Best-selling author Laurie Notaro presents her new book "Crossing the Horizon" at the Museum of Flight in this special public program. Following the 2pm presentation in the William Allen theater, Laurie Notaro will sign copies of her works in the Museum lobby. Museum admission is required for the theater program, and the book signing is free. Copies of "Crossing the Horizon" are available for sale in the Museum store.
Three daring and determined women, inspired by
Charles Lindbergh's flight, take to the skies in a risky race to be the first
woman to make the dangerous trans-Atlantic flight. It's 1927. There is danger
in the skies above the Atlantic—fierce winds, driving rain, lightning, and
temperatures so cold that ice builds up on the wings of airplanes, dragging
them out of the sky to the churning sea below. Lindbergh has made his historic
flight to great acclaim; Amelia Earhart has yet to make hers. But for English heiress
Elsie Mackay, wealthy society widow Mabel Boll, and Ruth Elder, a young
beauty pageant winner from Alabama, the thrill of being the first woman to
cross the Atlantic in the air is deemed worth risking their lives
for. Notaro (The Potty Mouth at the Table, 2013, etc.) breaks from
her self-deprecating comedic style to enliven a year when trans-Atlantic air
travel was in its daring infancy, bringing to life these three real-life women
from the pages of aviation history. In a decade of transition (women voting,
hemlines rising, roles changing), there are still people who disapprove of
women who want to be more than a traditional wife and mother. Not that that
mattered one whit to Mackay, Boll, or Elder, as they battled family,
friends, financial constraints, and most of all the weather while preparing for
their life-or-death flights. Notaro portrays this exciting sliver of
time with historical accuracy, providing an authentic glimpse of the era
(including photographs), and then adds a pump of adrenaline by
including dialogue and drama of her own imagination, creating a
captivating historical fiction. Be prepared to hold tight as you're boosted
into the cockpit for a two-day flight across the horizon. The odds of making it
are against you—but what a ride!
See a video trailer for the book by clicking HERE
