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Leaving Earth
Leaving Earth is a first novel marked by its perceptive, lyrical language and rich, fascinating characters. On August 1, 1933, two young women, the famous aviatrix Grace O'Gorman and the inexperienced Willa Briggs, take off in a tiny moth biplane to break the world flight-endurance record. Their plan is to circle above the city of Toronto for twenty-five days. With each passing day, the women's ties to humanity fall away and the intensity of their connection becomes as gripping as the perils that besiege them: fatigue, weather, mechanical breakdown, and the lethal efforts of a saboteur. In this extraordinary debut, Humphreys exhibits rare control, restraint, and poetry as she develops the relationship of two unusual women through the magical passage of flight.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
3 people are currently reading
304 people want to read
About the author
Helen Humphreys
31 books421 followersHelen Humphreys is the author of five books of poetry, eleven novels, and three works of non-fiction. She was born in Kingston-on-Thames, England, and now lives in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Her first novel, Leaving Earth (1997), won the 1998 City of Toronto Book Award and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her second novel, Afterimage (2000), won the 2000 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, was nominated for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her third novel, The Lost Garden (2002), was a 2003 Canada Reads selection, a national bestseller, and was also a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Wild Dogs (2004) won the 2005 Lambda Prize for fiction, has been optioned for film, and was produced as a stage play at CanStage in Toronto in the fall of 2008. Coventry (2008) was a #1 national bestseller, was chosen as one of the top 100 books of the year by the Globe & Mail, and was chosen one of the top ten books of the year by both the Ottawa Citizen and NOW Magazine.
Humphreys's work of creative non-fiction, The Frozen Thames (2007), was a #1 national bestseller. Her collections of poetry include Gods and Other Mortals (1986); Nuns Looking Anxious, Listening to Radios (1990); and, The Perils of Geography (1995). Her latest collection, Anthem (1999), won the 2000 Canadian Authors Association Award for Poetry.
Helen Humphreys's fiction is published in Canada by HarperCollins, and in the U.S. by W.W. Norton. The Frozen Thames was published by McClelland & Stewart in Canada, and by Bantam in the U.S. Her work has been translated into many languages.
Her first novel, Leaving Earth (1997), won the 1998 City of Toronto Book Award and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her second novel, Afterimage (2000), won the 2000 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, was nominated for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her third novel, The Lost Garden (2002), was a 2003 Canada Reads selection, a national bestseller, and was also a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Wild Dogs (2004) won the 2005 Lambda Prize for fiction, has been optioned for film, and was produced as a stage play at CanStage in Toronto in the fall of 2008. Coventry (2008) was a #1 national bestseller, was chosen as one of the top 100 books of the year by the Globe & Mail, and was chosen one of the top ten books of the year by both the Ottawa Citizen and NOW Magazine.
Humphreys's work of creative non-fiction, The Frozen Thames (2007), was a #1 national bestseller. Her collections of poetry include Gods and Other Mortals (1986); Nuns Looking Anxious, Listening to Radios (1990); and, The Perils of Geography (1995). Her latest collection, Anthem (1999), won the 2000 Canadian Authors Association Award for Poetry.
Helen Humphreys's fiction is published in Canada by HarperCollins, and in the U.S. by W.W. Norton. The Frozen Thames was published by McClelland & Stewart in Canada, and by Bantam in the U.S. Her work has been translated into many languages.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
August 2, 2009
I just thought this was such a beautiful book.
I liked the way it alternated between the two stories. The imagination of the girl watching the plane flying over. How the two women in the plane worked together.
It was well written. It just seemed to flow. Like the reader was in flight also. It was just beautiful.
I liked the way it alternated between the two stories. The imagination of the girl watching the plane flying over. How the two women in the plane worked together.
It was well written. It just seemed to flow. Like the reader was in flight also. It was just beautiful.
January 9, 2010
Imagine spending 25 days in an open cockpit being rained on, doing numbers one and two in a pot, and daily being sprayed with fuel. In this book, two women do it. Grace and Willa are aviatrixes during the depression years and they aim to break the world record for endurance. Namely, Grace's husband's record. They aim to spend 25 days circling the islands without once touching down on ground. They must refuel in midair, catch a daily meal in a bag, make wing repairs in the sky, and suffer thru all kinds of weather. They must even find a way of communicating with each other upon the loss of their paper in a storm.
Meanwhile, down below, Nazis are picking on Jews, a war may be in the making, and a young girl named Maddy is obsessed with the two ladies in the sky. I found Maddy a very unlikable child. She gives midget baths, resents her mother for being Jewish and, quite frankly, I failed to see why she was in the book at all. Except for providing insight as to what is going on down on the ground, her parts had little or no relevance to the story. That is what gives this book a three star rating in my eyes.
Something of interest tho: Grace's husband Jack is not too pleased to be having his wife break his record. Will he sabotage their flight? Grace, being unlikable herself, may have it coming, but Willa will appeal to readers as she blossoms in the sky and grows in confidence while finding out things about herself that she didn't know before.
Will they make it?
Meanwhile, down below, Nazis are picking on Jews, a war may be in the making, and a young girl named Maddy is obsessed with the two ladies in the sky. I found Maddy a very unlikable child. She gives midget baths, resents her mother for being Jewish and, quite frankly, I failed to see why she was in the book at all. Except for providing insight as to what is going on down on the ground, her parts had little or no relevance to the story. That is what gives this book a three star rating in my eyes.
Something of interest tho: Grace's husband Jack is not too pleased to be having his wife break his record. Will he sabotage their flight? Grace, being unlikable herself, may have it coming, but Willa will appeal to readers as she blossoms in the sky and grows in confidence while finding out things about herself that she didn't know before.
Will they make it?
December 25, 2019
My grandma recommended me this. When I thanked her and told her how much I enjoyed it, she told me she hadn't actually bothered reading it.
It's good. It's about two women in a plane.
It's good. It's about two women in a plane.
September 4, 2012
Helen Humpheries is one of my favourite writers because she bases her stories on facinating historical events. My favourite would be The Hidden Garden..or maybe After Image. The amount of research she does is incredible but it' the event that grabs you. In Leaving EArth she tells about two women aviators who set a record for circling Toronto Islands during the depression when endurance happenings were a phenomenum..perhaps because of desparation or madness. Any Toronto history buff would enjoy this book for the visual sightings of well known locations along the lakeshore..including CNE but mostly Hanlan's points. The second storie is another one of desparation on the part of a young girl living on the island and dreaming that the pilot will come and rescue her from her life of anxiety caused by the fact that her mother is a Jew and falls victim to the hatred towards them during this time just prior to the war. It doesn't end well for either the pilot or the girl.. both of them trying to leave earth in their own way.
December 8, 2015
Fascinating read.
Off to research Frances Marsalis (? - 1934, Dayton OH) & Helen Richy (~1909 - 1947) who set a National Endurance Record in Miami FL, 1933, whose flight the book is very loosely based on.
Also Gertrude de la Vergre, the first licensed woman pilot in Alberta, whose picture appears on the cover of some copies.
Off to research Frances Marsalis (? - 1934, Dayton OH) & Helen Richy (~1909 - 1947) who set a National Endurance Record in Miami FL, 1933, whose flight the book is very loosely based on.
Also Gertrude de la Vergre, the first licensed woman pilot in Alberta, whose picture appears on the cover of some copies.
July 30, 2015
Absorbing read of a fascinating story about two female pilots attempting to beat a duration record. Set in 1930's Toronto with an intriguing backdrop of fortune-telling and anti-Semitism. There aren't enough good things I can say about this book. It ends on the perfect note.
November 2, 2021
I just couldn't get into this book. Humphreys had obviously done a lot of research to evoke Toronto in the '30s, but it felt to me like she was trying to hard to fit all the research in to her book. This is the second book I've read over the last little while that I've had this reaction to, so I wonder if it's more because I was born and raised in Toronto, and if I wasn't, I would be less aware of it. That one might be more me than the book.
I didn't find the endurance flight that interesting - I'm not that interested in flying, and when I was reading about their flight, I kept asking myself "why bother?" It seemed like such a pointless record to hold, and such a dreadfully boring and uncomfortable way to spend your time. So, not able to get invested in the main thrust of the story, the details left me a little cold.
I didn't find the whole Maddy plotline that interesting either. Actually, I didn't find any of the characters that compelling, Del, Simon, Fram, Rose, Grace, Willa, Joe. I just didn't connect to this book in anyway.
I didn't find the endurance flight that interesting - I'm not that interested in flying, and when I was reading about their flight, I kept asking myself "why bother?" It seemed like such a pointless record to hold, and such a dreadfully boring and uncomfortable way to spend your time. So, not able to get invested in the main thrust of the story, the details left me a little cold.
I didn't find the whole Maddy plotline that interesting either. Actually, I didn't find any of the characters that compelling, Del, Simon, Fram, Rose, Grace, Willa, Joe. I just didn't connect to this book in anyway.
August 29, 2020
Having worked with a woman who was writing her account as a woman pilot and the 99's I was especially engaged. Dare I say this novel couldn't have been written by an American? Within a few pages I thought this writer is Canadian or British. The pacing is different. I wasn't surprised to learn that Humphreys is a poet, as well as essayist and novelist. The description always says lyrical, and it is that. What surprised me was that it was also a portrait of a place that was about to be lost, the amusement park, the country to war. There were far more characters than I expected to care about and it left me hanging (although the pilots do land, so to speak). What a strange, horrible, rather meaningless thing to do, to attempt to be in the air, circling, for a month? Humans are so strange, and the psychological motives of many examined here. A chapter in the history of flight that is mercifully lost although the progress of women pilots should have not have been so slow.
September 10, 2020
This was Humphreys first novel which not only won the won the 1998 City of Toronto Book Award, but it also was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. I can see why.
The story was interesting and suspenseful. From all which I've read and researched of the period, Humphreys did an excellent job of capturing the Toronto of 1933, both in her description of the city itself and the events which took place during the time frame of the book.
The story is not only of the flight, which is described mostly by Willa in the rear cockpit seat, but also on the family of Maddy Stewart, a young 12 year old girl who idolizes Grace O'Gorman. Maddy is the child of a Jewish mother and her Scottish father. The family runs the amusement park at Hanlan's point.
Leaving Earth is a story of endurance, growing a trusting friendship without being able to verbally communicate, the rise of Nazism in Canada and the world below the two aviators struggling with the depression.
It's a novel worth reading.
The story was interesting and suspenseful. From all which I've read and researched of the period, Humphreys did an excellent job of capturing the Toronto of 1933, both in her description of the city itself and the events which took place during the time frame of the book.
The story is not only of the flight, which is described mostly by Willa in the rear cockpit seat, but also on the family of Maddy Stewart, a young 12 year old girl who idolizes Grace O'Gorman. Maddy is the child of a Jewish mother and her Scottish father. The family runs the amusement park at Hanlan's point.
Leaving Earth is a story of endurance, growing a trusting friendship without being able to verbally communicate, the rise of Nazism in Canada and the world below the two aviators struggling with the depression.
It's a novel worth reading.
September 11, 2020
This was Humphreys first novel which not only won the won the 1998 City of Toronto Book Award, but it also was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. I can see why.
The story was interesting and suspenseful. From all which I've read and researched of the period, Humphreys did an excellent job of capturing the Toronto of 1933, both in her description of the city itself and the events which took place during the time frame of the book.
The story is not only of the flight, which is described mostly by Willa in the rear cockpit seat, but also on the family of Maddy Stewart, a young 12 year old girl who idolizes Grace O'Gorman. Maddy is the child of a Jewish mother and her Scottish father. The family runs the amusement park at Hanlan's point.
Leaving Earth is a story of endurance, growing a trusting friendship without being able to verbally communicate, the rise of Nazism in Canada and the world below the two aviators struggling with the depression.
It's a novel worth reading.
The story was interesting and suspenseful. From all which I've read and researched of the period, Humphreys did an excellent job of capturing the Toronto of 1933, both in her description of the city itself and the events which took place during the time frame of the book.
The story is not only of the flight, which is described mostly by Willa in the rear cockpit seat, but also on the family of Maddy Stewart, a young 12 year old girl who idolizes Grace O'Gorman. Maddy is the child of a Jewish mother and her Scottish father. The family runs the amusement park at Hanlan's point.
Leaving Earth is a story of endurance, growing a trusting friendship without being able to verbally communicate, the rise of Nazism in Canada and the world below the two aviators struggling with the depression.
It's a novel worth reading.
July 5, 2017
Unique plot based on fact - two women pilots try to set endurance record while flying in circles above Toronto in 1933.
The read was as interesting - and as boring - as the flight. While the women have to contend with (apparently unanticipated) storms,sporadic plane malfunctions, fatigue. and hallucinations, they also have to worry if the project is going to be sabotaged by the jealous husband of one of the pilots. (Oh, and there's a smattering of lesbian confusion thrown in for good measure).
Down on earth, we're subjected to an annoying young girl who's precocious enough to know that her part-time job of bathing a diaper-clad midget is problematic. And to make her even more unlikeable, she denies her Jewish mother who's been beaten by Nazi-wannabes.
The read was as interesting - and as boring - as the flight. While the women have to contend with (apparently unanticipated) storms,sporadic plane malfunctions, fatigue. and hallucinations, they also have to worry if the project is going to be sabotaged by the jealous husband of one of the pilots. (Oh, and there's a smattering of lesbian confusion thrown in for good measure).
Down on earth, we're subjected to an annoying young girl who's precocious enough to know that her part-time job of bathing a diaper-clad midget is problematic. And to make her even more unlikeable, she denies her Jewish mother who's been beaten by Nazi-wannabes.
November 29, 2017
August 1933, Toronto, Ontario. Grace O'Gorman one the celebrity aviatrixes of the era wants to set an endurance flight record by circling Toronto Harbour for twenty-five days non-stop. Willa Briggs, a less experienced pilot, is recruited be the second pilot.
Humphreys uses language well, and creates an evocative picture of joys and hardships to the two women experience during their marathon flight. The Toronto harbor is an evocative period setting. Unfortunately, all of the characters (the two pilots, the family who work in the amusement park — the mother is a fortune teller who can actually tell fortunes — the boxer, the sideshow freak) exist in an unreal fantasy land that makes it hard for (this) reader to connect with them deeply.
This was book #59 on our 2017 Read-alouds List.
Humphreys uses language well, and creates an evocative picture of joys and hardships to the two women experience during their marathon flight. The Toronto harbor is an evocative period setting. Unfortunately, all of the characters (the two pilots, the family who work in the amusement park — the mother is a fortune teller who can actually tell fortunes — the boxer, the sideshow freak) exist in an unreal fantasy land that makes it hard for (this) reader to connect with them deeply.
This was book #59 on our 2017 Read-alouds List.
July 6, 2018
An interesting topic - female aviators - that does not receive the attention it deserves as there are many fascinating stories to relate. The topic includes much more than poster girl, Amelia Earhart, even though she is famous for good reason. Humphreys juxataposes the story of the female pilots circling Toronto with a multi-layered plot line of a family on the ground.
November 29, 2020
A breathtaking fictionalised account of women endurance pilots in the 1930s.
They were almost irrationally brave and the hardships of their record-breaking attempt are unimaginable.
The real-life pilots on whose exploits this book is based were truly pioneering heroines and deserve to be better known and applauded.
A great read.
They were almost irrationally brave and the hardships of their record-breaking attempt are unimaginable.
The real-life pilots on whose exploits this book is based were truly pioneering heroines and deserve to be better known and applauded.
A great read.
September 24, 2021
This is the second novel I've read in the past month about women flying airplanes, but while they both talk about the feelings the pilots get by being in the air, this one also offers a story a young girl who experiences emotions not one should ever half to. This stark, beautiful story is as impressive as Helen Humphreys later works.
March 20, 2018
Humpreys' first novel, it is set in the 1930s & is about an aviatrix who is trying to break her husband' record by circling above Toronto for 25 days with the help of young assistant. Interesting characters and setting.
July 9, 2019
Story of 2 female pilots who attempt to break a continuous 25 days in the air record above city of Toronto, Canada. How they endure the flight and refueling mid-air is compelling. Unforgettable story.
November 19, 2020
Loved this book it's set in my hometown of Toronto in the 30's the characters were great the writing was poetic. It's about 2 female pilots trying to set an endurance record by flying over the city for almost a month a great read.
January 1, 2017
I loved the characters, the setting and the story. Excellent book and a great fictional capture of herstory.
July 21, 2022
I love Helen Humphreys' writing and this first novel had been sitting on my shelf for quite a while. A quick read that I read in one sitting.
3.75 stars.
3.75 stars.
April 19, 2013
Leaving Earth, Helen Humphreys
One knows by the end of the first paragraph that Helen Humphreys is a poet: images jar, then find their syncs in our imaginations as we play with them. After awhile we become accustomed to them; we are living the poem in the air.
Humphreys gives us exact and intense historical detail in this story of two women attempting to break the flight endurance record in the year 1933. Through Grace and Wilma we experience the exhilaration and love of flying shared by the early pilots of the 1920s and 1930s. By the time the Second World War planes came into being, flying was a whole other order of movement, the piloting based far less on the flier's senses and skill, and much more on mechanical procedures.
In this story the two female pilots are Canadian, and the story is set in the Toronto of the time of economic depression, growing anti-semitism and the prelude to the next world war. The earthly part of the story we learn from a family of amusement park folk, a fortune teller, a merry-go-round operator and their twelve-year-old daughter.
Humphrey excels in detailing the longings of the human heart against a framework of little hope. If there is a flaw in the story it might be that the characters are able to look fate in the face and accept it – something I suspect more ordinary human beings often would be unable to do.
Treat yourself to reading this literary gem of a book, Leaving Earth, and participate in the human quest for the freedom of flying.
One knows by the end of the first paragraph that Helen Humphreys is a poet: images jar, then find their syncs in our imaginations as we play with them. After awhile we become accustomed to them; we are living the poem in the air.
Humphreys gives us exact and intense historical detail in this story of two women attempting to break the flight endurance record in the year 1933. Through Grace and Wilma we experience the exhilaration and love of flying shared by the early pilots of the 1920s and 1930s. By the time the Second World War planes came into being, flying was a whole other order of movement, the piloting based far less on the flier's senses and skill, and much more on mechanical procedures.
In this story the two female pilots are Canadian, and the story is set in the Toronto of the time of economic depression, growing anti-semitism and the prelude to the next world war. The earthly part of the story we learn from a family of amusement park folk, a fortune teller, a merry-go-round operator and their twelve-year-old daughter.
Humphrey excels in detailing the longings of the human heart against a framework of little hope. If there is a flaw in the story it might be that the characters are able to look fate in the face and accept it – something I suspect more ordinary human beings often would be unable to do.
Treat yourself to reading this literary gem of a book, Leaving Earth, and participate in the human quest for the freedom of flying.
December 30, 2013
This was a re-read; I first read it back in 1993. I re-read it for inspiration and craft, and it served that purpose beautifully. Humphreys' writing is lyrical and poetic, and the story and characters she draws are compelling. Will be re-reading some others of hers, and searching out the ones I haven't read (notably Wild Dogs and The Frozen Thames.
November 9, 2009
Another little gem. An adventure story, a suspense story and a story
about courage, bravery and love.
I love this author. I've only read two of her books but I'm hoping to read more unfortunately they're library books so I really can't share them. Maybe someone will get me one of her books for Christmas. I'll have to put them on my wish list.
about courage, bravery and love.
I love this author. I've only read two of her books but I'm hoping to read more unfortunately they're library books so I really can't share them. Maybe someone will get me one of her books for Christmas. I'll have to put them on my wish list.
September 20, 2014
I enjoyed this book a lot and appreciated learning about Toronto in the thirties, and what Toronto Island was like back then with homes and shops and an amusement area. The women in this book were well drawn, two of them pilots who circle above Toronto in a bi-plane for 25 days. So much good research was done about women flying in that period and the planes that they flew.
January 13, 2008
Didn't like this one as much as Afterimage, but her talent for words shines
through nonetheless. Follows a 1930's aviatrix and her trusty co-pilot who
attempt to break a record by flying continuously over the city of Toronto
for some 19 straight days.
through nonetheless. Follows a 1930's aviatrix and her trusty co-pilot who
attempt to break a record by flying continuously over the city of Toronto
for some 19 straight days.
May 25, 2013
Subtle and beautiful. The feel of flight, the impotence of youth in front of hate, the creation of arise of new love and desire all weave throughout this novel brilliantly. Helen Humphreys is another Canadian gem.
February 12, 2017
I enjoyed the setting - Toronto Islands in the 1930s, and the story line. Lots of fascinating information about Toronto history and aviation history. I am a fan of Helen Humphreys. Would recommend Afterimage and The Frozen Thames as introductions to her work.
March 5, 2014
A meticulously researched portrayal of Toronto in the 1930s, a time when women aviators were celebrities. Stylistically and thematically, it's reminiscent of Jeanette Winterson. Not bad, but not my cup of tea.
September 27, 2016
I found this book by chance in a little free library on Ward's Island during the weekend of the air show. How serendipitous! I enjoyed it very much for the historical depiction of the Toronto islands during the depression era and pre-WWII tensions, as well as all the wonderful female characters.
Currently reading
August 23, 2007I loved The Lost Garden by Humphreys and am enjoying this one as well. Think Amelia Earhart.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews