When I go on holiday, I like to see what’s on my shelves that can be left behind on the way back … this book – The Way the Crow Flies – was picked up for £1 in a charity shop – 700+ pages, fairly small font, and interesting back-cover blurb … in the 4+ hour flight over I managed 200+ of those pages, with the other 300-each over the next couple of days.
Set in the early 1960s, on a Canadian airforce base, we largely see the story through the eyes of Madeleine McCarthy (but also her family), an eight-year old who is well-used (already) to living on various bases in Europe, as she settles into new friendships, and gets to know the people around her. The book is highly detailed (possibly a bit slow to get going in places), and deals with some difficult topics, including the murder of a young girl. The promised indication that the story would continue to 20 years later came a lot later than I expected in the book, and still left a few questions (as I guess a good book should!).
An extract:
