Review of 'We Fly Beneath The Stars' by Suzanne Kelman
Review of ‘We Fly Beneath The Stars’ by Suzanne Kelman
Release date: November 30th, 2022
REVIEW
Wow! I was totally spellbound by Suzanne Kelman’s upcoming novel We Fly Beneath The Stars. (And what a gorgeous revealing cover of the content within.) She said in the back notes it was her hardest to write. I can see why. The energy required for this novel would have been massive. Emotionally draining to be exact. With such powerful emotions and heartbreaking experiences ripping through this story like a tornado, it leaves your heart in shreds and your eyes sopping up the tears with a giant box of tissues!
The two lead point of view characters are sisters, Tasha and Nadia. They have very different personalities but share a competitiveness that gets them into strife: particularly younger Tasha. They both join in the fight against Hitler as Russian female bomber pilots to help their country but there are other reasons why they choose to get involved (and these become known as the story unfolds). Also, amidst the war, there are many personal battles-- including their experiences with love. And some surprising turn of events for Tasha and Nadia, that are deeply moving.
I must add, all the airwomen created for this story are well presented characters. One named Mila makes a pact with her air team mates that rings true throughout the action. As she says, ‘We are proud to be women but we will fight like men.’ And yes, they do—even surpassing the men at times. Although this novel is a work of fiction, it is based on the real airwomen of the day. Personally, I found it enlightening to read of their proficiencies and how they conquered the skies and their enemy. This novel led me to read up more on these courageous Russian airwomen and I could see how well Suzanne has done her research.
We Fly Beneath The Stars has an incredible acrobatic plot, due to the many twists and turns of events. Just when you think things cannot get any worse for these ladies, they do and the action increases and another barrage of challenges come. Of course, that is precisely the nature of war. Unpredictable, unpleasant and unnerving. And no matter how prepared you may be, sometimes curve balls come out of nowhere and set you off course as it did for the Night Witches. By the way, these Russian airwomen were nicknamed this by the Germans because they wreaked such havoc on their enemy. They were a master of stealth in their attack technique. The night bombers would idle their engines near their target and glide in with only the wind noise to give them away. The Germans said the sound was like broomsticks and this is why they called them the Night Witches. These all female military aviators were pretty clever and courageous in the 588th Night Bomber Regiment and Suzanne delivers a comprehensive believable portrait of their incredible abilities and experiences.
Reading of their accomplishments in We Fly Beneath The Stars will make your heart swell with pride, no matter your nationality. For the things they accomplished as women in such a dire time were indeed incredible acts of bravery. These ladies did not even have a parachute so if their plane went down (as it can and does) survival was unlikely; unless there were bizarre interventions of fate. And there are in this story for one pair. The reasons given for no parachute are due to their low altitude of flight and weight of the bombs. But these weren’t the only battles they had to contend with. Besides keeping the enemy off their tails and staying in the sky, they also had to deal with the mockery of their own military men. Of course, as the story progresses, there are incidents of rescue that bring change of opinions which was lovely to see.
This is a story about incredible courage, the bonds of sisterhood, overcoming adversity and clinging to eternal love. Love that is so powerful it will take you to dangerous locations and positions, give you purpose and strength to fight the odds but also shatter your heart if death comes. Love that could end your life if grief takes over and shuts your body down. And that is real as it happened to my great aunt during the Spanish Flu era of 1918 when her husband contracted the deadly virus and passed on thirteen days after they got married. She could not bear the loss and literally died from a broken heart. This is the enduring love I see on these pages.
I highly recommend this outstanding, seamless flowing narrative and consider it to be Suzanne Kelman’s historical fiction masterpiece. It is a novel you won’t want to miss if you love exceptional World War II aviation stories. Be prepared, though, to lose sleep and expect tears as We Fly Beneath The Stars will grip and shake your heart! 5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Many thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for a review copy.
