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Flying at Night
By: Rebecca L. Brown
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
Pub Date: 4/10/18
This is a gut wrenching story to read. Piper is a stay at home mom to her son Fred. She has a lot of anxiety herself but when the teacher is reaching out for a meeting about Fred her anxiety ramps up. As Fred has gotten older he has developed some quirky behaviors that are affecting at school.
In the beginning she works really hard to bury her head in the sand and not deal with Fred, her son or her husband.
Fred is obsessed with WWll he will tell anyone about the war. The problem is the things he talks about in school aren’t for 9 year olds. Unfortunately as the testing was taking place Piper's abusive dad had a massive heart attack. They thought he was going to die so they were there today goodbye, only he’s asking about his dog. He’s had a traumatic brain injury. Piper’s mom has left him which leaves one more than to take care of. This was such a heartwarming story. Struggling to accept Fred’s diagnosis and her father’s illness she truly has her hands full.
Thanks to Berkley and Rebecca L Brown for this ARC.

This book resonated with me in so many ways that I felt as if the author had reached inside my head and heart and wrote my own story. I am a parent of a child on the spectrum who is very much like Fred. I have felt many of the things that Piper felt and the author did a great job of working through those emotions. I will be recommending this book to other mothers dealing with the early days of diagnosis. Then the there is the other part of the story involving Piper's father. That was a roller coaster too! I really hated that man at the beginning and by the end he broke my heart. Sweet, smart, endearing Fred....such a great representation of a child on the high functioning end of the spectrum. Overall, a touching story of a dysfunctional and totally real family

Sweet and tissue worthy. One of those books with one hit after another. It's the story of a mother of a boy on the autistic spectrum, one who wasn't diagnosed until he was 9. She has a very hard time with the label, because she doesn't see his personality as a disability. She also has to take in her emotionally abusive father after a brain injury--that relationship is extremely complicated and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. Either way, I couldn't put this down. I definitely liked the three perspectives.

A clear-eyed look at the challenges of the sandwich generation. Fans of Regarding Henry will enjoy it.

Piper Whitman is a stay-at-home mother devoted to raising her 9-year old son, Fred. When circumstances force her to face the reality that her son’s “quirkiness” may be something more, Piper has to come to terms with him being on the autism spectrum. Soon after, her emotionally abusive father suffers a debilitating heart attack that leaves him brain damaged, requiring care in her home for the unforseeable future.

Piper’s world seemed to have changed in an instant but the truth is her experiences as a child growing up with an emotionally cruel father shaped a lot of the decisions she made as an adult, including her overcompensation for her son and her communication issues with her husband. This could be anyone’s story and the author skillfully provides an insightful narrative that is at times highly relatable and vexing at others. Piper is the main voice with points of view provided at key moments from Fred and her father, Lance. While I learned a lot about higher functioning autistic behavior, that wasn’t the gist of the story. How Piper evolves is enlightening as she’s forced to do so when the father who raised her wasn’t the man she brought home to care. The bond that developed between him and her son created a chance for forgiveness and self awareness.

This is a tough, interesting and relevant story that I had to absorb in small bits. I experienced a range of emotions, often empathizing with Piper but also being highly annoyed with her behavior at times. She’s so very real, reacting true to character at all times. It doesn’t have the traditional perfect ending but it was perfect for the characters and the story. I’m glad I had the opportunity to read this book, one that was not on my radar and might not have selected on my own. It changed my thinking in so many ways.

Piper Hart has a nine-year-old boy named Fred. She is a stay at home mom and her lawyer husband Isaac works long hours. Piper is very close to her son and overlooks his obsessive peculiarities and deficient social skills. After a conference at Fred’s school, she realizes that Fred’s issues could be serious. She will put him through a series of tests to see if he is on the autism spectrum.

At the same time Piper’s father, Lance, suffers a massive heart attack. He survives but has severe memory loss and occupational issues. Piper and the rest of her family do not have fond memories of their abusive and domineering father. Lance was a commercial pilot and everyone was happiest when he was off traveling. After his heart attack, it is clear that Lance cannot live on his own, and no family member wants the role of caregiver. Piper reluctantly finds herself providing care to her father after he moves into her house. At the same time, she works to adapt to a child on the autism spectrum while maintaining a healthy relationship with her husband.

This is a thoughtful debut novel by Rebecca L. Brown. Flying At Night provides interesting insights into family dynamics and the emotions encountered raising children. I look forward to more novels by the author.

I only moderately enjoyed Paula McLain’s last two books, but I had seen other reviews which said this book was better. But I can’t say I found it to be much of an improvement. In the beginning, Martha Gelhorn comes off as the stereotypical socialite rebelling against her background. And for all her talk of independence, Marty never feels complete without a man.

She quickly meets Ernest Hemingway and he sweeps her into a different life. I actually had to do the math. He comes off as much older than her, when in actuality, there’s just a 9 year age difference. It doesn’t help that he calls her “Daughter”.

Initially, I had trouble connecting with Marty. She goes to Spain as a reporter, but it’s ages before she actually writes anything. It doesn’t take long before she becomes Hemingway’s lover. And if I didn’t connect with her, I had nothing but revulsion for him. He speaks of love but he just uses women and obviously thinks nothing of fidelity.

The book is at its best when McLain is describing the war scenes, whether in Spain, Finland or during WWII. It only came alive for me when Marty was on her own. It’s at its worst when Marty is describing her lovesickness for Ernest. The sappiness of the writing made me cringe. “His bed was an operating table, and this was heart surgery.” The sections that are written in Ernest’s voice never rang true. Meant to be all emotional and dark, they just fell flat to me and I could never believe it was his voice.

The ending is the best part of the book. McLain does a great job of describing the downward spiral of their marriage. And the author’s note, which tells of Gelhorn’s later years, seemed to capture her spirit best of all.

My thanks to netgalley and Ballantine Books for an advance copy of this novel.

A beautifully written, emotionally charged novel about family.

Piper is a stay at home mom, who is very close to her son that she does not realize that his idiosyncrasies could be a sign of something more. Dealing with her own family drama, Piper’s world is thrown into a spin when her son is identified with Autism around the same time her emotionally abusive father, suffers a heart attack. When her father survives the heart attack, but is left with brain damage, Piper is left to take care of him after her mother bails out completely. Unable to leave him in a home, Piper ends up not only dealing with her father and his new state of being as well as with Fred.

This was a beautiful debut. I found the story for myself, extremely relatable, emotionally driven, raw, with wonderful writing and memorable characters. You can feel for Piper and all the stress she is under, the unfairness of it all. I found myself angry for Piper because of how her mother just unloaded everything on her at such a critical time in Piper’s life. This book deals with autism, it deals with family and depression, the struggles of ups and downs and it just flows so well.

I both read the book and listened to this on Audio. The audio was fantastic. There was a chapter for Piper, Fred and Lance (the father) read by three different narrators and they did a truly wonderful job, it made the emotions and the characters in this book that much more real. The narrators really gave these characters both personality and life.

The ending was just a tearjerker, I really did not see that coming. It was so heartbreaking, but the author still did such a wonderful job. She even used her own life experience with her son as an influence for her novel and you could tell that through the way she crafted her story. As someone who has Autism in the family, this book really hit close to home and something I was able to identify with. Just thinking about this book right now is making my eye water, it was great and if you have not heard of it I do recommend you give this one a shot.

Must-read women’s fiction: ‘Flying at Night,’ ‘The Secret to Southern Charm,’ ‘The Family Gathering’ and ‘Other People’s Houses’
It’s time again for some women’s fiction recommendations. What is so wonderful about this genre is there are books that explore every stage of a woman’s life — from finding love, to raising a family, to dealing with aging parents.
And while the books might explore the different challenges we face during our lifetime, the basic core of the books is the same. It’s in our DNA to build, nurture and repair relationships, and this month’s selections do a wonderful job of showcasing that.
Flying at Night by Rebecca L. Brown
What it’s about:
While she was growing up, Piper’s father, Lance “the Silver Eagle” Whitman, became a national hero piloting a plane through an emergency landing. But at home, he was a controlling and overbearing presence in her life, raining emotional and verbal abuse upon the entire family.
It’s no surprise, then, that as an adult, Piper has poured all of her energy into creating a warm and loving home for her own family, while catering to her son Fred’s ever-growing idiosyncrasies.
Then Lance has a heart attack, leaving him with a brain injury—and dependent upon Piper for his care—just before tests confirm Piper’s suspicions that Fred is on the autism spectrum.
A powerful and extraordinary novel, Flying at Night gives voice to Fred, trying to find his place in a world that doesn’t quite understand him; to Lance, who’s lost what made him the man he was, for better and worse; and to Piper, who, while desperately trying to navigate the shifting landscape around her, watches as her son and father start to connect—in the most miraculous ways.
Why you should read this: Truly a spectacular read. The developing bond between grandfather and grandson is exceptionally moving, as is the slow repair of the fractured relationship between father and daughter.
The Secret to Southern Charm by Kristy Woodson Harvey
What it’s about:
Kristy Woodson Harvey returns with the second novel in her beloved Peachtree Bluff series, featuring a trio of sisters and their mother who discover a truth that will change not only the way they see themselves, but also how they fit together as a family.
After finding out her military husband is missing in action, middle sister Sloane’s world crumbles as her worst nightmare comes true. She can barely climb out of bed, much less summon the strength to be the parent her children deserve.
Her mother, Ansley, provides a much-needed respite as she puts her personal life on hold to help Sloane and her grandchildren wade through their new grief-stricken lives. But between caring for her own aging mother, her daughters, and her grandchildren, Ansley’s private worry is that secrets from her past will come to light.
But when Sloane’s sisters, Caroline and Emerson, remind Sloane that no matter what, she promised her husband she would carry on for their young sons, Sloane finds the support and courage she needs to chase her biggest dreams—and face her deepest fears. Taking a cue from her middle daughter, Ansley takes her own leap of faith and realizes that, after all this time, she might finally be able to have it all.
Why you should read this: Looking for a perfect romancey-angsty read? Then look no further. While the story is mainly centered around Sloane, all four women have plenty of romance challenges. Harvey’s exploration of infidelity and the challenges of being a military wife add wonderful layers to an already great read. (See an excerpt from The Secret to Southern Charm on HEA.)
The Family Gathering by Robyn Carr
What it’s about:
Having left the military, Dakota Jones is at a crossroads in his life. With his elder brother and youngest sister happily settled in Sullivan’s Crossing, he shows up hoping to clear his head before moving on to his next adventure. But, like every visitor to the Crossing, he’s immediately drawn to the down-to-earth people and the seemingly simple way of life.
Dakota is unprepared for how quickly things get complicated. As a newcomer, he is on everyone’s radar—especially the single women in town. While he enjoys the attention at first, he’s really only attracted to the one woman who isn’t interested. And spending quality time with his siblings is eye-opening. As he gets to know them, he also gets to know himself and what he truly wants.
When all the Jones siblings gather for a family wedding, the four adults are drawn together for the first time in a way they never were as children. As they struggle to accept each other, warts and all, the true nature and strength of their bond is tested. But all of them come to realize that your family are the people who see you for who you really are and love you anyway. And for Dakota, that truth allows him to find the home and family he’s always wanted.
Why you should read this: For many just seeing the name Robyn Carr is enough of a recommendation. If you need additional reasons, then this story is book three in the Sullivan’s Crossing series about the Jones siblings. We’ve fallen in love with the Jones family while seeing how the challenges they’ve faced — growing up with a schizophrenic father and an enabling mother — have impacted their adult lives, more so than they realized. So it is especially rewarding to see them find love and happiness. (See an excerpt from The Family Gathering on HEA.)
Other People’s Houses by Abbi Waxman
What it’s about:
At any given moment in other people’s houses, you can find…repressed hopes and dreams…moments of unexpected joy…someone making love on the floor to a man who is most definitely not her husband…
*record scratch*
As the longtime local carpool mom, Frances Bloom is sometimes an unwilling witness to her neighbors’ private lives. She knows her cousin is hiding her desire for another baby from her spouse, Bill Horton’s wife is mysteriously missing, and now this…
After the shock of seeing Anne Porter in all her extramarital glory, Frances vows to stay in her own lane. But that’s a notion easier said than done when Anne’s husband throws her out a couple of days later. The repercussions of the affair reverberate through the four carpool families—and Frances finds herself navigating a moral minefield that could make or break a marriage.
Why you should read this: This one is wonderfully sardonic, insightful and humorous — like her interview on HEA. Waxman’s exploration of infidelity shows the impact it can have not only on family but friends, too. Her stay-at-home-mom scenarios are fun and humorous.
Leigh Davis is a former contributor to Heroes and Heartbreakers. When she is not reading, she’s usually outside throwing balls to her insatiable dogs. She loves hearing and talking about great books. You can connect with her on Twitter and Goodreads.
MORE ON HEA: See more posts by Leigh
https://happyeverafter.usatoday.com/2018/04/19/leigh-davis-womens-fiction-recommendations-rebecca-l-brown-kristy-woodson-harvey-robyn-carr-abbi-waxman/

Flying at Night is the debut novel by Rebecca L. Brown. It is a heartbreakingly beautiful story of an autistic boy, his mother and an unlikely companion. Brown will take readers into the everyday life of a mother on the edge. Faced with a difficult diagnosis and an ailing father, Piper is anything but calm. This book is about change, resilience, and redemption. Readers who are looking for a poignant tale that will pull at the heartstrings and remind them the family dynamic can change in an instant, will find this one authentic and real.


What I liked:


This was an incredibly emotional book. I have a nephew that falls on the autistic spectrum and I was wondering if this book would be able to capture the innocence and sense of wonder that most autistic children possess. When I found out that the author, Rebecca L. Brown has an autistic child of her own it was easy to see that this was more than research. This was real life experience. Fred was such an amazing character. He is so focused and so inquisitive. I loved his sense of wonder and his ability to see right to the heart of things, including his brain damaged grandfather. I thought Brown did a very good job of showing the reader that life with an autistic child is obviously challenging but it also extremely rewarding.


She is also able to describe Piper's struggles, with such clarity and understanding. Piper spends a great deal of time with her son Fred but she still doesn't see the signs that he is different than most kids. I really felt for her as a parent, because we always want our children to be okay in every sense of the word. I understood the incredible guilt she must have felt when Fred was diagnosed. She is a character that can possibly rub some readers the wrong way, because she has so much emotional baggage, but in the end is also very understandable.


Who wouldn't be angry, resentful and even a little disappointed when faced with so much chaos in her life. Her son is on the autism spectrum, her father is brain damaged due to a severe heart attack, her mother just up and leaves and husband is constantly gone due to work concerns. That's not an easy place to be in and Brown does a wonderful job of showing the reader a flawed, yet relatable character in Piper.


Brown not only gives readers a chance to see into everyday life with this family, but she also shows them in the throws of change. Each situation seems to be fraught with more turmoil than the last. But the beautiful relationship that begins to emerge between Lance the ailing grandfather and Fred is everything. Lance is not the same man he was before and it makes all the difference. With the innocence of a child he relates to Fred in a way no other character really can. And in seeing his change, Piper is able to find some redemption in him for his past as an emotionally abusive parent.


What I didn't like:


I had my issues with Piper. Some of the things she said and did were not the ways in which I think I would have responded, but I'm not in her shoes. As a parent I want to think I would take things in stride and make the best life for both my child and my father, but honestly we don't know how we would react to such devastating news and circumstances.


I kind of understood Piper's mom running off. I understood her brothers lack of concern. But I still felt a bit of real disconnect from the characters. Even when you have an emotionally abusive parent, they are still your parent. I was glad that despite Piper's previous relationship with her father she was still able to see that he needed her. She was still able to see him as her father, where I felt like the rest of the family just wrote him off in his time of need.


Disclaimer, there is a bit of rough language in this one, but it's nothing that most people can't relate to. Sometimes gosh darn it, just doesn't cover it. But it may be offensive to some. Just keep it in mind.


Bottom Line:


I liked this book. I thought that Brown gave a very realistic point of view to all three of the characters who shared the point of views in this book. I loved Fred. I loved hearing his thoughts and seeing his process. He was a great character and very authentic. Piper was a bit harder for me to like, but I was able to relate to her struggles. The old Lance and the new Lance were so different. It was amazing to see the amount of change in this character. It's kind of sad that brain damage had to happen to turn him into a pretty good guy. This one is emotional folks, be prepared, but it's well worth your time.

A well writren and engaging story about a mother and her son and a daughter and her father. Real feelings are exposed. Fred's character is exceptional.

Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Jeanie

Flying at Night is a stunning first novel, one in which the range of super-charged emotions must have been challenging for the author to write. She introduces three main characters; we see life from each individual’s point of view even as we see the seasons around them changing as if in empathy. Character development is outstanding, both in terms of physical and emotional struggles. The feelings were often so raw that I could feel them, even while understanding Piper’s truth of her background.

Piper’s father is a perfectionist. As an airline pilot, Lance travelled the world.He emotionally battered his wife, son, and daughter. Piper’s husband, Isaac, is an instructor of law students and a passionate voice for the voiceless through the Innocence Project. Just as she was used to her father’s derision, she was used to Isaac being out saving the world, instead of being home with her and their son Fred.

Lance, Piper’s Father, was nicknamed the Silver Eagle when he successfully made an emergency landing in a 747. His public face and private faces are vastly different. To him, Piper is a second rate adventurer and Fred, a second rate child except for the brief months when aeronautics fascinated him and he asked questions of Lance.

Fred is an unusual child. He doesn’t get in trouble, and he is super-intelligent. He is content to be by himself instead of making friends. He fixates on subjects, such as flying, for long periods but when he is done, he moves on to the next thing without looking back. He can do his homework but chooses not to unless it interests him. He and Piper spend much time together, so much that she doesn’t notice, or doesn’t think odd, some of his behaviors.

When Fred was nine, Piper and Isaac went to a parent-teacher conference and were told Fred needed testing from the school psychologist. He is scaring other children with his current obsession of talking about war. He also has other symptoms that need evaluation.

The Silver Eagle played squash early in the morning, then went to the sauna, where he had a massive heart attack. He was not breathing when his friend found him and started CPR. Only the paramedics could resuscitate him. He was without oxygen so long that he was not expected to live off of life support. What surprises many is that Piper and her mother are not grieving, and her brother Curtiss takes his time to get there. The day arrives that Judy signs to have life support removed. And he lives. At the end of the day, he still lives. And the next day.

When he is to be released from the hospital, Piper’s mother Judy announces to Piper that she has had enough. Instead of taking Lance home, she is going to her sister’s and he will go to a nursing home. Piper went to get him settled in, and sees how terrible the place is. In a moment, she takes him home. Along with being Fred’s companion during the hours he isn’t at school, she now takes on all of Lance’s doctor appointments and therapy. Fred needs a friend – now being diagnosed with autism and highly functioning – her father also needs a friend due to the frightening brain damage from the loss of oxygen. They understand each other on many levels, while Piper tries to go with all the changes. Isaac suddenly spends more time with his family.

The characters are very well developed and likable. We primarily hear three voices – Piper, Lance, and Fred. We see the world through their eyes, and just how small their worlds really are, I understand Piper, and even what her mother has done. Fred and Lance forge a unique relationship, one that each of them desperately needs. From the outside, Isaac doesn’t impress me very much, especially as he continues to discount Piper’s feelings.

This novel carries the reader on varying currents of feelings. Lance is as a fragile shell of who he used to be, while his wife, ironically, is more alive than she has been for years. There are plot twists throughout, reflecting stunning changes and circumstances. The intensity of emotions at times can be hard to process, It is a riveting read, despite or perhaps because of the family dynamics. I did not like part of the end, as it simply seemed like a bad time for such an event. While I typically read mysteries or historical fiction, there are few mysteries quite like the human psyche. In this case, some plot twists may reveal pieces of the characters’ psyches, solving tiny pieces of the mystery throughout. As the mysteries are solved, the future of those involved change. Dramatically. And the characters model a better way to respond. Overall, I highly recommend this novel to those who appreciate very well-written women’s fiction, those with children facing challenges, or those who need to find out the freedom of flying at night.

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*

Fly at Night was emotionally pulling. I felt for Piper, I disliked her mother, I wanted to give her husband a guiding hand, and I wanted to hug her son. Piper was overwhelmed. Her mother was selfish, although with the abusive lifestyle she lived in she was due to be selfish. Her husband just needs someone to show him what to do, he wants to help but doesn’t quite know what to do. Curtis, her son, has autism and lives a full life with just some idiosyncrasies that make him sometimes hard to understand.

I felt for Piper. She is a stay at home mom with so much on her plate and she doesn’t ask for help. Piper has an autistic son, a father who is now mentally challenged after having a heart attack, and a husband who seems to want to help but doesn’t know what to do. Add to that a mother who walked away and left her to deal with everything. I am not sure how much more she could handle without crumbling.

This book was interesting, I enjoyed it. Yet, it felt like I was reading a story. I know I was but I like to fall into my books, become attached to the characters, and become invested in the plot. With Fly at Night I wasn’t as invested in the story. I enjoyed it, I wanted to know what happens, and I am glad that I took the time to read it.

Trigger warnings: verbal and emotional abuse

This was a hard book for me to read. Besides being the mom of a child with autism, we had a health crisis in the family a few months ago that closely mirrored part of the book. So, basically, I’m putting it out there that while I normally try to be objective while reviewing a book, this was highly personal for me.

“Though I was used to adjustments for Fred’s quirks, I had been raised to prize politeness above all else, so I always slunk away with my tail between my legs instead of marching out with my middle finger raised in salute to all the assholes who judged my son and me.”


The book is mainly from Piper’s POV, with brief sections from her son, Fred’s, and her father, the Silver Eagle’s, POV. The other POVs, though, are mainly there to support Piper’s narration, as while the other characters change and grow, it’s Piper’s journey that is the focus. Piper was difficult for me to like. She starts the book as a sad, angry, friendless person – for good reason, mind you, as she suffered terrible verbal and emotional abuse as a child – an artist who gave up her career to be a stay-at-home mom to her “quirky” kid. Her husband, Isaac, is mostly absent with his “very important” job with the Innocence Project, there for the special things like parent’s night and concerts, but missing from the day-to-day things that support a family. The daily grind is interrupted when her father suffers a massive heart attack and it looks like the worst will happen – or is it possibly the best outcome? It’s an unexpected “miracle,” though, that, just as she’s forced to come to terms with her son’s differences – she uses “disability” frequently throughout the book, which I disliked – she’s also saddled with a dog and her convalescing father. Her father, however, isn’t the same man she hated, and she’s left figuring out what this new period in her life is. Is it a second chance for their father/daughter relationship? Her father’s penance for years of fear? A lesson in that being different is not less? Piper, much like the WWII soldiers Fred is so fond of, soldiers through, and as the seasons change, she does, too.

I had a very hard time believing that it took until Fred was 9 for a teacher to suggest an evaluation. Fred’s actions – fixating on one topic to the exclusion of everything else, lack of eye contact, social issues – are textbook criteria for a diagnosis. Piper even worked as a respite aide for autistic kids years ago! I think this was where a lot of my annoyance with Piper came from, as it seemed a lot like willful ignorance and pride on her part. I’m not saying that a diagnosis doesn’t come with a lot of roiled up, ugly feelings, but it felt very much like Piper was making it all about her and not Fred. Through it all, though, I never doubted that she loved her son deeply, and she was fiercely protective of him.

“’Have you ever seen this crack, Piper?’ He pulled on my hand until I had no choice but to lie down beside him. We looked up and analyzed the crack together.
‘It goes all the way across. All the way from one wall to the other and back again,’ he said.
‘It’s an impressive crack, Dad.’
‘Is it very old?’ he asked with a slight edge of panic in his voice.
‘Well, it’s been here since we moved in ten years ago, so it’s at least that old, but probably older. It seems like maybe it’s grown, but it’s not something I really notice all that often.’
‘You should notice it, Piper. You should stop and look at it. It’s part of the house, but the house doesn’t fall down. It’s cracked but it still works.’”


Despite my issues with Piper, and with the generally sad tone of the book, I thought Ms. Brown did an amazing job chronicling the struggles of a women dealing with taking care of both her son and her father, and dealing with messy emotions. The characters felt real and well-rounded, and the pacing was perfect. There’s one character that came in toward the end of the book, a fellow autism mom whose name, like mine, is Lauren, and, frankly, it felt like the author had written me in the book! It did get a bit heavy-handed at times – see, for example, that crack in the ceiling conversation between Piper and her father – but I finished the book with a sense of resolution, and that I would be chewing on the themes for a while.

Overall, I found rating this book difficult. I’d probably settle on 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. If you’re interested in reading about a second chance at a father-daughter relationships or being the mother of an autistic child, you’d very much enjoy this book. I think this would make a nice, meaty summer read.

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

None of us are perfect and the things that happen to us aren’t always fair. This is precisely why this novel felt so real. The characters are flawed, their relationships are imperfect and life doles out some things that are difficult to accept and deal with. There are dysfunctional relationships between a father and his children and between a man and his wife. A devoted mother is in denial about her nine year old son who is diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum and her sometimes wallowing in self pity affects her relationship with her husband who is also flawed. I can’t easily review this without giving away more of the plot than I should so this will be short.

There are three alternating narratives : Piper, a stay at home mom who gave up her career to care for her child, her father Lance who was so miserable to his family that they find it difficult to feel for him after his heart attack and my favorite, nine year old Fred. He’s my favorite because he tells the reader the truth, perceives the truth in ways that the adults are unable to do. He’s my favorite because on his 10th birthday his wish is “that I could find a way to show people what I am all about.” The novel reflects on things that are familiar to many of us, things that we may experience in our family relationships - guilt, blame, acceptance, forgiveness, love and finding a way to show people what we are all about. A solid 4 stars,


I received an advanced copy of this book from Berkley through NetGalley.

A story of interwoven family relationships - good and bad.

Piper Whitman was an artist, a textbook illustrator, and now is a stay-at-home mom to her 9 year-old son, Fred. She and her husband, Isaac, realize that Fred is different but just think it's his own little quirks.

Piper's father, Lance, is an airline pilot (and a physically and emotionally abusive husband and father) until one day he has a heart attack and suffers some brain damage.

It ends up that Piper and her family take in her father to live with them once he's out of the hospital right around the same time that Fred is diagnosed as autistic.

The story is told from three points of view - Piper, Fred, and Lance. I especially liked the portions from Fred and Lance and their perceptions of what's going on around them.

I am the mother of a son on the spectrum and also grandmother to a grandson also on the spectrum. Both are high functioning but I could really relate to Piper's story of the mixed feelings, the anger, the "what ifs," and playing the blame game.

This is a moving story about different disabilities, about love, about forgiveness, about strains on a marriage and much more.

I received this book from Berkley Publishing through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

When Piper Whitman Hart received the call from her mother to say her father had had a massive heart attack, her feelings were of quiet relief – she knew her mother would feel the same, as would her brother Curtiss. Lance was a well-respected pilot but at home was an emotionally abusive man and had been all their childhood – all their mother’s marriage. He wasn’t expected to live – but he did; his brain damage was severe.

Piper’s son Fred was nine years old and her and husband Isaac’s only child. Fred had just been diagnosed as autistic – a diagnosis Piper was having trouble coming to terms with. With her life suddenly out of control, her father’s heart attack added a pressure she didn’t know if she could handle. But life wasn’t meant to be easy – and theirs had certainly gone off the rails. What would happen in the next few months to both Fred and his grandpa?

Debut novel Flying at Night by Rebecca L. Brown was both heartbreaking and heartwarming! So much emotion – from Fred (I adored Fred) with his ability to speak only the truth, to not limit his words for fear of hurting someone’s feelings as he didn’t know how. To Lance, who started off as a person to dislike intensely, until I felt a deep empathy for him. And Piper; her stress and anxiety; her deep love for her child; her determination to do her best. Told in the voices of Piper, Fred and Lance, the story was incredibly well done – it’s hard to believe it’s a debut. I have no hesitation in recommending Flying at Night highly.

With thanks to Elisha Katz at Berkley US - Penguin Random House, New York via NetGalley for my digital ARC to read and review.

I really enjoyed this novel told from the points of view of three generations of a family. Lance is an airline pilot who survives a heart attack and brain injury. He loses the person he was before, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. The relationships between the family members change and evolve throughout the book.

There are touches of "Regarding Henry" in the story, and an odd love scene that left me wondering why it had been put in, but otherwise, a good book.

My thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Berkley, and Rebecca Brown for the opportunity to read and review her debut novel - I loved it. I think I'm a sucker for books that really delve into characters and quirky characters to boot - this one was all that and more.

Piper was raised by a strict, controlling, verbally abusive father, Lance. Her brother left at the earliest opportunity and has very little to do with the family. Piper was always mad at her mom for not leaving her dad and putting up with and excusing his behavior.

Piper went away for college but ended up married and back in the same town as she grew up, which means right back into her parents' world too. But Piper quit her career and devoted herself to her son, Fred, who was difficult, quirky and all-consuming. When a diagnosis comes to her, it throws her for a loop. Then her father has a heart attack and is left brain damaged. All these events and characters come together for a great read.

The best part of this book is that it is told in chapters voiced by Piper, Lance and Fred. Each voice is so spot on that we really get to delve into their feelings.

Rebecca L. Brown has done a really nice job telling a story about a mom living through a really difficult life season- right as her son is getting an autism diagnosis, her emotionally abusive father suffers a heart attack and brain trauma leaving him a different person- and in her care. Piper has to fight to get her son the help he needs while struggling with her sense of responsibility to the father she's been, at best, ambivalent to over the years. She's overwhelmed and tested, and her struggles are honest and real. Readers also get the perspective of Fred, her son, whose take on situations the family is encountering is enlightening, and Lance, Piper's father, who is piecing back together his memories of his life before his incident and struggling with his realization about who he was. A solid look into an incredibly difficult, defining year in this family's life.

I was really excited to find that this book's setting was local to me (Madison, WI), and that this was a local author- that's always a bonus to a good story!