The Long Flight Home

Posted on 11 July 2018 by Alan Hlad

Inspired by fascinating, true, yet little known events during World War II, The Long Flight Home is a testament to the power of courage in our darkest hours a moving, masterfully written story of love and sacrifice It is September 1940 a year into the war and as German bombs fall on Britain, fears grow of an impending invasion Enemy fighter planes blacken the sky around the Epping Forest home of Susan Shepherd and her grandfather, Bertie After losing her parents to influenza as a child, Susan found comfort in raising homing pigeons with Bertie All her birds are extraordinary to Susan loyal, intelligent, beautiful but none so than Duchess Hatched from an egg that Susan incubated in a bowl under her grandfather s desk lamp, Duchess shares a special bond with Susan and an unusual curiosity about the human world Thousands of miles away in Buxton, Maine, a young crop duster pilot named Ollie Evans has decided to travel to Britain to join the Royal Air Force His quest brings him to Epping and to the National Pigeon Service, where Susan is involved in a new, covert assignment Codenamed Source Columba, the mission aims to air drop hundreds of homing pigeons in German occupied France Many will not survive Those that do make the journey home to England can convey crucial information on German troop movements and help reclaim the skies from the Luftwaffe The friendship between Ollie and Susan deepens as the mission date draws near When Ollie s plane is downed behind enemy lines, both know how remote the chances of reunion must be Yet Duchess s devotion and her singular sense of duty will become an unexpected lifeline, relaying messages between Susan and Ollie as war rages on and proving, at last, that hope is never truly lost. New Read Books The Long Flight Home Author Alan Hlad – kino-fada.fr I received an Advance Reader copy of this novel, The Long Flight Home by Alan Hlad, which will be published on June 25, 2019 Many thanks to Kensington Publishing for my copy Although my opinion has generally been that the market seems to have reached a kind of saturation point when it comes to the number of World War II novels that have been written, I admit that I was drawn to the premise of this book and I found myself swept up in the story Alan Hlad created This novel begins in the I received an Advance Reader copy of this novel, The Long Flight Home by Alan Hlad, which will be published on June 25, 2019 Many thanks to Kensington Publishing for my copy Although my opinion has generally been that the market seems to have reached a kind of saturation point when it comes to the number of World War II novels that have been written, I admit that I was drawn to the premise o...Although I ve read many books about World War II, I had never heard of Source Columba This was the code name for the program to air drop thousands of homing pigeons in France during the German occupation It was hoped that French Resistance fighters would use the pigeons to send strategic information to England about German troop movement and the location of their planes and tanks The pigeons would carry the messages in tiny canisters attached to their legs The Long Flight Home is an Although I ve read many books about World War II, I had never heard of Source Columba This was the code name for the program to air drop thousands of homing pigeons in France during the German occupation It was hoped that French Resistance fighters would use the pigeons to send strategic information to England about German troop movement and the location of their planes and tanks The pigeons would carry the messages in tiny canisters attached to their legs The Long Flight Home is an engaging story about two people involved in Source Columba Susan Shepherd and her grandfather live on a farm that trains pigeons in Epping, twenty miles outside London American crop duster, Ollie Evans, wants to honor his family s British roots by volunteering ...Its September 1940 War has been going on for a year Susan raises pigeons Ollie is a pilot Susan lives with her grandfather, Bertie on a pigeon farm They supply the war effort with pigeons, hoping they will bring home messages from occupied France Ollie lived in Maine He is a pilot He decides to go to England to join the war effort His path crosses with Susan and Bertie Love blossoms between the young couple This story has een well researched and its beautifully written I know a Its September 1940 War has been going on for a year Susan raises pigeons Ollie is a pilot Susan lives with her grandfather, Bertie on a pigeon farm They supply the war effort with pigeons, hoping they will bring home messages from occupied France Ollie lived in Maine He is a pilot He decides to go to England to join the war effort His path crosses with Susan and Bertie Love blossoms between the young couple This story has een well researched and its beautifully written I know a little a out the use of homing pigeons before reading this book The story was inspired y the true but little know events that took place in World War ll Hundreds of pigeons were dropped over France hoping that the French citizens would send them h...Susan Shepherd and her grandfather Bertie raise homing pigeons on their small farm in Epping, England Susan loves and nutures her pigeons, especially Duchess with whom she shares a special bond.The German Luftwaffe fly over regularly on the way to London to drop their payloads Night after night the skies are lit up by the fires burning London to ashes.Across the ocean, Ollie Evans, a crop duster in Maine, decides to join the Royal Air Force after the sudden death of his parents Chance Susan Shepherd and her grandfather Bertie raise homing pigeons on their small farm in Epping, England Susan loves and nutures her pigeons, especially Duchess with whom she shares a special bond.The German Luftwaffe fly over regularly on the way to London to drop their payloads Night after night the skies are lit up by the fires burning London to ashes.Across the ocean, Ollie Evans, a crop duster in Maine, decides to join the Royal Air Force after the sudden death of his parents Chance circumstances bring Susan and Ollie together and they soon find themselves falling in love.The British military have conscripted Susan s and Bertie s pigeons to participate in a covert plan, code name Source Columba, where pigeons will be dropped in German occupied France with the hope that they will be found by the Resistance and critical information sent back to the Britis...Thanks so much to NetGalley, Kensington Books and Alan Hlad for giving me the chance to read his book The Long Flight Home.Susan Shepherd lives with her grandfather Bertie near Epping Forest in England, Susan was raised by her grandparents and her parents died when she was a little girl Susan and her grandfather live a quiet life, they breed and race homing pigeons Susan was studying zoology, but the war starting halted her studies and she decides to help her aging grandfather care for his Thanks so much to NetGalley, Kensington Books and Alan Hlad for giving me the chance to read his book The Long Flight Home.Susan Shepherd lives with her grandfather Bertie near Epping Forest in England, Susan was raised by her grandparents and her parents died when she was a little girl Susan and her grandfather live a quiet life, they breed and race homing pigeons Susan was studying zoology, but the war starting halted her studies and she decides to help her aging grandfather care for his pigeons as he has very bad knees, he finds doing every day tasks a challenge and he ...You don t have to know a lot about pigeons or aviation to follow the story But on the same token, you will not learn much Most of it centersaround the relationship between one specific pigeon and her owner I was hoping there would beinformation regarding the pigeons war effort for example, the messages that they delivered that were helpful to the RAF, the training, etc Yet, the only messages the reader is made known of are the messages that the pigeon delivers between ...The British government s secret mission is pigeons Source Columba, Bertie said These pigeons are going to help us win the war This is a must read for historical fiction lovers Hlad did a fantastic job putting a new perspective on the thoroughly covered WWII genre A Long Flight Home was well researched with an engaging storyline, sympathetic characters and some unlikely heroes I enjoyed the action scenes and the love story woven throughout but was particularly pleased by the lack of The British government s secret mission is pigeons Source Columba, Bertie said These pigeons are going to help...I must be a sucker for sad books Historical fiction is my favorite genre to read and it mirrors true historical events that have happened.There are a lot of tragic events that have happened in past history.I enjoy reading the description of events leading up to a historic event, even a sad one.The history is past and I can t change it but I sure would like to take the characters and say don t do that, or r...Oh lordy what a tear jerker This was such an outstanding, true to life story that it drew me in right from the start This book tells of the beautiful love story between Ollie and Susan its main characters, although they were fictional, their story felt very real I love how the author was able to bring his readers into Susan s beloved pigeons daily life I was invested 100% and in tears rooting for them to return home safe, Duchess in particular Adored her Some parts of the book are Oh lordy what a tear jerker This was such an outstanding, true to life story that it drew me in right from the start This book tells of the beautiful love story between Ollie and Susan its main characters, although they were fictional, their story felt very real I love how the author was able to bring his readers into Susan s beloved pigeons daily life I was invested 100% and in tears rooting for them to return home safe, Duchess in particular Adored her Some parts of the book are recreated with information from the author researching real events 200,000 carrier pigeons were used by the Royal Air Force between 1939 1945 to carry encrypted messages into German occupied France and Holland, and then back to Britain Through Susan s eyes the author meticulously describes the Blitz with the German bombers heading to and fro over London dropping bombs, putting you in the scene as a terrified onlooker This is a very informative, powerful written book that will have you grabbing the Kleene...Epping, England, Sept 1940 Susan Shepherd postpones her zoology study at the University of London in lieu of aimportant endeavor raising war pigeons.Buxton, Maine, Sept 1940 Ollie Evans postpones his study in aeronautical engineering due to his father s accident on the potato farm Ollie has been fascinated with planes since early childhood His father taught him how to operate ...

English
11 July 2018

Alan Hlad