Beyond the Horizon: A Novel
In 1977 Los Angeles, Eva is at a farmers’ market when her eighteen-year-old son Alex comes rushing over and nearly knocks her shopping bag of mandarin oranges. Her husband, Jack, follows behind, attempting to snatch a piece of paper out of Alex’s hand. Eva sits down, Jack peels her an orange, and she reads the paper. It’s a poster asking former Women’s Air Force Service Pilots (WASPs), to support a petition to lobby Congress for recognition as part of the military and appear before a committee in Washington. Eva was a WASP during WWII, and although she hasn’t talked about her service for nearly thirty years, from the aroma of the mandarin orange, her memories flood back to her, particularly of that one eventful night. Eva decides to travel to Washington despite Jack’s surprising protests. Her appearance before the Congressional committee hearings forces her to recall her time during training and service as a pilot for the WASPs. Her efforts force her to reassess certain events, which she’d either wrongly assumed or had been misled about by certain individuals. Eva resolves to seek the truth.
Ella Carey has penned this unusual wartime novel to bring out the courage, bravery, and sacrifice these women pilots made while flying for the WASPs. Some of the events are based on true anecdotes that Carey researched. Through Eva’s eyes, we see the intense training and preparations these women endured. Their endeavor was difficult not only from its physical aspects but also from the gender biases they were subjected to by their male colleagues and others. But it was not all hard work. There were moments of entertainment, laughter, love, and unfortunate sorrow. During WWII, thirty-eight women pilots lost their lives. This book is dedicated to them. Highly recommended.
