’s past. To be reminded of our last great pandemic while sitting in our current one was just a bit chilling.

Both Susan and Ollie were intriguing lead characters who shared similar losses and an undeniable connection despite a bumpy start. He was willing to follow her and did his best to learn about her passions. She gave him a sympathetic ear and they were able to bond even as German bombs fell from the sky, raining destruction around them. I really rooted for them and hoped that somehow, these two crazy kids would make it in the end.

However, the romance does not drive the plot forward though it does end up being a driving force for Ollie once he’s caught behind enemy lines. The war really drives it forward and the dangers of getting information from Occupied France to Britain so that they can stand a chance to defeat the British. The Blitz is a constant presence in the book and Hlad does a good job in conveying how precarious Britain’s position is at this point – France is occupied, America is not yet in the war and so it’s really just Britain and they are being pounded every night. But they pick themselves up again and continue on with the fight, this spirit perfectly embodied in Susan. She is knocked down, especially at the end, but she gets back up and continues to fight the war.

While I was invested in Ollie and Susan’s relationship, the part that really captured me was once Ollie was caught in occupied France and needed to make it back to safety. The stakes were high, especially as he was stuck with someone he had fought with earlier in the book. They didn’t like each other and it was clear the other man thought Ollie was useless but in the end, Ollie’s American stubbornness is a major force that gets them to safety. And the other soldier does sort of redeem himself in the end.

Sort of. There’s more revealed toward the end of the book that leaves his redemption still up in the air but ultimately, that seems true to life. Sometimes one heroic action is not enough to wipe out the wrong someone has done. And in the end, it’s not his story – it’s Ollie’s and Susan’s and the narrative never forgets that.

Bottom line: A slow start but worth the wait.

Sex: None.

Moonlight Musing

Have you ever developed your own code to communicate with someone else?