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Title details for The Long Flight Home by Alan Hlad - Available

The Long Flight Home

by Alan Hlad
Simon Vance
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
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 more so than Duchess, who 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.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    June 25, 2019

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781684417711
      • File size: 293070 KB
      • Duration: 10:10:33

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 27, 2019
      Hlad’s debut snares readers with its fresh angle on the blitz of WWII, focusing on the homing pigeons used by the British, and the people who trained and cared for them. It’s autumn of 1940, and the carpet bombings of London have begun. Susan Shepard and her grandfather Bertie raise pigeons on a farm in Epping, outside of London and near the North Weald Airfield, and they rush to their shelter each time the Luftwaffe passes over. Meanwhile, Ollie Evans, an American crop-duster pilot living in Buxton, Maine, has decided to try to join the Allied effort as a Royal Air Force flier. Soon, Ollie meets Susan and the birds she has trained, but before they can explore their feelings for one another, Ollie becomes caught up in the fighting while Susan becomes involved in Source Columba, the real-life intelligence operation that featured the air-drop of hundreds of homing pigeons in occupied France. Descriptions of the horrors of war and the excitement of battle are engaging, and the unusual element of the carrier pigeons lends an intriguing twist. This story will speak not only to romance readers and WWII buffs but also to animal advocates and anyone who enjoys discovering quirky details that are hidden in history.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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