Goodbye Dolly: A Story of World War One

by EJ Lake

In late 1944, the American Flying Fortress, “Dangerous Dolly”, plunges into an electrical storm to escape destruction by a Nazi jet fighter. Captain Jack Ronan and her aircrew emerge over wartime England in the year 1915. There, they make a forced landing on the estate of an outcast politician named Winston Churchill. Desperate to restore his political career, the erstwhile First Lord of the Admiralty launches Dolly on a one-plane air war against Kaiser Wilhelm. Neither the American aircrew nor the British government know that Churchill is playing a deeper and more dangerous game than he admits.

Churchill and the Americans are unaware of an adversary that could easily destroy Dolly—the jet that pursued her was also drawn into the space-time rift. Ambitious Luftwaffe pilot Fritz Wernher wants to become Imperial Germany’s greatest ace, but instead, is ordered to assist designer Anton Fokker to reverse-engineer the jet. If Fokker succeeds, with overwhelming aerial supremacy, the Central Powers will win the war.

After the American bomber attacks his war industry and humiliates his fleet, the irate Kaiser orders Wernher to destroy the elusive nemesis. When Churchill attacks the infamous Paris Gun, Wernher’s hunt climaxes in a savage air battle. The outcome will change the future of a continent and history as we know it.

Genres: Fiction

518 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 1, 2025

Reviews

[John Purvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is author E. J. Lake’s first novel. Goodbye Dolly was published early last April and is the 32nd book I completed reading in 2025.

I received an ARC of this book through https://www.netgalley.com with the expectation of a fair and honest review. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! Due to minor scenes of violence, I categorize this novel as PG.

The book opens in late 1944. US Captain Jack Roman and his crew have christened their B-17 Flying Fortress “Dangerous Dolly”. The ship has seen them through several missions, and many crew members feel like Dolly speaks to them occasionally. In early November of 1944, Dolly is part of the 8th Air Force attack on the Leuna synthetic oil works in Saxony-Anhalt. They had already made their bomb run, and they were over the Netherlands returning to England when a flak burst disabled two engines. Dolly had to drop out of the formation as they lost airspeed. They are attacked by Me-109 and FW-190 fighters. Soon, those were joined by four of the new Me-262 jet aircraft.

Desperately trying to avoid the enemy fighters, Roman pilots Dolly into a large electrical storm. A Me-262 piloted by Oberleutnant Fritz Warner pursues the B-17, hoping for an easy kill. Their encounter is brief without much damage to either aircraft. Flying into the heart of the storm, Roman and his crew encounter a strange phenomenon. Soon after, they leave the thunderstorm behind and find clear skies.

Unable to make radio contact, Roman and his crew limp back to England and are forced to land on a large estate. Only after they land do they find out they have somehow landed in 1915 England. WWI is raging on the continent, and the US has yet to enter the war. By coincidence, they have landed on the estate of a young Winston Churchill. Churchill becomes their champion within the British government, and cajoles most of the crew to take Dolly into the fight against the Germans.

In Germany, Oberleutnant Fritz Warner is having nearly the same experience, though the German government is more interested in reverse engineering the Me-262 than applying his jet fighter in a combat role. After some delay, he is finally allowed to fly his jet again, dominating the skies over the Western Front.

While Churchill has his own secret agenda, he pushes for Dolly to make one final raid over Germany. Warner has maneuvered himself to be in a position to fly against the B-17 when it is next sighted in his area. With that victory, he will surely be crowned the greatest German ace of the war. Soon their paths cross, and the air battle between the B-17 and Me-262 is resumed. The odds are against the B-17, and both crews know that only one aircraft will survive.

I enjoyed the 9.5+ hours I spent reading this 518-page speculative fiction novel. The author uses time travel to set the period, and mixes facts from WWII with compelling fiction to produce a compelling novel. I like the chosen cover art. I give this novel a rating of 4.3 (rounded to 4) out of 5.

You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).

[Mada · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goodbye Dolly is a story of sacrifice, endurance, and determination. It illustrates the complexity of egos in two world wars that cost European lives in both theatres. However, instead of going into a unique perspective on an alternate history of WWII, we have instead travelled to WW1. Captain Jack and his merry crew of the Dangerous Dolly become mired in the events of a tumultuous conflict. What transpires is technological upheaval, a reversal of history, and an excellent display of writing when depicting the naval battles between the Imperial German Navy and the Royal Navy.

The naval aspect of WW1 is often not covered in popular media as it should. EJ Lake did a ton of research, and it shows from depicting historical figures such as Prime Minister Asquith Churchill with his brand of whiskey he so often likes to consume and the enigmatic Kaiser Wilhelm I. The wide variety of historical characters and their personalities spill onto their page as if Ken Follet had written this novel entirely. That's how good the writing is! I loved characters like Churchill, Jack, his crew, and many others. The dialogue is rich in historical detail, and no characters feel one-dimensional; instead, they feel like three-dimensional characters. The description makes you feel as if you are in this world. And Dolly the Bomber Airplane? She's a fantastic plane carrying a brave crew daring to fight against the might of WW1 Germany.

Each character is a testament to the brave men who sacrificed themselves in both world wars. To fight against fierce enemies while defending the right to freedom and democracy against expansionist and imperialist beliefs is not a simple thing to do. That said, the novel does not shy away from depicting the carnage of warfare and the devastating destruction that bombing cities can bring. At some points, I've noticed that alternate history novels focus more on the technical details of what has changed than on the story. At some points, the book often tries to balance between contrasting what changes and what the story should be. I would like to see more alternate history novels focus on the story rather than being hung up on explaining everything that changes. I love books like this, with people from different periods travelling into other areas of history. I once read a story in Quora about Napoleon and his army time travelling back to the Ancient Roman Era. What a story that would be! I want more stuff like this. Where different civilisations meet each other that would never have met. I urge more authors to do this. This is a fantastic novel that I thoroughly recommend you read!