Molly

Women & War #3

by Ellie Keaton

America is at war and Molly, a qualified pilot, is determined to use her skills in the air against the Nazis. The American Air Force isn’t ready to admit female pilots just yet but the British are desperate for pilots following their devastating losses in the Battle of Britain.

Travelling to England means crossing the Atlantic - a journey filled with peril as the German U-boats patrol these waters. Determined to fly, Molly and her friends cross the sea to fulfil their dream only to find the cost of the trip is much higher than Molly ever imagined.

Genres: Historical Fiction, World War II, Historical, Ebooks, War, Fiction, Aviation

228 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 29, 2015

Reviews

[Christina J. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dreadful

I can't get past chapter five. This must've been written by a 10-year-old child. The lack of punctuation, or maybe the author not knowing HOW to punctuate, made me want to write all over my tablet with a red grease pencil. I can't get into a story with spelling and grammatical errors. It detracts terribly. I don't know if Keaton has never had an English lesson or if she's lazy. This book needs an editor!

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my goodness, this was such a heartbreaking story. It is amazing how strong people can be when faced with amazing adversity. I appreciate that the author didn't gloss over the injustices of the war, including America's treatment of women and African Americans serving in the military. This has been an educational series and one I would recommend to anyone interested in reading about World War II. It's nice to see the contributions of women recognized.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Break out the Kleenex. Wonderful story, and very well written. I picked this up not paying attention to the fact that it's the third of the series. I feel that it is more ment to be a stand alone series vs linking the stories together. Highly recommend.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed the story. I'm a big fan of WWII historical fiction and found the focus on the contribution of women to the war effort refreshing and a welcome addition to what is otherwise a much overlooked field in the genre. That said, I found the writing and the dialogue in general to be a bit shallow. Not that the book was poorly written...in fact, I think it was very well written, but I felt the writing lent itself better to a younger audience. Aside from a couple of the more adult-themed developments in the story, I feel that this book would be well-directed at an early teen audience. Additionally, there were a few grammatical and typo issues that could use some editorial attention, but they were relatively few and not distracting. I did feel that the story seemed to wrap up pretty quickly. Much attention was given to build up of the main character, Molly, prior to joining the war effort, and to the early part of her wartime experience. Starting in 1943ish the story seemed to skip ahead in quick leaps to the end. I felt perhaps more attention could have been given to those later years of Molly's experience in the war. Nevertheless, a very enjoyable read. I would read other installments in the series.

[Ellie Midwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third book in the series, to which I simply didn’t want to say goodbye! In this third installment the plot centers around Molly, a young American girl who falls in love with aviation at the dawn of WW2, and decides to set on a perilous trip to Britain to aid the war effort as a ferry pilot. Soon she experiences her first loss and discovers that transporting fighter planes from the factory to the base is not always a safe enterprise, but Molly is not one who quits even in the face of imminent danger.
I enjoyed this novel for several reasons: it was very well researched and I learned a lot of new things about RAF and their auxiliary staff. Another reason was social issues and namely discrimination that certain groups of people had to face on a daily basis even while risking their lives for their countries: female pilots were trusted neither with guns nor radars while ferrying the fighters, and black soldiers had to still deal with segregation and abuse from the white officers. And last but not least, Molly herself was an extremely enjoyable central heroine and I couldn’t help but root for her and her boyfriend. A great story which will appeal to all fans of the genre. Five stars!

[Linda Galella · Rating 4 out of 5]

WWII from the perspective of

a female pilot is quite unique. Who knew the planes they ferried didn’t have communication devices or weapons?!?!?!? They were the real heroes, to be be able to make all those flights without any ability to communicate or protect themselves. Wow! The writing of this book is a bit clunky. I’m not sure if it’s a British thing. I don’t think so because the grammar is just not correct. It’s not so much as to ruin the story but enough to annoy in parts. The characters are well drawn and the various story lines are plausible. The ending of this tome was much too truncated. In fact, it happened in 2 chapters. It was actually jarring after the rest of the leisurely pace at which the rest of this story unfolded. This seems to be a new M.O. for authors and one that I’m not a big fan of. Otherwise, Ellie Keaton has written a lovely, historical novel on a subject new to me that was well worth the reading time.

[Maureen Hetzel · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 would be more accurate. The book covered so many aspects of WWII that it became anecdotal as seen thru the eyes of the main characters. Certainly the role of the women ferrying pilots was a new area that I was not familiar with. The short role of the Tuskegee pilots was sad as so much more should and can be said about these courageous pioneers. It seemed dismissive to give them so little a place in the story of the war. Editing would have been a fiend to the author. Too many sentences were used too many time as tho the author had little respect for the memories of the readers. Tim as early presented as having a mother and a father killed in WWII yet "how his parents would react" was used several times later. Sloppy writing. A tauter writing would have made a better novel.

[Lori Hooten · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one as much as the first two. While it does include adjacent characters, it is quite different from the first in the series, focusing instead on a female pilot from America and some of the story taking place on American soil. It was an enjoyable look at another aspect of WWII - the female ferry pilots on English soil during the war. They also had a fight on their hands to be able to do the thing they loved and knew could help in the war. The story also tackles a look at racism in the American people (contrasting it with the English during the war) and social constructs (rich vs poor) in London. This was a story I really enjoyed.

[Trudy · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Interesting story about Molly, an American female pilot who flies for the AAF in England during WWII. Her boyfriend Tim is a pilot also, they have trouble with communicating by mail and lose track of each other. I know war was hard but this poor girl went through so many losses, it was getting depressing. Also the book really needed some editing. Many contradicting statements from early in the story to later on that shoukd have been corrected. I enjoyed the characters but the story was just okay.

[Patricia Allums · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!

I am almost 83 so I lived during this time period. I lived up North until I was 11 and when we moved South we lived in a town where the RAF had trained during WWII. My Girl Scout leader was English and had moved there while her husband training. I love stories of this period of time. I never knew the people doing this job existed! It was interesting! I hope others will feel the same way!

[Robert C. smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A WW II Love Story of Female Pilots

As a current pilot and flight instructor, I was expecting more of a focus on airplanes of WW II. However, by the time I realized it was more of a love story, I was enthralled with Keaton's writing style and content. Plus, I was pleased at the technical accuracy of any aircraft action and description. Well worth the read.

[Geneva Hanson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

I think it's time we get a chance to look at women who were in the war. They u not just nurses and people who stayed home to housework. I know that this is just a story,but I think it is more.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Molly is a pilot. Her father taught her to fly when she was twelve. Now she wants to go to war. Tim is British learning to fly in the USA. They meet and fall in love. They both end up flying in England. A sort of the ATA during the war.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Against her mother's wishes, Molly and her best friend Ruthie, pursue their first love - flying. They are soon traveling to World War II London to help ferry planes to RAF bases. This is a wonderful book about life during the war, finding love and suffering loss. Highly recommended reading!

[Charlene Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting

Great character's interesting to learn about the role of female pilots in WW2. Fighting for right to fight for their country England and then comes American Male pilots and more female discrimination even sabatoge of female planes were a risk.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story of a young female aviator pre WWII and during. Easy read, but some segments of the story were detailed and others kind of glossed over. It was part of a “series”. I’m not sure if I’ll pursue the others.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 3 in the Women and War series. Molly takes after her dad and loves to fly. Her and a friend sail over seas to fly for the cause. Friendship and loss. Really enjoyed all the books in this series!

[Abigail Wilkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't think it was going to be a very interesting book but I was wrong it a very touching and inspiring book.

[Valerie Gallup · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet book

This book read like as sweet wartime romance. I also learned a little history! I noticed several errors in editing that were pretty distracting.

[Carol Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book! Hard to put down until I finished the entire book.

[Jan Waggoner · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read



Wonderful characters, great story telling, and a look at the true cost of war. . Easy to read. I couldn't put it down.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting to learn about women in war but the story itself was forced and not well written.

[Dorothy Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good read

A believable love story set against the great war. The heart breaks of losses are vivid. The ending was pretty predictable but good.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could have been better, could have been worse. Pretty much full of a lot of stereotypes.

[Salty Siren 2004 · Rating 1 out of 5]

i could not get in to it

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

The historical details were interesting. Unfortunately, the characters were not.

[Debbie Trammell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book

Enjoyed this series very much! Hoping there might be more. Looking forward to reading some of your other books. I will recommend this series.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love in war time

A no put down book that grabs you from page one and don't let go. It brings tears of joy and tears of sorrow
Well written

[D. Jane Akins · Rating 5 out of 5]

a great trilogy.

This is the 3rd book of a series. Each book is a stand-alone novel but they do intertwine. All three are great historical novels. I recommend reading all three in order. I have read them consecutively in about 3 days. They’re that good. I hope there’s another because they left one hero branded as a traitor and I need for him to be avenged. I want to know how!

[Carey Mundy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the third book in Wesson’s Women at War series and as usual, the story had me hooked from the beginning until the end. It is the story of Molly who leaves Florida in 1942 to join the ATF in England ferrying planes. It is filled with love, heartbreak and hope, as the challenges that war bring face Molly and her friends and family. Highly recommend!