The Last Flight by Beatrix Williams is a very good historical novel which is set in the 1940s and the 1920s. The format of the novel goes back and forth between the two time periods. The novel explores the life of a female aviator named Irene and the man who teaches her how to fly. The more current time period begins with a photojournalist who is researching about the male and female aviators and their unique life and relationship. I found the aviation part of this novel to be fascinating. It is amazing how far aviation has come over the years. As you read this novel you begin to question what role each character plays in promoting aviation dreams and realize that sometimes love makes us do desperate and curious things. I enjoyed the character development and the relationships that developed over time. My thanks to HarperCollins Publishing and netgalley for allowing me to read this book in order to write a fair and honest review. Read this novel! You will not be disappointed and you might also learn about aviation !

I enjoy historical novels that feature strong women. I read West with the Night, Circling the Sun, and The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion so I loved reading Her Last Flight. It was well written, had interesting characters, and I didn’t want to put it down. I highly recommend this book.

Thank you Net Galley and Book Club Girls for the ARC of this title for my honest review. I am a huge Beatriz Williams fan, and this book certainly does not disappoint. "Her Last Flight" covered all the bases for me. Some romance, mystery, and adventure all tied into one bundle. The leading characters, Irene and Janey are very well-developed with a mysterious side that slowly peels away throughout the book. I really enjoyed this book!

Her Last Flight follows Beatriz Williams' tried and true formula of a dual timeline novel. In this book we are introduced to Janey Everett who is a photojournalist wanting to write a book about pilot Sam Mallory, who's remains and plane have been found in Spain. In her search for more information on Sam, she begins searching for Irene Foster who Sam spent years training and flying with. Janney finds Irene Lindquist a surfer and sometimes pilot in Hawaii and confronts her about being Irene Foster. This is the basis for the timeline in 1947. The other timeline is the late 1920-30s and the story of Irene and Sam. Both stories have strong female characters and the plots blend very well together. The book is well researched and an enjoyable read. Thank you #NetGalley for allowing me to review #HerLastFlight

My first Beatriz Williams read and I was not disappointed.

Fans of historical fiction will love reading the story of pilots Irene Foster/Lindquist and Sam Mallory and Janey Everett - photojournalist. This story is written in multiple timelines - 1930's & 1940's.

Janey Everett is on a mission to find missing pilot Irene Linquist & Sam Mallory and to write their stories leading up to their disappearances. There are a couple twists and unexpeted turns as we learn about their lives and romance.

A great read! I was interested in this book because I thought it would be about Amelia Earhart - the most famous woman pilot I had ever heard of. After following Irene and Sam, I was glad I was wrong. I must admit that it took awhile to like Janey - but came to enjoy her story almost as much as I did Irene and Sam's love story - truly one of the greatest written in some time.

The author took an interesting story - women in avaition and gave it a relatable, enduring story.

Janey is a photojournalist and she’s currently working on a big article about Sam Mallory. Mallory was a famous pilot who disappeared about ten years earlier.

Possibly his most famous flight was with a female pilot named Irene. Irene was very famous as well. There were very few women flying at the time.
Nearly twenty years ago, Sam and Irene took a flight together that crashed. They spent weeks together, stranded on a beach, just them and Sam’s kitten Sandy. After they were rescued, everyone wanted to know if something had happened between them.

Janey tracks down Irene to interview her. Irene dropped out of the public eye and isn’t excited about being interviewed.
But the two women seem to relate to each other in a way.

I enjoyed this story. I think it felt a little slow to start. Now, personally, I was having a rough day when I started reading the book and that might have affected my ability to get into the story at first. But I mention it because if someone else has a slow start with getting into this book, I wanted them to know that the storyline and the pace picks up.

I definitely liked Irene’s character the best.

I got to read an early ebook edition from NetGalley. I love this author’s books and I’m so grateful that I got picked. Thank you!

HER LAST FLIGHT
BY BEATRIZ WILLIAMS

HER LAST FLIGHT written by Beatriz Williams is a fantastic favorite historical novel based on Amelia Earhart's factual life as well as other early aeronautical trailblazers including the Wright Brother's and Charles Lindbergh. Irene Foster Lindquist is a composite character drawn on meticulous research to incorporate many books written about early aviation. I absolutely loved this rich and multilayered plot and the character's were all equally lovable and well drawn to be three dimensional and mesmerizing.

The novel begins in the badlands of a desert in Spain in 1947 where Janey Everett acting off from a tip discovers an airplane partially covered in sand. As she climbs inside she finds the skeleton still clothed attached to a boot which she recognizes as belonging to a pilot who flew in the Spanish Republic Civil War ten years earlier. She buries the remains in a shallow grave of sand using the remnants of the airplane's propeller as a cross until this forgotten soul can receive a proper burial. She also found a leather bound journal. She herself has never before flown on an airplane and got to the crash site by riding a mule. She is a photojournalist. She reads "GM to rescue at last thank God she will live." She asks herself, Somebody came to his rescue? Then why is he dead? And who is she? There was no she, just this single man found in his airplane. No second body lies here, no female body. "Because here's what I know for certain about that pile of abandoned bones, which was once a pilot named Samuel Mallory. There was only one 'she.' Only one person in the world to make him invoke the name of God."


The book alternates between chapter's of her recreating a biography about Sam Mallory and Irene Foster Lindquist with chapter heading's that are either labeled "Aviatrix by Eugenia Everett, (excerpt)" or Hanalei, Hawaii.

March 1928: California
Irene only surfs at dawn, when nobody who wants to be around other people all of the time. There are some beautiful descriptions about the frigid and cold Pacific Ocean. It is here that she drove her father's old dilapidated Model T. Her father taught her how to surf when she was eleven or twelve smelling of alcohol. Now she is twenty when she meets Sam Mallory. He asks her if the kitten he found belonged to her. She says no. When she tries to start her father's ancient car it won't start. They discover together it needs a spark plug. He offers to drive her in his canary yellow car only five or six years old to his airfield where he said he worked as a pilot. Irene suddenly recognized him as the famous Sam Mallory and the famous pilot who flew in the Dole Derby who she followed his race by listening to the radio. He drove her to the airfield while she watched him fly in an exhibit. He did loops in the sky and he told her that the owners owned the airplane. He told her that he loves flying and over the course of months he taught her to fly. That it takes a sponsor such as the Publisher George Morrow to build an aircraft that after training her they would fly from California to Sydney, Australia.

Hanalei, Hawaii--October 1947
Janey Everett has tracked down Irene Lindquist to a remote Island in Hawaii where she correctly guesses where Irene is surfing and she ambushes her on the beach. She recognizes Irene Lindquist to be one and the same person as Irene Foster. Janey has done her research and at first Irene Lindquist tries to deny she is the former Irene Foster who was world famous for her aviator achievements. When Janey discloses that she has in her possession Sam Mallory's leather bound journal recovered at the crash site Irene Lindquist asks how she found her? Janey tells her that she never tells anybody the source of her information. Janey tells Irene over breakfast that she is there to write Sam Mallory's biography because she needs to find out what happened to him--she just needs too. It is a big secret that Irene Foster who mysteriously disappeared during an around the world flight in 1937 owns an Island hopping airline with her husband Olle and their two young blond children. The famous aviator Irene Foster was once Sam Mallory's flying partner and it is one of the world's biggest mysteries to what happened to her. Everybody on the Island's of Hawaii knows her as Irene Lindquest and they are protective of her anonymity. Irene Lindquist surprises Janey by offering her their guest cottage.

Anybody that knows about Amelia Earhart and her trailblazing career of aeronautical accomplishments will recognize Irene as a factual composite character of Amelia and early famous aviator's. The plot of this novel is amazing and Beatriz Williams has clearly done meticulous research to learn about the technological insights she weaves into this outstanding novel of historical fiction peppered in with factual data of the era. I grew to love all of the character's as they are vividly portrayed in all of their three dimensional humanity. There is a nod to Ms William's publisher in the character of George Morrow. Amelia Earhart was married to GP Putnam. As both a novel within a novel this is a multilayered narrative that has a mind blowing reveal which I thoroughly appreciated because I never expected it and I never saw it coming. The reveal is purely legendary and I think it will please the reader's. I am a big fan of Beatriz William's and I certainly get the impression that she writes intelligently and that this historical novel will be enjoyed as well as educate. It is on my list of favorite's for 2020 and I look forward to owning the physical copy to add to my unforgettable personal collection.

Publication Date: June 30, 2020

Thank you to Net Galley, Beatriz Williams and HarperCollins--William Morrow Publishing for generously providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#HerLastFlight #BeartizWilliams #HarperCollinsWilliamMorrowPublishing #NetGalley

This book was so not what I expected. It reads like a memoir of aviation's first flights and developments.
Following Sam Mallory and Irene Foster's relationship with aviation and each other. Sam Mallory is a famous aviator. He's one of the first to fly long distances. Surviving crashes and making history in the late 1920s. When the idea of flying long distance was a dream. He meets Irene surfing in California. She's on track to become a nurse but gets sidetracked into Sam's lifestyle. She becomes a flying partner to him. Becoming involved in the fun and exhilarating lifestyle of flying. Reaching new long distances never before reached. Becoming herself, a legend in the Aviators world.
Bouncing back and forth from the 1920s and the late 1940s. In walks a photojournalist, Janey Everett, wanting to document Sam Mallory and his disappearance. She wants to find out what truly happened to him. His plane disappeared and was never found. Did he finally succumb to his beloved flying? She wants to find out the truth. Shes combed the last area Sam Mallory had been seen and discovers things that lead her back to Hawaii and possibly the woman that may have some answers for her.

This story was so well thought out. It mimics a bit of Amelia Eahrart and what she may have experienced in her flying extravaganzas. Being the first woman to fly at length. The fame of it all and the publicity that she gained from being the first. Her love of flying and her personal life not very personal. Being in the open and having the media all the time taking pics of her and her life.

This book takes you on a ride. From the late 20s to the late 40s. Many shocking discoveries I didn't see coming. The development of that suspense is incredible. I loved the passion of this book. The trials and tribulations from those early flights. The amount of time they had to put into to learn how a plane could take on longer distances. I have a new respect for that time period and the risks that those pilots took to advance this type of technology.

Highly recommend to those interested in early aviation. Mystery. Secretly mixed in love story.

Super excited to get an advanced reader copy of this book. Thank you #netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this.

I love that the author mentioned that this book started as almost a sort of biography of Amelia Earhart but turned into more of a "well what if she did survive and was staking out on an island?". It was such an interesting story to read and definitely my favorite Beatriz Williams book by far.

This new novel from Beatriz Williams tells the story of Jane Everett, a photojournalist who embarks upon researching and writing the story of Irene Foster, one of the first women in flight some 20 years earlier.
(At first, I thought this book might have been an historical fiction about Amelia Earhart which would have been quite interesting, but this was a close second. There is a reference in the epilogue to Amelia Earhart so it may be that this story is loosely based upon her life and work).
The story is told in alternate chapters between past and present, (which I usually enjoy) and is so richly detailed in its writing that I was able to vividly picture it as I read. The story overall, while intriguing, felt contrived in some spots and fell a bit flat for me overall, until the last 100 pages of the book.
The characters were well-developed. I was fascinated with Jane's character and story and her persistence to get the story out of stand-offish, aloof Irene who bordered on annoying because of it. The chance meeting between Irene and Sam and their eventual partnership in flight seemed a bit too convenient for me, but it was a good storyline.
There were quite a few other characters which might have been added to create some depth to the story but were extraneous in my view.
I liked the description of the background and landscape of the different countries featured throughout the story. I especially liked the description of the different flights which was not too technical so it was fairly easy to follow.
I enjoyed the details of the story overall, but some of it might have been cut down so that it could get to the point.
That said, there were a few interesting twists towards the end which made me improve my initial rating from 3/5 to 4/5.

In summary, if you like Beatriz Williams, you will certainly love this!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I have read many of Ms. Williams’s novels and have enjoyed them all and this one does not disappoint.
I have always been fascinated with Amelia Earhart and female aviators. This book gives me that fix and portrays such strong female characters. The book gives such a rich history and I love the way the book goes between the times and tells the story.
This book makes me feel like I’m in the story and have gone back in time!

I have to admit, at first I was disappointed this story was not about the famous Schuyler, but the queen of historical fiction did not let me down!
Very true to Williams' writing style, this novel alternates between two characters/timelines. Janey Everett is a photojournalist trying to track down the mysterious Irene Foster in 1937. An "Aviatrix" from the 1920s who disappeared during a solo round the world flying race. Janey has discovered the crash site of Foster's partner, Sam Mallory, and thinks she can find more answers on a remote island in Hawaii. The novel explores how Foster became a pilot, during a time when women were not expected to leave the home, and Janey's dedication to finding out the truth about Mallory. So many surprising twists and turns in the novel, it was really one I could not put down.
An amazing story!

Every Beatriz Williams book is something to savor, even as you tear through the pages, unable to put it down -- and this was no exception. It's a fascinating, melancholy, romantic, addictive read, and readers will cherish it.

Her Last Flight was a fun, breezy read with two strong, well developed female characters at its core.

The novel is set during the heyday of aviation with Irene Foster, a character loosely based around the one and only Amelia Earhart. Then, we alternate chapters, flashing forward to the 1940s with Eugenia Everett, a journalist trying to find out the fate of the missing pilots that were once so famous. The best part is that you are placed in the time period with a feminist lens - a female aviatrix that is uplifted by the males in her life but is reminded that she rose to fame by her own skill and strength.

Beatriz is a masterful writer of character, beyond aviation we also get a relationship drama with rich characters that you care about. The reader is taken on a ride of love, loss, and growth. Definitely pick this one up it makes an excellent summer read!

I love, love, love Beatriz Williams, but book was just okay for me. The characters and plot were on point, but this just wasn’t the book for me. Anyone who is interested in aviation or Amelia Earhart will love this book. Still a great book.

I read. A lot. I love the books that feel like an escape into another time, another world. I am a sucker for dual timelines in historical fiction. 'Her Last Flight' was everything I hope for and more. It was such an escape novel in a time where escaping into books has been a bit hard for me. This review is being written on May 17, 2020. Covid 19 is not our friend at the moment. I read every day and still haven't fallen into a book in months. I fell and fell HARD into 'Her Last Flight'.
I love books that dive into the roles and expectations of women in times where the expectations were HIGH for marriage and babies and low for career success. I would definitely say this book is INSPIRED by Amelia Earhart but it is not a veiled book about her. Irene Lindquist is an aviatrix living on Kauai. Photojournalist Janey Everett is a woman on a mission to connect the dots between Lindquist and Sam Mallory, a pilot from the 1920-30s who died in Spain. How and why Janey is looking are the root of the novel. The branches are riveting as we learn through dual timelines of a biography about Sam Mallory (or is it?) and 'present day' 1947. I read well past my bed time more than one night. This book is a riveting ride that will have you laughing, crying, and realizing how far we have come...and how far we have to go. STOP READING THIS REVIEW AND PUT THIS BOOK ON YOUR TBR!! THANK YOU Netgalley for the ARC.

What a great book! I don't read a lot of historical fiction, but Her Last Flight was full of great characters spanning the late 1920's through the 1940"s that were well researched.

After reading, I gave pause to reflect on how we as American's can be brave, driven, and resourceful. A perfect book to remind us of what we can be.

Thank you NetGalley, William Morrow, and Beatriz Williams for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Posting May

Available June 30: Her Last Flight by Beatriz Williams

****4.5/5 stars

Best. Book. This. Summer. You'll love it for its intense fun, loose historical significance and romantic mystery.

Recommended readers:

If you like a saucy, independent heroine...
if you like a smart historical romance, with a little mystery thrown in for good measure...
If you enjoy a good plot-driven page turner, with a stunner of a character to root for...
and, naturally, if you liked Beatriz Williams' other offerings, A Hundred Summers & Overseas, this book is for you.

Here's my Rankings:

4.5/5 for characters
4.5/5 for plot
4.5/5 overall
2/5 steaminess
REVIEW FROM BOOKS FOR HER:

If you've been waiting for the book of the summer: THIS. IS. IT. One of our favorite authors - who is really the most underrated author of our time - is Beatriz Williams. And writing about a novel a year, we think makes her plots well-researched but still full of developed characters and historical drama.

Weaving the story of WWII photojournalist Janey Everett with famed female aviator Irene Lindquist who vanished in 1937, Her Last Flight is a stunning combination of mystery, history and passion that is trademark to Williams.  We don't even want to preview the plot of this historical fiction, as we don't want to take away any of your enjoyment. You'll love it for its intense fun, loose historical significance and romantic mystery.

Available June 30: Her Last Flight by Beatriz Williams

This book tells the story of two women: a pilot named Irene and a photojournalist named Janey. Janey's story was the weaker of the two. She came from a messed up family, and that had a huge effect on her, leaving lots of room for character growth. Unfortunately there was very little growth, and it was pretty much right at the end of the book.

Irene's story was more interesting to me, but there are things I wish had been developed more and things I wish hadn't been left out. For example, Irene decides she wants to learn to fly. We don't see her learning, though. We just skip ahead to her getting ready to navigate a historic flight. I wish I could have seen her growing love for flying and then her disillusionment with it. Instead we jump eight years into the future and are told she's tired of the life. I didn't feel invested in her struggles.

Above all, this book seemed to be about relationships, but I would have like them to be further developed too. For the main relationship in Irene's life, we see the day she meets the man and then skip to the point where they're in love. The other relationship isn't developed either, so I didn't find myself invested in this aspect of the story either. I almost wish the book had only focused on Irene so those points could have been developed more.

Thank you NetGalley and The Book Club Girls for this early read.