Fly Girls

How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History

By: Keith O'Brien

Narrated by: Erin Bennett

Between the world wars, no sport was more popular, or more dangerous, than airplane racing. Thousands of fans flocked to multi-day events, and cities vied with one another to host them. The pilots themselves were hailed as dashing heroes who cheerfully stared death in the face. Well, the men were hailed. Female pilots were more often ridiculed than praised for what the press portrayed as silly efforts to horn in on a manly, and deadly, pursuit.

Fly Girls recounts how a cadre of women banded together to break the original glass ceiling: the entrenched prejudice that conspired to keep them out of the sky.

O'Brien weaves together the stories of five remarkable women: Florence Klingensmith, a high school dropout who worked for a dry cleaner in Fargo, North Dakota; Ruth Elder, an Alabama divorcee; Amelia Earhart, the most famous, but not necessarily the most skilled; Ruth Nichols, who chafed at the constraints of her blue blood family's expectations; and Louise Thaden, the mother of two young kids who got her start selling coal in Wichita. Together, they fought for the chance to race against the men - and in 1936 one of them would triumph in the toughest race of all.

©2018 Keith O'Brien (P)2018 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

For women, and dads

I think that to the casual book lover you might be inclined to overlook this book if you are not (a) female or (b) into aviation. That would be a mistake. I put myself into both categories, but still I think that this story is appealing because it is a story of grit. This book details a time when flying was dangerous and women were expected to look and behave in certain ways. The women of this story were courageous on so many fronts -- that they were willing to put themselves out there and try to follow their own paths, as well as risk their lives to do it. It is full of period details, but not weighed down with them so that it feels like a history lesson. I think the pace of the action is perfect; the book spans a few years in the first parts, and then glides ahead over a greater timespan so that you know how the women end up. They are all so different, but a modern person -- man or woman -- will recognize something of themselves in each character.
N.B. I was given this book by my father, a life-long aviation enthusiast, who dragged us all around to airshows during my childhood. I read the paper version, which has beautiful pictures of the women, and have just purchased the audio version for my husband on his commute so we can talk about it.

A great aviation story

I've read most of the aviation titles on audible. I'm a sucker for aviation history, especially its Golden Age. naturally after some time you end up reading about the same material over and over again. So its refreshing to come across a title that presents something which isn't often writen about.
This is not just a great story about women in aviation and their struggle to be respected as equals, but is a rare view into the often forgotten era of the great air races and the Thompson and bendix Trophies. Its a great read.

Great stories, too much minutia

These women have amazing stories which needed to be told. The level of details however made it hard to listen to. I spent a distracting amount of time waiting for the author to get to the point. No detail was too irrelevant to include. This took me out of the story to the point where I nearly quit several times. With a better editor, this could have been a slam dunk. As is, I hesitate to recommend it to others.

So Much More

This book was so much more than I thought it would be. Not just a few interwoven stories of early aviation hero’s, but a story of transformation - not just of the women’s movement and transportation, but of the changes in life we all go through. I did not expect to find myself relating to these aviatrix, but I did. I will say, prepare yourself for graphic descriptions of injuries. My kids would listen to parts with me, and I learned to pause the story of I could see a crash coming!!

Great history of early aviation.

I enjoyed this book and the reading was superb. yes it was a great account of the early days of Aviation with a particular emphasis on the women involved. a great mix of history and interesting storyline.. highly recommended.