Aviatrix Book Club September 2022 - Mary S. Lovell
09/15/22 • 58 min
On the evening of September 4th, 1936 (the same year as the Bendix Air Race, highlighted in last month’s Aviatrix Book Club discussion book, Fly Girls, by Keith O’Brien), Beryl Markham took off from Abingdon, England to become the first woman to cross the Atlantic solo in an aircraft “the hard way” – from East to West.
Equestrienne, sailor, pilot, and best-selling author, Mary Lovell, has published ten books, two of which are about pioneering women pilots. Her biography The Sound of Wings: The Life of Amelia Earhart, was the basis for the 2009 movie, Amelia, starring Hilary Swank and Richard Gere. Her book Straight on Till Morning: The Life of Beryl Markham, which is the Aviatrix Book Club discussion book for September 2022, spent twelve weeks on the New York Times best-seller list. Beryl Markham’s memoir, West with the Night, is a gorgeously written account of her childhood in Africa as the daughter of a racehorse trainer who roamed the bush barefoot with a spear in her hand and follows her into adulthood when she became a well-respected racehorse trainer in her own right, and a skilled pioneering pilot flying as a safari spotter in the 1930s. It ends with a gripping account of her record-setting flight. She reveals very little in that book about her human relationships, though. Straight on Till Morning fills in the very public and scandalous gaps, along with some of her more private forays, in addition to clearing up controversy over whether Markham, in fact, penned her own book. Hers is a fascinating story of an adventurous free spirit, which is well-told in great detail, with meticulous attribution by the author, who you can find at her website, www.lovellbiographies.com.
To stay up to date on books featuring women in aviation, sign up for the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter: https://literaryaviatrix.activehosted.com/f/1
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker
On the evening of September 4th, 1936 (the same year as the Bendix Air Race, highlighted in last month’s Aviatrix Book Club discussion book, Fly Girls, by Keith O’Brien), Beryl Markham took off from Abingdon, England to become the first woman to cross the Atlantic solo in an aircraft “the hard way” – from East to West.
Equestrienne, sailor, pilot, and best-selling author, Mary Lovell, has published ten books, two of which are about pioneering women pilots. Her biography The Sound of Wings: The Life of Amelia Earhart, was the basis for the 2009 movie, Amelia, starring Hilary Swank and Richard Gere. Her book Straight on Till Morning: The Life of Beryl Markham, which is the Aviatrix Book Club discussion book for September 2022, spent twelve weeks on the New York Times best-seller list. Beryl Markham’s memoir, West with the Night, is a gorgeously written account of her childhood in Africa as the daughter of a racehorse trainer who roamed the bush barefoot with a spear in her hand and follows her into adulthood when she became a well-respected racehorse trainer in her own right, and a skilled pioneering pilot flying as a safari spotter in the 1930s. It ends with a gripping account of her record-setting flight. She reveals very little in that book about her human relationships, though. Straight on Till Morning fills in the very public and scandalous gaps, along with some of her more private forays, in addition to clearing up controversy over whether Markham, in fact, penned her own book. Hers is a fascinating story of an adventurous free spirit, which is well-told in great detail, with meticulous attribution by the author, who you can find at her website, www.lovellbiographies.com.
To stay up to date on books featuring women in aviation, sign up for the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter: https://literaryaviatrix.activehosted.com/f/1
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker
Previous Episode
Aviatrix Writers' Room - Keith O'Brien
In this Aviatrix Writers’ Room discussion with award-winning journalist and NYT best-selling author, Keith O’Brien, he talks about writing and research for both historical biography and contemporary immersive narrative non-fiction, his writing life, and offers advice for aspiring and working writers.
Find Keith at his website www.keithob.com.
Sign up for the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter and stay up to date on Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates and times, book news and author events, and writers' workshops and events.
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker
Next Episode
Origin Story - Aviatrix Book Club and ‘Literary Aviatrix’
As a high school drop-out, I enlisted in the Coast Guard when I was 18, and was a mother, a pilot, and an O-4 before I finally decided what I was interested in studying. My experience interdicting Haitian and Cuban Migrants for over a decade made me want to understand the history and politics behind the policies I was enforcing. I finally earned a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations and Political Science online with American Military University when I was 35 years old. The next year, the Coast Guard sent me to Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government to earn a Master’s in Public Administration.
In this episode of the Aviatrix Book Review podcast, I talk about how that experience made me reflect on what I was truly passionate about, my circle of influence, and where I thought I could really effect change, and how all of that led me to the Aviatrix Book Club and ‘Literary Aviatrix’.
I also share my vision for the future and express my deep gratitude to everyone who has brought their positive energy, participation, and encouragement to this project. I am so grateful for your support and friendship, and excited to connect with more of you in the future.
Shouts out to: all of our Aviatrix Writers and Aviatrix Book Club members; Women in Aviation, International; Aviation for Women Magazine editor, Kelly Murphy; A Chick in the Cockpit’s Erika Armstrong; and Shaesta Waiz and Michael Wildes of the Women Soar Group.
Links to everything: https://linktr.ee/literaryaviatrix
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker
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