WINNER - 2014 Golden Crown Literary Society - Historical Fiction When in 1943, twenty-five-year-old Lily Rivera is widowed, she finally feels able to step out of the shadows of an unhappy marriage. Her love of flying leads her to join the Womens Airforce Service Pilots, determined to regain her passion and spread her wings, not suspecting that she would experience more than just flying. Helen Richmond, a Hollywood stunt pilot, has never experienced a love that lifted her as high as the aircraft she flew…until she meets Lily. Both women join the W.A.S.P. program to serve their country and instead find that they are on a collision course towards each other, but can it last?
H.P. Munro lives near Edinburgh, she started writing in 2010 when a new job took her away from home a lot and she found herself in airports, on flights and in hotel rooms with room service for one. The job didn't last but the love of writing did.
Her début novel Silver Wings won the Golden Crown Literary Society Historical Fiction award in 2014.
Her novels Grace Falls and Stars Collide were published in 2014 and quickly became lesbian romance bestsellers with Stars Collide selected as a finalist in the Goldies 2015 Traditional Contemporary Romance category.
Her fourth novel Saving Grace, a companion book to Grace Falls, was published in October 2016.
Mutual Benefits, her first book set in Scotland, won the Goldie for Humorous Novel in 2021.
Well what a delightful surprise this was! It was a short read that I raced through in a few hours, but it was a heartwarming story about a group of women in history that I knew nothing about. Not only were the MCs well crafted and likeable, but the secondary characters were full of wit and vigour, adding much humour to the read. Themes of fierce friendship and comradery run through the story, as well as loyalty to not only their country, but to each other. It's disgusting that the country refused to see these important roles the women provided as officially "military" and that it took way too many years for them to get the respect and exposure they deserved.
The story started off negatively for me, as the minor character of Joanne was so awful to Lily. I have nothing but utmost respect for anyone elderly, they deserve that and so much more and are often overlooked as "not important" just because they are old. I am a huge advocate for proper elder care. So her attitude seriously made me want to throat punch her and I'm glad she turned out to not have much of a role in the book, even if she did eventually regret her actions. I sure hope Ellie made her work for their relationship!
I would have loved to hear more of Lily and Helen's story post-war, but that's just because I enjoyed their characters so much. It was not necessary to make this story so effective, but trying to be a lesbian couple at that time would have been really complex. The ending was very similar to the end of the movie "A League of Their Own" and now I want to re-watch it....:)
Very enjoyable, feel good read about 1940s women pilots. While this is fiction, it feels well-researched. Thankfully, no boring technical discourses on flying, planes and such. The day to day duties of flying must have been pretty mundane, as they were never in the war, but they are no less dangerous. (Their services were used mainly as support--to test and deliver sometimes rickety planes, to tow targets for fighter pilot practice and sometimes be targeted themselves! and get this--demonstrate to male pilots how bombers are so easy to fly, even women can do it, lol.) But, the author managed to inject an entertaining love story, frequent and oftentimes humorous struggles for acceptance and against discrimination, and all the little anecdotes that make pilot life so memorable for the women.
This was one of those "short" reads that feel like an entire, vivid universe expanding far more than just 200+ pages. I loved the setting, the characters and the opportunity to discover a bit of forgotten history. I would love to see this book made into a movie. Exhilarating!
If ever there was a book that I desperately want to see as a movie, it is Silver Wings. Action, romance, history, music, it would be outstanding. For those that don't know, this book is about a group of women who leave behind their civilian lives to join the WASPS as female pilots to help in the WW2 effort. The two main characters fall in love and that's wonderful, every bit, but the scene stealer is the author's ability to take us back to that era. Great adventures in the air and on the ground. I hated to finish the book. Would highly recommend.
Beautiful historic novel about fly girls in the war during the 40's, the Women Airforce Service Pilots which I sadly admit I didn't know a lot about. It was awesome seeing the ladies go through their training, and getting to know them and all they went through. Following their hardships and friendships, and mainly the beautiful relationship between Helen and Lily.
The story reminded me a lot of that film, A League Of Their Own, with the initial setup being in the modern time and then we get the full tale in flashback but told like it's happening now, then with a current era epilogue.
It was so soul touchingly beautiful and I still have tears in my eyes after reading it.
I can't really think of anything more to say to explain how wonderful and unique this story is, and can only recommend you give it a read it on Kindle Unlimited.
Wow, Munro can write touching stories as well as humorous ones. I was skeptical of this book at first, of the author surpassing Grace Falls, but she did. With the historical backgrounds, portrayed prejudices and discrimination problems, Silver Wings is a even more full bodied story. I am truly impressed and shall now embark on the third book of the author, Stars Collide.
WOW... I loved IT! A really really really well-written book that had me swooning, laughing and tearing. Kudos to H.P. Munro... l loved all her books (and have read them all) but Silver Wings takes the cake. My first ever venture reading a book with history in the background which I thought would be dull but I was dead wrong. I adored the group of friends - Lily, Helen, Adrienne, Adele, Marjorie and Lucy; should I be down and out, these ladies are just the kind of friends I would like to have in my corner. I envied the kinship that they had between them. SW had me goggled and read up on WASP. Though SW didn’t dwell too much on the prejudices/discrimination faced by these ladies back then (it is a feel good romance after all), it is still infuriating to read of the prejudices and injustice women had to endure back then and even now...some 80 years later. I can only hope and wish that all gender will be treated equally...sooner rather than later; especially now with all the rage on diversity, inclusion and equity.
A solid 5 for me... Thoroughly enjoyed reading SW 🥰
What a lovely story. Well paced, great characters, brilliant subject. Despite some typos and grammar problems the book was still an absolute joy to read. And despite a few teary moments it left me feeling oh so warm and fuzzy inside.
I could totally see this being filmed as a movie, or better yet a TV series. I'd watch the hell out of it.
These characters will stay with me for a while I think.
Wow...what a fantastic story; a brilliant plot with MC's and supporting 'crew' to fall in love with. Thoroughly enjoyed this novel, it's easy to see why it was honoured with awards.
4.75 Stars - just an all around excellent book - great example of historical romance
I really liked this book a lot. HP Munro writes in a very natural and easy to read style. This is my second book by her and I have thoroughly enjoyed both of them.
I also enjoyed the story mechanic used to tell the story of Lily and Helen and the women of the WASP program. I was all chocked up reading the ending. Just excellent. This is another book I think would be an excellent movie.
Loved this book even though thought I wouldn't. Not my type of book (now realising I'm lieing!) which I found, sweet, heart breaking and real. Excellent.
5 stars. This was beautiful. I picked this up and did not put my kindle down until I had reached the very end. I was hooked from page one. I loved this even though that epilogue hurt my damn feelings. Ugh. So many emotions.
This takes place in the 40s and is about a group of women in the Womens Airforce Service Pilots program. Our main characters are Lily and Helen. They were both such likable and charming characters. Their romance was gorgeous and filled with so much yearning and passion. I loved their chemistry and how much they loved and cared for each other.
The other women in the W.A.S.P program with them were just as great as them. They all felt so real and I loved the friendships between them and how close they all were.
The writing was fantastic and this book is paced so well that I was able to read this in just a couple of hours. It will definitely not be my last book by Munro. This was a wonderful, emotional, romantic read and I can definitely see myself reading this again.
How to rate this book! How to give a fair review. It's flaws were many and I want to be a nasty hypocrite and just talk about that and not talk about the embarrassing fact that I sneakily kind of liked it. I was going to read just one chapter late last night and I dived in and read half a book before my eyes almost gave out and I fell asleep dreaming of women on bunks.
It was the likable characters that got me in. The writing was terrible. I am not sure, maybe the author is capable of stringing a sentence together but then she really needs to proofread. At first I dismissed the many errors as typos (which was bad enough) but there were toward the middle of the book some sentences that didn't make sense and one whole scene where I am not sure what happened. People were snatching each other's letters from home and waving them around and running and Lily fell into the bath with Helen (I think) but it was all quite confusingly written. Which is a shame because the parts that flowed well were romantic- the heroines were feisty and active and had friends.
The book was like a female centred world where men lived on the fringes- beloved but absent husbands (and one villanous one), respected fathers, bumbling authority figures. I did enjoy that about it, how it could simultaneously be set in a very patriarchal culture and dismiss men as marginal to our interest. Even the heterosexual Eve was lukewarm on her man.
I thought there was going to be a fundamentalist-misogynist saboteur at one point and I was torn between loving that the plot seemed to be twisting that way (it didn't) and the melodramatic cliche he put out over the microphone (only that fizzled to nothing) as I say I was torn between enjoying all that and desperately not wanting the heroine to die. Because it would have been quite plausible and good writing for one of them to die...only it was so much more fun that they didn't even if that meant it was just a typical romance story then (with a gay twist of course).
Other things I liked- the politics (anti-racism, feminism, anti-homophobia- what a surprise) it was like cool refreshing water on my bruised soul to have those things presented so simply in black and white. I don't much like the military and the whole nationalistic aspect but I was able to accept the setting in order to have six such surpassing women to hang out with (with their stunts and their sneaky antics) I didn;t like that they were all stunningly beautiful. I realise I am in a minority here but I am sick of women all being too beautiful for words. I would only fall for a woman in real life if she wasn't perfect looking (except...but we wont go there)
But I could forgive that because they were forced to forgo makeup and take to sensible shoes and unflattering zoot suits. And there was a reason for them to be working out all the time. I didn't like the slut-shaming of Sadie in the last third of the book. Was that meant to be a kind of ironic "character flaw" thing? It wasn't enjoyable although I realise the crude, lewd, bawdy humour of the fly-girls was part of what in some ways made me finish the book so quickly and eagerly.
Sex scenes? There were many. Above average on the quantity I would say. They were sweet and romantic but as repetitive as hell. There were also quite a lot of scenes that went nowhere, that were just making atmosphere or something which was permissible early in the novel (a bit) when we were getting to know the characters but lost momentum later.
So yeah, read for enjoyment if you like lesbian romance. I certainly enjoyed it I spent a lot of today looking forward to evening and having things done so I could curl up with the second half. Ignore the typos and the crudity (in more ways that one) of the plot and characters. Cry when terrible things happen to them, smile when they got to be in the arms they love and admire their sassy attitude to life and their far above average flying prowess.
Haven't I often screamed for heroines who actually do something? For a book that passes the bechdel test? For a romance where both parties are equal? Despite any criticisms I will be reading more of this author.
Oh hell even though I am going to go with my head which says 3 stars, my enjoyment was 4 stars. Make of that what you will!
Rarely do I give 5 stars, but this is really a wonderful book spanning the years. A sweet romance featuring 2 women who volunteered to served as WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots) during WWII. Lily and Helen met and fell in love during a time when interracial marriages were illegal in many states, so 2 women in love was not even considered remotely acceptable. One learned some important history on women in the military while experiencing a sweet love story. I laughed,I cried, and am thoroughly entertained - what more can I ask for from a book?
I love it when I read a historical fiction novel that yeaches me something I never learned about in the history classes! This was also a very sweet love story.
I can't believe I missed this book by H.P. Munro. I love reading books on women creating paths for others to follow. I couldn't help but smile even after I finished the book. I loved it.
An excellent book! Silver Wings tells the story of Lily and Helen, two women who joined the WWII WASPS in order to fly planes for the military. The story of the WASPs is fascinating enough - I knew about them, but not in much detail - but the burgeoning relationship between Lily and Helen brings a wonderfully emotional element. A definite recommendation - HP Munro writes a beautiful story.
Fair warning: the merits of this book do not lie in its writing, in fact the book is littered with far too many little mistakes that break up the flow of the writing and sometimes impact on the reading process as some sentences lose meaning/sense.
When starting the book I actually thought that the mistakes and the slightly stilted writing might damage my enjoyment of the book.
However the draw of the book was, for me, its cast of characters. By which, I don't simply mean the main two characters but the whole group of WASPs that I came to know and love. Perhaps it was the era and our collective "memory" of that time, or perhaps it was having family who lived through that time and used to regale me with stories of warmth and bonds and coping through love and laughter. But whatever the I truly felt the bonds of the group of supportive ladies Munro created. I quite genuinely wept when they wept at their lowest ebb, felt the losses they felt.
The main love story felt a bit contrived and the situations the two women found themselves in were no different. Some descriptions had me cringing a little, but by hook or by crook i cared about their story, their love, and importantly their ties to their fellow WASPs.
This is not a story that focusses on flawless grammar and literary technique and, yes, I do wish it had done so. But we all deserve a cheesy, imperfect love story once in a while, even women who love other women. And this book had it by the bucketload.
I thought this was an excellent story, both because of the historical information and the personal story of the individual women.
I already knew about the British equivalent to the WASP, the Air Transport Auxiliary that had 166 women pilots, but had no idea there was such a massive equivalent in America. As well as the romance, the story of the women also included quite a few other interesting aspects about the bigotry towards gender, race and sexuality both in the military and the wider society of the day. I must admit, I also found their story quite emotional at times.
The only thing that slightly bothered me was the way some of the incidents weren’t followed up. E.g. I thought there was going to be a story based around the way Helen was being verbally abused and possibly being put in danger deliberately, but this just faded away. Also there were a couple of very minor technical mistakes e.g. Lily was bringing her twin-engined B-26 into land, this was described as; its three large propellers spinning as it approached. I can be a bit of aviation nerd but his didn’t bother me at all.
I had no hesitation of giving this book five stars and my only real complaint was this was a complete story with no possibility of a follow up.
Very poorly written (was it even proofread?). The characters are likeable enough, but everything is too unrealisticly rosy and fluffy (not that I like forced angst or anything, but this felt like an idealized view of the time, even the issue of men's oppression of women is treated in a superficial and fluffy manner, explaining it with ignorance rather than power and hate). What I hated the most is the very white mindset: everything is whitesplained and white-centered, the main character of color is surprised by racial discrimination against her (really?), a white character whitesplains to her that being discriminated against and denied and insulted and having her love criminalized (she's married to a black man) takes a toll in the long term, etc...
This was such a great story to read and a great love story to learn from. This was written in 2013 and even though I just came upon it from reading other works from this writer, it is so worth it. Do not let the fact that it is a historical love story persuade you from it, I almost made that mistake. It was well written, factual, heartbreaking, heartwarming and loving. It pulled me in from the first word on the first page. It was exciting and flirty and had you rooting deep inside for Helen and Ellie. But even more, I learned from it. I had some knowledge of WASP through a personal connection and H.P. mentions in the beginning that even though she did a lot of research it is still a fictional story and what a story it is. Great Job!
I lived in Lubbock, Texas for almost three years and drove through Sweetwater on my way back home to Houston many times. The description of Sweetwater made me homesick for the dusty, windy, hot plains of West Texas. The story was touching. I didn't expect to cry at the end. I did. This book made me feel closer to my wife and appreciate the ease with which we lived out and proud in Lubbock. I also liked that it was historical fiction and seamed to capture a snapshot of what life might have been like for two women at that time and in that place. Kind of magical.
Wow!! I am an emotional wreck. I have stayed up late the past 2 nights reading this as I could not put it down. I loved every bit of this moving story. I loved the history, I loved all of the characters, every single one...and of course the epic love story. I laughed and I cried (and I don't consider myself a crier). A very moving read that I could not recommend more. Excellent!
The premise of this book was really interesting - I'm intrigued to learn more about WASPs. I enjoyed the characters she created, and the challenges they faced that were true to the time period. That said, I couldn't get past the significant number of typos and grammatical mistakes throughout the pages.
Wow. Stories like this, about love that lasts a lifetime make me question myself how I’m faring in the love department, and ponder on how will it be in the next decades. It makes me hopeful.
Anyway, I’m glad I finally read this book. The author sure knows how to write a good one. 5 stars.