Katharine, the Wright Sister
This is the lightly fictionalized story of Katharine Wright, the younger sister of aviation pioneers Wilbur and Orville. Early in life, the three made a pact not to marry, but to support each other in the invention of the world’s first airplane. Katharine kept house for her brothers while also managing to achieve a college education and a teaching career. She was a committed suffragist, helping Ohio women win the right to vote. She was an invaluable help to Wilbur and Orville in Europe, where they were at first far more famous than in the United States. Katharine’s social skills and knowledge of foreign languages made her a popular figure overseas, especially in France. The brothers were shy and were most comfortable in their workshops or trying out their inventions. Katharine found her own personal happiness in later life, but it caused an irreconcilable family rift. She died relatively young, and only recently has the extent of her help to her brothers been recognized.
The story was difficult to follow due to the rapidly rotating first-person viewpoints of Katharine, Wilbur, and Orville. I found “the boys” far more interesting than Katharine, whose role, however worthy, was supportive and secondary. As accomplished as she was, the story of man’s first powered, controlled aircraft flight belongs to her brothers, not to her. Katharine was an admirable woman, and her story was entertaining enough, but I would have better enjoyed this gripping history of flight in non-fiction, with an index and plenty of photographs.
