The author did a brilliant job of capturing the time period in this novel. The characters and plot were also well written. This was a great piece of historical fiction!

Alan Hlad’s The Long Flight Home is a moving historical fiction novel about Pigeons used during WW II to send messages. The two main characters have suffered the loss of their parents. Susan is British and she lives with her grandfather after losing her parents to influenza. Her grandfather, Bertie, is asked by the War Office to participate in Operation Columba to train their pigeons to send messages behind enemy lines in France.

Ollie, our second main character, is a crop duster in Maine. He lost both of his parents in a tragic car accident. Ollie ones to England to join the RAF. While on a train, he encounters Susan who is being harassed by an English officer. He gets in trouble with the military police and is forced to help Susan and her grandfather on their farm for three months before joining the RAF.

Hlad has created a beautiful, haunting novel of courage and survival told from both Susan and Ollie’s point of view. I enjoyed learning about how pigeons were used in the war effort. Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Long Flight Home- @alanhlad

I apparently LOVE historical fiction. I’m finding that many of my immediate TBR books are this genre. When I saw the beautiful cover for #thelongflighthome it was no different. The synopsis was so different and intriguing I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. I was lucky enough to receive a copy from @netgalley and even MORE lucky to receive a hardback from @kensingtonbooks through Between the Chapters on Facebook.

The story of a young lady Susan and her Grandfather Bertie who raise pigeons during WWII. A young crop duster from Maine named Ollie who loses his family, his farm, and his future leaves for Britain to aid the British against the Germans. Their lives are forever changed during the war, particularly focusing on the Blitz. Young love blossoms quickly in spite of the war, and quickly grows with the help of Susan’s pet pigeon Dutchess. Informative, heartbreaking and beautiful. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone. I loved every second and spent the last hour biting my nails and wiping the tears from my eyes.

When I first saw the cover for this book I captivated by the cover and drawn to the blurb on the back. Not knowing much about how pigeons were used in the 1940s to carry important message back to England I knew I had to read this.
I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of historical detail given, as it was very well researched and executed. I found this to be a face paced book with loveable characters you grew to care about. Not only was this a well written novel it also had a bit of romance entwined.
The only problem I had with this novel is I felt the ending was rushed/abrupt compared to the rest of the novel.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to give my honest opinion of this wonderful book.

Alan Hlad gives us a great blend of history and fiction in this book. I had known that homing pigeons were used in WWII, but had not known much about that. Very sad that so many of the birds didn’t make it! This book was a delightful read - it moved along fairly slowly, but the pace worked very nicely. Loved the character development, too. The author’s note, telling of Mr. Hlad’s inspiration for the book, was enlightening. All in all, a very enjoyable, and informative, book. All the stars!

There's a statue in London to animals who served in war. This book reminded me of the inscription-They Had No Choice. Ollie and Susan find themselves bound together by her homing pigeons. Who knew (or remembered) that birds were so important in WWII that there was a National Pigeon Service. Susan began raising pigeons when her parents died. Duchess is her, well, Duchess is special. Ollie has come to the UK to volunteer for the RAF. The drama begins when he is finds himself in tussle with Lt Boar but is released to Susan's grandfather. A bombing at the air field, a mistake, and Ollie and Duchess find themselves in a plane piloted by Boar which is then shot down. How these three navigate their way out and help the Allies-it's a very good read. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For fans of the genre looking for something a little different.

Thank you to netgalley and Kensington for a free copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Long Flight Home is a novel based on true events during WWII. Susan Shepherd and Ollie Evans are no strangers to tragedy. Susan lost her parents to influenza when she was a child and is living in Britain with her grandfather, Bertie, and helping him raise and train homing pigeons. Ollie, an American crop-duster, decides to go to Britain from Maine to join the Royal Air Force and become a pilot after his parents are killed in a car accident. Susan and Ollie meet when Source Columba, a secret assignment to gain intelligence for the war using homing pigeons, brings them together. As Susan and Ollie work together to prepare the pigeons for the mission, their friendship strengthens and morphs into something more. When Ollie leaves Susan to retrieve her pet pigeon, Duchess, who was mistakenly taken as part of the mission, Susan awaits Ollie's return. Ollie's plane is shot down and his only chance at hope and survival is to use Duchess as she was intended-- to send a message back to Susan to let her know he is alive.

I am a WWII history buff and I did not know anything about Source Columba or the use of homing pigeons during the war. This story, while fictional, depicts the trials and tribulations the humans and pigeons went through in real life to try and defeat the Nazis. It was interesting to be introduced to a whole new way of fighting the war that I never knew existed.

Overall, I liked this book. I thought some of the descriptions were very well written, some injuries were described in a way that made me cringe. But, I also felt that other descriptions were not quite enough and I had a hard time picturing what was being portrayed. This book definitely read like a debut to me. I feel as though the author is still a bit inexperienced in writing novels; however, that does not mean this was not a good book, a good story, or that there is no room for improvement. I would definitely read another book by Alan Hlad in the future. I enjoyed learning about Source Columba and the homing pigeons, and I plan to do my own research to learn even more about it now that I have been introduced to them through this book. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, specifically WWII.

Before reading this incredible book, I had zero idea about England using pigeons to get news in and out of occupied France. Susan lives with her grandfather Bertie on a pigeon farm. They raise pigeons and when the war offices come up with the plan to send carrier pigeons into occupied France, Susan and Bertie train and supply the war effort with pigeons. Ollie lives in Maine and is a pilot. He decides to go to England to join the war. His path leads him to Susan and Bertie. I absolutely loved the characters in this amazing story. I loved learning of a new aspect of the WW2 that I had never heard. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

WOW, OH WOW!!! No way can I do justice with a review that could come close to depicting how wonderful, beautiful, even informational and golly darn, just plain how AWESOME this book is. By far the best book I have read in 2019 and it will be going into my all-time favorite books ever list. I expect this to be a best seller. It is one of the most astonishing WWII books, bringing to the spotlight a subject that has not even been mentioned before in the hundreds of WWII books I’ve read.
I fell in love with Susan at hello, adored Bertie, and then Oliver from Maine, how can you not fall in love with that guy!! And the story is not complete if I left out little Ms. Duchess. This story has it all, the writing is spectacular, the storyline is excellent, the research was spot on and the dynamics of these three main characters was an absolute joy to watch and listen to.
What do you love about pigeons? Everything, says Susan. Oh, that entire conversation between Ollie and Susan cannot be described, it has to be felt. This author writes so well, he makes you feel as if you are right there in the thick of things, climbing bird cages in the back of a plane, rising from a bombed-out home and pulling debris to get to a loved one or living in a bomb shelter.
Of course, all the way through the book, you know how you want it to end, but I have to say, this is one of the first books I’ve ever read that it didn’t quite go as I had wished, but it ended as it should be. I had to really think about that, but yes, it ended as it should. I highly recommend this book, if you enjoy historical fiction and especially a WWII book like none-other. Pick this one up. Giving the highest 5*****’s I can give!!
Comes in with a whooping HIGH 5*****’s. I thank Kensington Books and Net Galley for allowing me the privilege of reading this book for my honest review.

Such a lovely and educational story of WWII and the war in England. Never knew about homing pigeons before and it utterly captivated me. The novel brought everything up close and personal. Great read

"The survival of Britain rested on the wings of these birds," says Susan Shepherd who alongside her grandfather Bertie in Epping are training their loft of special pigeons to carry messages to and from occupied France during World War II.
I had vaguely heard about homing pigeons being used in the First World War but had no idea the military also depended upon these creatures across the Channel with events such as Operation Columbus during the Blitz in 1940.
Into the story comes Ollie Evans a young crop duster pilot in Maine USA. When his parents are tragically killed he recalls the links his father had with Britain and is determined to travel to England to join the RAF and fly as a pilot to help win the war. Through a series of incidents, including meeting the awful Flight Lieutenant Boar (more of whom later in the story) Ollie ends up being sent to the farm in Epping where he meets and falls in love with Susan.
Ollie had been due to go to college to study aero nautical engineering and Susan had to give up her degree in zoology so both are drawn together with their skills and also their emotional attachment after losing both sets of parents.
The story is emotionally charged - perhaps a little too much coincidental tragedy - but it adds to the heartache incredibly set when the couple are separated.
There are brilliant descriptions of London skies full of German airplane attacks, the bombing raids leaving London aglow with fire and death and the intricate details of both British and German aircraft that are so important to this part of the war effort.
I read this in the week we commemorated the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings on Normandy beaches where once again the French lost lives as the occupation of their country by the Nazis overwhelmed them and the narrow English Channel was the only buffer against a British invasion.
This book allows us to move from the sea and the sand on beaches where men and women fought for victory to the skies above where small birds (often viewed unfavourably) were part of their own fighting force The National Pigeon Service where one particular pigeon, Duchess, brings together not just overcoming an enemy but bringing messages of love.
Thoroughly enjoyable.

The Long Flight Home by Alan Hlad is a story about the London Blitz and the men, women and children who perished because of the Nazi’s evil ways. The British people had to go through 8 months of bombing. It tells the story of the homing pigeons, that were trained to carry messages. Susan and her grandfather worked with the pigeons and loved them very much. Her pet was Duchess. A loyal, intelligent homing pigeon.
Ollie was a farm boy from Maine, whose dream was to join the war efforts against the Nazi’s and be a pilot. He got into trouble a few times and was sentenced to work on the pigeon farm. Susan and Ollie fell in love but events took Ollie away into France. Madeline, a very likable woman hid Ollie and Lieutenant Boar, who hated Ollie.
Plans have been made by Madeline to smuggle them to Spain. This is one of the best World War 2 story that I have read. Will keep you reading, action, romance and the ending is a big surprise.
Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the ARC, all opinions are my own.

Thank you net galley for the advance reader copy of this novel. This was a historical fiction set during WWII regarding the use oncoming pigeons. I had never read anything about the use of pigeons during the war, and was very interested to learn more through this novel. I enjoyed the plot development and internally cringed at twist of fate that separates main characters Ollie and Susan. I was glad that there was resolution for the pigeon Duchess. This novel started out a bit slower pace but didn't disappoint!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to preview this book in exchange for my honest review. It wasn’t hard to become completely absorbed in The Long Flight Home. For historical fiction fans, this story shines light on the important that part pigeons and their handlers played in WWII. For those who prefer a good love story, the book keeps your emotions tied up and hopeful. The whole story moves quickly, and we learn to care so much for Susan, Bertie, Ollie, and of course, Duchess. My only complaint is with how the last quarter or so of the book goes. We needed a bit more of the 1940s to play out before jumping to the 1990s. However, I still think it’s a good read, one I will recommend to others.

No matter how much you read and learn about WWII there is always more to learn. In the Long Flight Home by Alan Hlad we learn about Source Columba, a secret operation using carrier pigeons to get information from behind enemy lines. This operation remained fairly secret for decades after the war was over, despite several pigeons actually being given awards by the British government.

The Long Flight home not only tells us about the operation, it also offers accounts of what it was like to live under the constant bombing of the Blitz, as well as trying to escape from behind enemy lines. It is well written with characters you care about, you feel as if you are right their experiencing everything with them. The love story was predictable but not a deterrent to the enjoyment of the book.

A delightful book that captures the brutalities of war but also focuses on the sacrifices that many endured. This book is insightful in describing the pigeon(s) and their involvement in relying messages during wartime . More than anything this book captures love on different levels: the love of parents for their children and vice versa, the love of a grandchild towards a grandparent, the love one has for a pet / animals, the love of one’s country and the love shared between a woman and a man. The characters were believable and the descriptions of wartime and nightly raids on the city of London were well done.

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Kensington Books and Alan Hlad for giving me the chance to read his wonderful book: The Long Flight Home.
Susan Shepherd lives with her grandfather Bertie near Epping Forest in England and the book begins a year after the start of WW II. Susan was raised by her grandparents, her parents died when she was a little girl from the Spanish Flu and they live very close to London. They 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's in a lot of pain.
As the German's start bombing London Susan and her grandfather spend most night's in a shelter they built in the backyard. In the morning they wake up to see fires burning in London, the damage the Luftwaffe has done to buildings and witness the terrible loss of life.
The War Office contacts them requesting Bertie to attend a meeting as they have a plan using pigeons to carry military information between England and France.
The idea is to drop hundreds of pigeons into France as part of undercover mission called Columbia, they need as many pigeons as they can get from breeders all over England and join the National Pigeon Service.
Susan attends the meeting as it's too hard for her grandfather to travel due to his aging knees.

Buxton Maine, Ollie Evans is living with his parents on a potato farm and he also helps them by flying a plane as a crop duster. His parents die in a tragic accident and the bank forecloses on the family farm. Ollie has no choice he leaves the farm with the idea of somehow getting to England and joining the RAF. Once he arrives in England he is traveling on a train where he notices a young lady being harassed by an English officer. He saves Susan Shepherd from the unwanted advances from Clyde Boar and before he knows it he's in trouble with the military police. Ollie is released but he is told that he must help the Shepherds for three months as a type of good behavior bond and then he hopes to join the RAF.

Soon all the trained pigeons are to be loaded on to a truck, taken to the RAF base to be loaded onto planes and to be dropped in cages over France. But a mistake has been made and Susan's pet pigeon Duchess the one she hand raised has been taken as well and Ollie tries to find her in one of the cages in the cargo hold of a plane. Before he knows it the plane takes off in a hurry as the German's start bombing the air field , he and Duchess are soon on the way into enemy territory.

Of course disaster strikes and the plane crashes, Ollie, Duchess and the planes pilot Clyde Boar all find themselves stranded in France. They eventually find help from a elderly French lady and they're drawn into the war and start helping the French resistance. Duchess provides a link to England and soon she is flying back and forth carrying important messages all written in a secret code to help win the war!

Soon both Ollie and Clyde begin the journey to escape France, it's too dangerous for them to stay and they must try to return to England. Do they make it? Will they both survive the trip? What happens to Susan and Bertie waiting in England? The war eventually ends but the story doesn't and it only gets more interesting.

The Long Flight Home is one of the most incredible, enthralling and beautiful books I have ever read. I loved it, I enjoyed reading every page, well done Alan Hlad and I gave your book five stars.

historical-novel, historical-places-events, historical-figures, historical-research, England, France, love, WW2, war-is-hell

This is essentially a love story. Love for homeland and way of life, love for the pigeons that gave their lives in the war effort, love of family, love of men to fly airplanes, and the author's love of a historical footnote. It's also about man's inhumanity to man. But mostly about perseverance in the face of insurmountable odds. It is an excellent read.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Kensington Books.

Occasionally one comes across a novel which leaves one breathless. Such was the case for me when I read The Long flight Home by Alan Hlad. Susan Shepherd lives with her grandfather, Bertie, near the Epping Forest just outside of London. Together they live a sheltered, idyllic life raising and racing homing pigeons. Then WWII breaks out and the London blitz begins. They can actually see and feel the bombs dropping from their secluded home. It isn't long until the War Office has requisitioned their pigeons to be used as messengers between England and France. Eager to step up and do their part to help win the war Susan and Bertie focus on training their pigeons to be the best they can be.

Meanwhile on the other side of the pond, Ollie Evans, a strong young farmer's son loses his parents in a tragic accident. When the bank forecloses on the family farm he decides to return to the country of his parents' birth, England, and train to become a RAF fighter pilot. An unfortunate incident on a train sees Ollie sent to Susan's farm to work with the pigeons. When Susan's pet pigeon, Duchess, is accidentally loaded up for delivery to France Ollie risks everything to get her beloved pigeon back for her.

A number of extraordinary events follow with the end result being that Duchess, Ollie and Ollie's arch enemy, a British officer, crash land in France, where an old lady who is part of the French resistance befriends and hides them. Duchess travels back and forth a number of times carrying important messages, written in secret code, that play an integral part in helping the Allies win the war. Eventually the British men escape, the war ends and life goes on. But that is not the end of the story . . . the best is yet to come!

I received a free copy of this ebook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Recently there seems to be a larger number of historical fiction books based on stories that came out of World War II. This is one of the best of those. The Long Flight Home by Alan Hiad is based on a 2012 British news report about the skeletal remains of a war pigeon found in a Surrey chimney. Attached to the pigeon's leg was an encrypted message, which baffled code breakers for years.

Some 250, 000 pigeons were used by the British between 1939 and 1945 to provide intelligence to Britain. The author imagined Susan and her grandfather Bertie as part of the National Pigeon Service, a volunteer civilian organization, who kept and trained these pigeons. Ollie is an American who wants to fly with the Royal Air Force. he works his way to England, only to be jailed for coming to Susan's aid when a British officer gets too fresh. Bertie has him released to serve his time working with them getting the pigeons ready. Ollie is in a plane loading pigeons when it takes off to avoid an airstrike. The plan goes down in France where Ollie and the pilot take refuge with Madeleine and her truffle hog, Louis. Susan and Ollie are able to communicate more than military intelligence through coded messages sent via pigeon.

This is a story of British resilience, of love that blooms even in the worst of times, of the amazing job done by the war birds. If you enjoy historical fiction, you will not want to miss this book.