Three skilled aviators determined to help win the war. Three brave women who know their place is not at home.
At the height of World War II, the British Air Transport Auxiliary need help. A group of young women volunteer for action, but the perils of their new job don’t end on the tarmac. Things are tough in the air, but on the ground their abilities as pilots are constantly questioned.
There … questioned.
There is friction from the start between the new recruits. Spirited American Lizzie turns heads with her audacity, but few can deny her flying skills. She couldn’t be more different from shy, petite Ruby, who is far from diminutive in the sky. It falls to pragmatic pilot May to bring the women together and create a formidable team capable of bringing the aircraft home.
As these very different women fight to prove themselves up to the task at hand, they are faced with challenges and tragedies at every turn. They must fight for equal pay and respect while handling aircraft that are dangerously ill-equipped; meanwhile, lives continue to be lost in the tumult of war.
Determined to assist the war effort doing what they love, can May, Lizzie and Ruby put aside their differences to overcome adversity, and will they find love in the skies?
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A work of fiction based on a true story about the women aviators who flew the Spitfire planes during WorldWar II. What a remarkable story this is!
It tells of female pilots recruited in both the United States and England to serve as noncombatants so that more male flyers would be available for combat duty.
Picking up damaged planes from war zones to bring to home air-fields for repair was difficult and dangerous, but these women did it with skill and determinations.
Their efforts were an inspiring display of heroism and patriotism but they received very little recognition until near the end of the war.
These brave women were ignored or looked upon as secondary to their male counterparts.
It was during the end of the war that the honors and accolades they deserved were given to these fine females.
Their exploits played an important role in history as to why the members of the 40’s decade were called “The Greatest Generation”.
Definitely a good, well written book!
I read a lot of WWII books and it’s always great to find one with a different perspective and to learn something new. This novel looks at the war from the view of the British Air Transport Auxiliary . These brave women were pilots who shuttled planes to the bases where they were needed and to free up the male pilots for combat. At the same time, a similar group was being started in the US. These women were faced with discrimination from almost everyone -including the male pilots and often times, their own families. They work to fly the planes while they are fighting for respect and equal pay as they try to do their part in helping their county’s war efforts.
There are three main characters: May, the group commander in England who is fighting demons of her own due to the loss of her brother; May, a petite woman who is engaged to an RAF pilot and Lizzie, an American who went to England to fly with the BATA and learn more about the program so that she could replicate it in the US. All three women bring great flying skills but vastly different personalities to the group. Can they overcome their differences and work together to help aviation in their country during wartime?
I definitely enjoyed learning more about what these brave women did during WWII and how they showed their countries what they could accomplish. This is an enjoyable book that will teach readers more about women’s roles during the 40s. I highly recommend it.
Thanks to the author for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
This story is based on the historical British flyers known as “the Spitfire Girls” during World War II. Not only did I learn a great deal about those heroic women, I fell in love with the three distinct and original characters featured in the novel. There will be no confusion about who’s who in this book, because author Soraya M. Lane has given each of the women a very different and rich inner life, relationships, and problems. And in Lizzie, she has created one of the most unique and unexpected heroines that I’ve ever enjoyed getting to know in a book.
The idea of flying during the war might sound exciting, but these women took real risks and not for any kind of personal glory, but rather simply because of a desire to help win the war. Each young woman triumphs in her own way, and the journey is rich and multi-layered to keep you interested.
Just the right amount of conflict and spice and romance, this novel will not disappoint. Highly recommended for not only fans of historical fiction, but anyone who loves a great story.
I have recently begun reading more books set during World War II, and each has been unique and given me such amazing stories along with history that I had never encountered before. The Spitfire Girls was no exception. Soraya M. Lane has created three very distinct characters that show a view of women’s contributions during the War that was not well-known to me.
These women are strong and courageous, and seeing their lives as they battle to do what they love in service to their respective countries while battling everyone who believes they should stay in their “place.” The way Lane portrayed them and their individual struggles kept me glued to the pages.
This was an enjoyable read, and I loved learning more about this time period and another role woman played. I loved the characters and their distinct personalities and how that influenced their paths and their futures. It was my first read by Lane and I am really interested in reading more of her work.
#TheSpitfireGirls #LakeUnionPublishers @SorayaMLane
“The perfect ladies’ plane, that’s what they used to call the Spitfire…” I love historical fiction and especially when I learn something new from it. I certainly did reading this book. This novel took me on a journey of the development and organization of the “Spitfire Girls” along with the main characters, Lizzie, May and Ruby. It’s the personal stories of each one and the common love they have in flying. They each have a desire to serve their countries in the war efforts by using their gift of skillful flying. Lizzie has a yearning to develop a women’s flying team but the American forces aren’t ready for women to become fliers so she travels to England and joins the women there. After some tension between her and the other women, they become a team and form friendships that span the ocean. There are bonds in the common interest of the love of flying and to help towards winning the war. Lizzie had to learn to let go of personal gains and become a member of the sistership in the single mission they were all destined to complete. Ferrying planes. These women believed in themselves and the ability they had to serve their countries.
Ms. Lane wove a beautiful story around true facts that happened to real women. It’s the story of painful losses and learning to believe in hope and love. Letting go of the past pain and grabbing the future. Persevering through thick and thin. From the unbelievable agony of losses almost too much to bear to the highest of highs of finding true love in the least expected way. Of flying high. I had tears for the pain and joy for the characters as the story was told. I am in awe of the fortitude that these women had. To overcome obstacles and show that women are capable of mighty things.
This passage that Ms. Lane wrote spoke to me so much:
“We are told as little girls what our expectations should be, and it’s made abundantly clear what our limitations are, but I’m standing here today to tell you that there are no limitations for women, or at least not in the sky. You don’t need to be a burly six-foot man to fly an enormous four-engine bomber, but you do need a brain and a single-minded determination.”
The Author’s Note at the end of the book is wonderful. I was stunned at the statistics she included and how much these women made a difference in the war efforts.
I want to thank Lake Union, Netgalley and Ms. Lane for the honor of reading this great book. I highly recommend it. A fantastic read!
I have to admit that it took me a while to decide to read this book…I’ve read a lot of WWII books lately and I didn’t think this book would be all that different from the others. I was wrong! This book got my attention right from the beginning. The fact that not only did women VOLUNTEER to make difficult flights to deliver planes for use in the war, but they FOUGHT for the right to do so is just amazing to me. These women had so much courage and determination. I thought the author did a a great job with the main characters – May, Ruby, and Lizzie. Each of these women had their own strengths and weaknesses and as the story progresses, the reader gets to see how each of them deals with their own personal challenges. I highly recommend this book!
Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for providing a copy for review.
The Spitfire Girls by Soraya M. Lane is a brilliantly written story about three strong, courageous women who were determined to carve out a place for themselves by volunteering despite all the odds and people against them to do their part in World War II by flying planes. It is a heartwarming story full of tears, loss, bravery, pride and joy. Without giving away any spoilers, the author did an excellent job in creating these realistic, likable, admirable characters and it is historical fiction at its best. I rated it a five.
This book was excellent. The author made you care about all the characters. She showed you what happened and you became immersed in their feelings and actions. I highly recommend it.
The Spitfire Girls was wonderful! I enjoyed the close friendships between the women and the way that their lives were portrayed. May is in charge of the British division of the female pilots. This is a new organization where women fly the planes to the areas where they are needed for the officers. Lizzie is trying to get this same type of organization in America. She is given the opportunity to work in England with May’s group of women and is soon creating quite a stir among the others. The different women that come together to become part of this female pilot opportunity will experience so much. They will form close friendships with each other. But they will also face incredible challenges both with the flying that they must do and with the people that they will deal with along the way. The mixture of friendship, love, and adventure throughout this story made it a beautiful story!
I loved this story from start to finish, there were tears, there were smiles and there were so many emotions throughout this book, as we get to meet three of the strongest woman, pilots living in a man’s world, but they could help with the war efforts, by working with The British Air Transport Auxiliary, ATA and getting planes to where they were needed. This is a book that I didn’t want to put down so ensure you have some time when you pick this one up, sit back and meet May, Ruby and Lizzy.
May and her brother are both pilots, her brother has gone off to war and was shot down and May is missing him terribly, but she knows that she can help as well and is soon made commander of the woman that are joining up to help, she is strong but vulnerable as well and does everything to keep her pilots safe. Ben the mechanic is always there for her.
Ruby is engaged to Tom who is off fighting in the war he too is a pilot and Ruby although little in stature she is determined to help where she can, she joins up and soon her and May are fast friends, Ruby is flying Tiger Moths, Spitfires and training in a big bomber.
Lizzie is American and one very confident pilot, she arrives in England to learn what she can before going back home to command her own group of woman transport pilots. She has a few lessons to learn about attitude as well and American Jackson helps a lot with that.
Although these three woman are very different in personalities they are all competent pilots and flying means so much to them, and they fly under harsh conditions in the air with planes that are sometimes damaged and with the risk of being shot down by the enemy and then on the ground they have to fight for equal pay and respect, to prove that they can fly a plane no matter the size, determination is what they have in spades.
This really is an amazingly beautiful story, May, Ruby and Lizzie become the best of friends as they go through some very emotional times, with their personal lives as well as coping with the flying, they all have personal issues that need to be sorted and they each have a man to lean on, their journey to HEA’s were tough with a war going on but they got there and I felt so close to these woman, they came to life and I was transported back to the era. Thank you MS Lane this is a fabulous story that I highly recommend.
This story is a bit different from the other books I’ve read by this author so far, but I soon fell into the story and found myself wanting to learn more about these incredible women.
There is some romance in this story, but that’s not what it’s all about. It’s about women finding their voice. Women proving they have a use other than looking pretty. Women learning to work together to be stronger. Along the way they aren’t always treated fairly or with the respect they deserve, but they also come across some incredible men who support them for who they are and never try to hold them back. Ruby story, in particular, is quite the roller coaster. Her grit and determination, regardless of what those back home say, is inspiring.
While I respected all of the characters in this book and found them all fascinating, I feel Lizzie had the longest and most important journey. I started off loving her, until she met up with the other women. Then she really had me pulling my hair out. She had the most lessons to learn, but once she saw the light there was no stopping her. Once she learned that not everyone was opposed to her, and some people (men and women alike) were actually trying to help her, her life became much easier.
There’s nothing like the connection of a group of people who have gone through adversity together. These women are a special bunch. I like to think the real women who took on these roles in the US and Great Britain during World War II were just as spunky and full of life as these fictional ladies. Maybe even more so!
It took me a few chapters to really get deep into this story, but it was so worth the read.
**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**
ENLIGHTENING & INSPIRING!
This is the story of three women that decided they could not stand by and see their flying skills go to waste during WWII. They did the unthinkable and left the safety of their families and one left behind her homeland. They all volunteered to help ferry planes for the British Air Transport Auxiliary thereby freeing male pilots to fly in “risky combat situations.”
May is the Senior Commander and takes her role very seriously as she knows the pilot’s lives are her responsibility. Ruby is small in stature (she has to sit on a cushion when she flies!) but she has the heart of a lion and nerves of steel. Lizzie blows in like a storm from the USA and is ready to show her superiority to everyone. While they are all so very different, each of them is fighting their own set of demons while also fighting to prove their worth as pilots and prove something to themselves.
These girls had vast experience in flying many types of planes. But one thing they were required to do that their male counterparts did not was they had to fly with NO INSTRUMENTS and NO RADIOS. Can you imagine flying through enemy territory under those conditions? Of course, they proved they could that, too. Soon they were to be tasked with flying four-engine bombers that normally had a crew of four men. But they would fly all alone and with no instruments and no radio and straight through war zones! In spite of this, they had a unbelievably low casualty rate. These girls were definitely made of something special! Be sure not to skip the Epilogue!
I was provided an ARC of this book by Lake Union Publishers and NetGalley. The opinions expressed here are completely my own and without influence.
The Spitfire Girls is the second book I’ve read recently about WW II, which is based on historical and heroic women who aided in the war efforts through the British Air Transport Auxiliary. I learned a lot about how these brave young women pilots would fly fighter planes to assigned locations helping the men who needed them in fighting the war. It also includes women in the United States forming a similar group called the WASPs. If it wasn’t for these brave young female pilots, who know how the war may have turned out!
Special thanks to Lake Union Publishing and the author for allowing me to read an advanced readers copy of this book. My opinions are my own.
I strongly recommend this book filled with lots of history and also some romance, which helped soften the story. Congratulations on a very well written and informative book to the author.
(4.5) I really enjoyed this book. It was well researched and the writing beautifully done. Based on the true story of female pilots that assisted in the WWII efforts by transporting planes to bases where needed for combat. And that was transporting WITHOUT radios or instruments to help guide them. They put their lives in danger to help their country fight the war. What amazing, brave women. I loved the three main female characters in the book, May, Ruth and Lizzie, and the camaraderie that developed between them, even though they didn’t quite start off on the right foot. This is great historical fiction with a little romance thrown in, and it is one that I highly recommend.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. All opinions are my own.
Lindas Book Obsession Reviews “The Spitfire Girls” by Soraya M. Lane
Review Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “The Spitfire Girls” by Soraya M Lane, February 2019
Soraya M Lane, Author of “The Spitfire Girls” has written a captivating, enthralling, intriguing and entertaining novel. The Genres for this book are Fiction, Women’s Fiction and Historical Fiction. The time-line for this novel is World War Two. The author describes her colorful cast of characters as complex, competitive and complicated.
Lizzie has been a pilot in the United States, and writes to Mrs. Roosevelt to ask if women can be pilots and fly during the war. She is informed that there is a program in England. Lizzie meets May and Ruby, two of the best pilots in England. At first there is competition and adversity between the American and English women pilots. There is the threat of German Airstrikes. The women are flying the planes blindly.
I appreciate that the author discusses the importance of friendship, sisterhood, family , love and hope. These are brave and devoted women who serve their countries, at less pay than the men that do the same thing. These women are fighting for their rights and lives. I would highly recommend this amazing story for those readers who enjoy World War Two fiction and history. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review. (less)
This is a work of historical fiction detailing the relatively unknown story of female pilots ferrying war planes in WWII. I had no idea women played such a pivotal role.
The book could also be categorized as women’s fiction for the emotion shown by the characters and their families. May reminded me very much of JD Robb’s Eve Dallas character because she got too far into her own head, thought too hard, and shouldered a lot. A bit too heavy on the introspection with that one. But I thoroughly enjoyed Ruby, who was indeed a spitfire, humbly piloting war planes with immense skill.
All in all a good read. I recommend this one.
The Spitfire Girls by Soraya M. Lane is a brilliantly written story about three strong, courageous women who were determined to carve out a place for themselves by volunteering despite all the odds and people against them to do their part in World War II by flying planes. It is a heartwarming story full of tears, loss, bravery, pride and joy. Without giving away any spoilers, the author did an excellent job in creating these realistic, likable, admirable characters and it is historical fiction at its best. I rated it a five.
What a great read. This book follows three young women as they become pilots during the war. Their struggles, victories, loves and losses were so understandable. They faced astronomical odds being women in a men’s world and the way they faced their challenges simply make the reader smile and want to read more and more. Ms. Lane is quickly becoming one of my go to authors.
What a group of women, flying!!! Without them, the men who flew, may have not have had planes when they needed them. The hardship, the “put-downs”, the harassment that they went through is overwhelming. I was sorry when I finished the book.
A good author