Wingspan

by Jeremy Hughes

In September 1943 an American Flying Fortress returning from a bombing mission crashes in Wales. A farmer is first on the scene to discover that its crew of ten have all perished. When the police arrive, only nine bodies are recovered. A lifetime later a son goes looking for the father he never knew, climbing steep hillsides into deepening mysteries of time and loss. Set in America, England and Wales, Wingspan tells two intertwined stories separated by fifty years and a thousand miles of ocean - stories of pursuit and discovery, love and war, bereavement and remembering.

* * *

• Alternates between two love stories, one set in the 1940s, the second in the 1990s, connected by the mystery of a missing airman.
• Underlying themes of Quest and discovery, Secrets and mysteries, Love and death, Betrayal and fidelity
• A lyrical work set in both the Suffolk and South Wales countryside.
• Examines the effects of growing up in the 1940s and 50s without a father figure.
• About letting go of the past and learning to live for the future.
• Portrays the romance of flying and drama of mid air combat.
• Explores truth and falsehood, quest and discovery, love and fidelity

* * *


Jeremy Hughes was born in Crickhowell, south Wales. He was awarded first prize in the Poetry Wales competition and his poetry was short-listed for an Eric Gregory Award. He has published two pamphlets - breathing for all my birds (2000) and The Woman Opposite (2004) - and has published poetry, short fiction, memoir and reviews widely in British and American magazines. His first novel Dovetail was published in 2011. He studied for the Master’s in creative writing at the University of Oxford. He now teaches Creative Writing at Oxford and the University of Wales, Newport, as well as literature for Aberystwyth. He is married with a daughter and a son.

196 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 31, 2013

About the author

Jeremy Hughes was born in Crickhowell, South Wales. He was awarded first prize in the Poetry Wales competition and his poetry was short-listed for an Eric Gregory Award. He has published two pamphlets - breathing for all my birds (2000) and The Woman Opposite (2004) - and has published poetry, short fiction, memoir and reviews widely in British and American magazines. He studied for the Master's in creative writing at the University of Oxford. His first novel Dovetail was published in 2011.

Reviews

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written book. The narrator changes between a British man (the son) and his American father who was a WWII pilot and perished in battle. This novel is about yearning and loneliness, about a sheltered man's discovery of the father he never knew and who in the process, discovers himself and allows life and others in. The language and imagery are beautiful. I found it devastatingly honest. It is really amazing how the author goes back between the British and American vernacular which allows the reader to know quickly who the narrator of a particular chapter is. I really enjoyed reading a book told through two very different point of views from two different time periods and yet both characters are weaved seamlessly. Great read!