Flying Out of Brooklyn

by Beverly Magid

The world is at war during the sweltering summer of 1943, and on the American home front, Judith Weissman feels trapped by her mundane office job, her lackluster marriage, and the gossipy neighborhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. But when her upstairs neighbor unexpectedly takes a step off her fifth-floor fire escape and plunges to her death, Judith suddenly realizes how short life really is-and how much she wants to change it.

Judith crosses paths with an old crush from school, returning wounded war hero Bobby Levitt, and she suddenly and desperately wants to regain her romantic dreams. But Bobby has been changed by the war, his injuries, and a guilty secret that tortures and embitters him.

In the midst of their passionate affair, Judith questions her identity and her role in this war-torn world and soon realizes that nothing and no one will ever be the same again.

224 pages, Hardcover

First published November 27, 2007

About the author

Beverly Magid, before writing her novel, was a journalist and an entertainment and celebrity PR executive, who interviewed many luminaries, including John Lennon, Jim Croce and the Monty Python gang, and as a publicist represented clients in music, tv and film, ranging from Whoopi Goldberg, John Denver and Dolly Parton to Tom Skerritt, Martin Landau, Kathy Ireland and Jacqueline Bisset.

Beverly is a longtime west coast resident but still considers herself a New Yorker. . She is an active member of Jewish World Watch, a California-based organization, which works to end genocide and is on-the-ground in Africa helping to aid and educate the victims of war atrocities.

She's a news and political junkie and supports environmental, animal and human rights issues. In her spare time, she has been mentoring elementary children in reading as well as volunteering at the Los Angeles Zoo, working with the Research Department in observing animal behavior.

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

The storyline is interesting, somewhat predictable but o.k. Some of the yiddish is incorrect.