FROM THE BOOK JACKET: Its 1930, and Birdie Williams life has crashed along with the stock market. Her fathers bank has failed, and worse, hes disappeared along with his Jenny biplane.
When Birdie sees a leaflet for a barnstorming circus with a picture of Dads plane on it, she goes to Coney Island in search of answers.
The barnstorming circus has lady pilots, daredevil stuntmen, fire-spinners, and wing walkers, and Birdie is instantly enchanted—especially with a girl pilot named June. Birdie doesnt find her father, but after stumbling across clues that suggest hes gone to Chicago, she figures shell hitch a ride with the traveling circus doing what she does best: putting on a convincing act and insisting on being star of the show.
But the overconfidence that made her belle of the ball during her enchanted youth turns out to be far too reckless without the safety net of her charmed childhood, and a couple of impulsive missteps sends her and her newfound community spinning into freefall.
AUTHOR INFO: Miriam McNamara was born in Ireland, raised in the Southern United States, and now lives in the Midwest. She has an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She has never flown a biplane, but she loves to dance. She is also the author of
The Unbinding of Mary Reade. She lives in Minneapolis, but also calls Asheville, North Carolina home.