Sky Queen: A Novel

by Judy Kundert

Katherine, the Sky Queen, relishes her fabulous highflying days as a stewardess during the emergence of the women’s movement. Still, her Chippewa tribe ancestry beckons to her — and when she finally responds to the lure of her bloodline’s call, her life path transforms in miraculous ways.

"A former United Airlines stewardess, Kundert paints a vivid portrait of Katherine's flight attendant world, from the weigh-ins and strict dress code to the leering male passengers... A thoughtful and sensitively observed tale with a heroine whose adventures are worth following." (Kirkus Reviews)

Genres: Fiction

Audible Audio

Published December 11, 2020

Reviews

[Serena Wurmser]

So... I had to add another book to my "dnf" tag. What gives?

To be honest, I just couldn't click with the writing. It was getting to distracting to read the book, and I decided to set it aside for now. That being said, I don't think this will be the case for everyone. The premise of the book is great, and it just depends on how picky people are about the level of writing in the book.

[Pallavi]

Fans of historical fiction might like this one, but I found the writing style hard to get into. The book is very dialogue-driven, and the characters have an old-fashioned way of speaking that I felt was a little choppy. But the premise of the book is interesting - it's about an airline stewardess in the 1960s.

A big plus is that the women's movement is included as part of the historical context. Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique is quoted and there are scenes that describe how Katherine receives unwanted advances while working. Katherine is a proponent for women's rights along with her fellow stewardesses. Native American spirituality and mistreatment are important themes in this book as well.

A sincere thanks to BookSparks for providing an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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[KayBee's Bookshelf · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them." Katherine Roebling, the main character of this story, quotes Thoreau here. I feel this quote encompasses the whole of Katherine's existence. She struggles as a woman in 1967 Chicago as a stewardess who longs to educate people about her Chippewa heritage. She is trying to find her own way, independently and as a woman, it can be difficult. Ms. Kundert touches on the many prejudices held against women during this time period and the bias prevalent in business and everyday life of a woman. Katherine's goal is to succeed on her own and not to depend on a man to achieve her success. However, she meets Neal and tries to fight her feelings for him. There are supernatural, spiritual elements intertwined in this story because Katherine has Native American blood running through her as well. This adds a touch of fantasy to the mostly, romantic-girl-trying-to-find-herself story. I'm not sure if it helped the story because I found it a little off-balance as I read. It didn't seem to fit when she fell into her trances and received feathers that floated into her lap. Neal and Katherine had a lot of chemistry. When the story alluded to their flourishing relationship, I enjoyed it. But most of the story didn't quite fit together. It felt like it was told in pieces and I couldn't connect it all, including the characters that appeared and then disappeared, like Danny O'Brien. Due to the bits and pieces being held together by Katherine, I could not connect with anyone in this story. There were no special moments that stood out and the story just fell flat. My rating is due to the storyline being for lack of a better word disjointed. While this didn't work for me, I encourage you to secure your own copy and read it for yourself.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of this book was interesting, but the characters made no sense. The dialogue was glaringly contradicting and strange at times. I gave it 60 pages to get better, but unfortunately, it just didn’t. DNF this one.

[Kathi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea

Did not care for the story line. It jumped around in a thin story line with weak characters. Hard for me to care about the protagonist. Others may like it though.

[Jenica · Rating 2 out of 5]

SkyQueen
by: Judy Kundert

"Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them." Katherine Roebling, the main character of this story, quotes Thoreau here. I feel this quote encompasses the whole of Katherine's existence. She struggles as a woman in 1967 Chicago as a stewardess who longs to educate people about her Chippewa heritage. She is trying to find her own way, independently and as a woman it can be difficult. Ms. Kundert touches on the many prejudices held against women during this time period and the bias prevalent in business and everyday life of a woman. Katherine's goal is to succeed on her own and not to depend on a man to achieve her success. However, she meets Neal and tries to fight her feelings for him. There are supernatural, spiritual elements intertwined in this story because Katherine has Native American blood running through her as well. This adds a touch of fantasy to the mostly, romantic-girl-trying-to-find-herself story. I'm not sure if it helped the story because I found it a little off balance as I read. It didn't seem to fit when she fell into her trances and received feathers that floated into her lap. Neal and Katherine had a lot of chemistry. When the story alluded to their flourishing relationship, I enjoyed it. But most of the story didn't quite fit together. It felt like it was told in pieces and I couldn't connect it all, including the characters that appeared and then disappeared, like Danny O'Brien. Due to the bits and pieces being held together by Katherine, I could not connect with anyone in this story. There were no special moments that stood out and the story just fell flat. I'd have to give it a 3 on a scale of 1 to 5 due to the disconnectedness of it.

[Jessica]

I received an advance readers copy of Sky Queen from BookSparks, but all opinions are my own.

Sky Queen by Judy Kundert was an enjoyable read about a life that pulls our leading lady in two directions. One that has her feet firmly on the ground and helps her explore her roots and the other that has her sky-high living the life others can only dream of. I’m always a big fan of historical fiction, and the author touches on themes of sexual harassment in the workplace, women’s rights and other topical issues of the times (then and now really). There is a lot of dialogue in the book which I found broke my reading flow at times because it didn’t feel particularly natural. For the most part I enjoyed the story though.

[Lauren Caton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great story of someone who's life is in transition - we've all been there - where you are "getting by" in your current life/work, but wondering if there's more out there for you. The protagonist, Katherine Roebling, reckons with her current life as a glamorous stewardess in the 1960s, with her calling to shape the world for her tribal community. It's a beautiful tale exploring these themes, and I fell in love Katherine’s spunk and the way the book explored workplace harassment. My one qualm with the book is the Native American character's portrayal by a non-NA author. Otherwise, great coming-into-your-own read! Perfect vibes for a vacation or trip!⠀

[Rebecca Ververs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a neat clean romance set in 1967 Chicago. Its an introductory book that is set to have several follow on books with the same strong female lead character. The author granted me a brief interview which can be found on the Pines and Plains libraries you tube channel.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the story behind this book, but had a difficult time getting through it. I felt like I couldn't connect that much with Katherine because I never knew what she was actually thinking. I couldn't tell what guys she liked or what she actually wanted to happen. Scenes changed a lot without notice and I had a hard time following what happened. Regardless of these issues, again, I loved the story and what this book was trying to say.