Julie's Review: Flight of Dreams

Author: Ariel Lawhon
Series: None
Publication Date: February 23, 2016
Publisher: Doubleday
Pages: 336
Obtained: publisher
Genre:  Historical Fiction
Rating: 5/5
Bottom Line: Perfect blend of fiction and historical disaster
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Summary: On the evening of May 3rd, 1937, ninety-seven people board the Hindenburg for its final, doomed flight to Lakehurst, New Jersey. Among them are a frightened stewardess who is not what she seems; the steadfast navigator determined to win her heart; a naive cabin boy eager to earn a permanent spot on the world’s largest airship; an impetuous journalist who has been blacklisted in her native Germany; and an enigmatic American businessman with a score to settle. Over the course of three hazy, champagne-soaked days their lies, fears, agendas, and hopes for the future are revealed.  Flight of Dreams is a fiercely intimate portrait of the real people on board the last flight of the Hindenburg. Behind them is the gathering storm in Europe and before them is looming disaster. But for the moment they float over the Atlantic, unaware of the inexorable, tragic fate that awaits them. Brilliantly exploring one of the most enduring mysteries of the twentieth century, Flight of Dreams is that rare novel with spellbinding plotting that keeps you guessing till the last page and breathtaking emotional intensity that stays with you long after. ~amazon.com

Review: Flight of Dreams is part historical fiction and part mystery but all fantastic! We all know about the Hindenburg disaster but they never solved it. Ms. Lawhon takes liberty with that to come up with her own fictionalized tale of what might have happened. It is her focus on the people aboard that brings this disaster from the history books to life.

The passengers and crew of the Hindenburg all have secrets but some are more deadly than others. Each of the passengers is interesting and engaging. There is one man who is particularly intriguing and totally up to something. He has peeked the interest of journalist, Gertrud Adelt and her husband Leonhard. Gertrud is my kind of lady. She's outspoken, driven, determined and curious. Her outspoken nature is what got her journalist pass revoked by the Nazis. It is also why they are on the Hindenburg and not at home with their young son. They need to pay retribution to the Reich by going on a US tour for her husband's new novel. Her mind is always working and there is something about this mysterious passenger that has her mind working.

Then there is Emilie Imhoff who is the first female stewardess aboard a Nazi airship. Her position was quite touted in the papers and therefore her secret must be kept extra close to her heart. It doesn't help that she's struggling with a budding love affair with Max Zabel.

Max is desperate to get Emilie to admit to her feelings and marry him. He spends most of his time aboard the ship, when he's not navigating, trying to convince her. That is until he finds out that she's hiding something from him. Being a man, his pride is hurt and he turns his back to her.

What Flight of Dreams really is, is a study of human behavior in confined spaces. How we interact with each other when we are forced to because of circumstances. It is about the things we hold closest to ourselves for survival both physical and emotional.

If you love conspiracy theories, then you will love Ms. Lawhon's take on what caused the airship to come down: revenge. It is extremely evident that Ms. Lawhon did her research. I can only imagine the hours and the hard work that went into make sure the specs of the Hindenburg were correct.



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Julie's Review: The Wife, The Maid, and the Mistress

Author: Ariel Lawhon
Series: No
Publication Date: January 28, 2014
Publisher: Doubleday
Pages: 320
Obtained: publisher
Genre: historical fiction
Rating: 4
Bottom Line: Fiction blended well with fact in this historical mystery.
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Summary: A tantalizing reimagining of a scandalous mystery that rocked the nation in 1930—Justice Joseph Crater's infamous disappearance—as seen through the eyes of the three women who knew him best. They say behind every great man, there's a woman. In this case, there are three. Stella Crater, the judge's wife, is the picture of propriety draped in long pearls and the latest Chanel. Ritzi, a leggy showgirl with Broadway aspirations, thinks moonlighting in the judge's bed is the quickest way off the chorus line. Maria Simon, the dutiful maid, has the judge to thank for her husband's recent promotion to detective in the NYPD. Meanwhile, Crater is equally indebted to Tammany Hall leaders and the city's most notorious gangster, Owney "The Killer" Madden. On a sultry summer night, as rumors circulate about the judge's involvement in wide-scale political corruption, the Honorable Joseph Crater steps into a cab and disappears without a trace. Or does he? After 39 years of necessary duplicity, Stella Crater is finally ready to reveal what she knows. Sliding into a plush leather banquette at Club Abbey, the site of many absinthe-soaked affairs and the judge's favorite watering hole back in the day, Stella orders two whiskeys on the rocks—one for her and one in honor of her missing husband. Stirring the ice cubes in the lowball glass, Stella begins to tell a tale—of greed, lust, and deceit. As the novel unfolds and the women slyly break out of their prescribed roles, it becomes clear that each knows more than she has initially let on. With a layered intensity and prose as effervescent as the bubbly that flows every night, The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress is a wickedly entertaining historical mystery that will transport readers to a bygone era with tipsy spins through subterranean jazz clubs and backstage dressing rooms. But beneath the Art Deco skyline and amid the intoxicating smell of smoke and whiskey, the question of why Judge Crater disappeared lingers seductively until a twist in the very last pages. ~powells.com

Review:The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress is an intriguing look a mysterious disappearance of a NYC judge during the heydays of the 1930s. I had no clue that this unsolved mystery existed, which is why is sucked me in. I thoroughly enjoyed how Ms. Lawhon told the story from 3 very different women's points of view. Their lives are intertwined because of the Judge. Each one has a different role in his life. Each one of them have their own secrets and sorrows.

For me, the most complex character was Ritzi, the mistress. She was the most well-rounded of the 3. I understand why she made the choices she did. I felt her dreams and her sorrows. I rooted for her from beginning to the end. I wondered how she was going to get out her situation with Madden. It didn't take her long to realize that her dreams weren't worth the cost of her soul.

I empathized with Maria and her plight but I wasn't overly convinced why she was so involved in the  story. Perhaps it was as simple as the fact that she was married to the Detective investigating Judge Crater's disappearance. Stella should have had my sympathy but she wasn't very likable. She was all about keeping up appearances. She was more concerned with how she looked in public and her welfare that what really happened to her husband. She wanted to maintain her lifestyle at all costs.

Ms. Lawhon builds the story methodically and keeps you engaged by switching the point of view. We get to know Judge Crater through each of these women. Let's just say that when he disappears I wasn't overly upset. Much of the story is about the aftermath and behaviors of those surrounding Judge Crater. No one is beyond suspicion; no one is innocent.

If you enjoy reading historical fiction and enjoy a good unsolved mystery then pick up Ms. Lawhon's The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress . I definitely look forward to her next novel.

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