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Planes
An urgent, fiercely intelligent debut novel that goes deep inside the daily lives of two women--one in Rome, the other in North Carolina--to tell a story about the powerful interconnections, both personal and political, that exist beneath the surface of our world.
For years, Amira--a recent convert to Islam living in Rome--has gone to work, said her prayers, and struggled to piece together her husband's redacted letters from the Moroccan black site where he is imprisoned. She moves as inconspicuously as possible through her modest life, doing her best to avoid the whispered curiosity of her community.
Meanwhile, Mel--once an activist--is trying to get the suburban conservatives of her small North Carolina town to support her school board initiatives, and struggles to fill her empty nest. It's a steady, settled life, except perhaps for the affair she can't admit she's having.
As these narratives unfurl thousands of miles apart, they begin to resonate like the two sides of a tuning fork. And when Mel learns that a local charter airline serves as a front for the CIA's extraordinary renditions--including that of Amira's husband--both women face wrenching questions that will shape the rest of their lives.
Written with piercing insight and artistry, Planes is a singular, assured, and indelible first novel that announces a major new voice.
For years, Amira--a recent convert to Islam living in Rome--has gone to work, said her prayers, and struggled to piece together her husband's redacted letters from the Moroccan black site where he is imprisoned. She moves as inconspicuously as possible through her modest life, doing her best to avoid the whispered curiosity of her community.
Meanwhile, Mel--once an activist--is trying to get the suburban conservatives of her small North Carolina town to support her school board initiatives, and struggles to fill her empty nest. It's a steady, settled life, except perhaps for the affair she can't admit she's having.
As these narratives unfurl thousands of miles apart, they begin to resonate like the two sides of a tuning fork. And when Mel learns that a local charter airline serves as a front for the CIA's extraordinary renditions--including that of Amira's husband--both women face wrenching questions that will shape the rest of their lives.
Written with piercing insight and artistry, Planes is a singular, assured, and indelible first novel that announces a major new voice.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published May 31, 2022
36 people are currently reading
2410 people want to read
About the author
Peter C. Baker
1 book22 followersPeter C. Baker’s essays, criticism, and reporting have been published by The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Review of Books, The Guardian “Long Read,” and elsewhere. Planes is his first novel. He lives in Evanston, Illinois.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
June 17, 2022
Rounding up from 3.5 stars. The novel is interesting and provocative, and the two storylines raise important issues…but, while the narrative gaps and the ambiguous conclusion are intentional, the novel feels unfinished, and what is meant to be artful is instead just frustrating.
October 24, 2025
4.5/5 —
Not quite 5 but very close.
I think some elements towards the end didn’t really work, but overall I really enjoyed this book. It was written so sharply which I appreciate.
Not quite 5 but very close.
I think some elements towards the end didn’t really work, but overall I really enjoyed this book. It was written so sharply which I appreciate.
May 10, 2022
ARC received courtesy of Goodreads.com First Reads Giveaway
In "Planes", Peter C. Baker manages to bring together what happened to prisoners from the war in Iraq that were kept at "Black Sites" and the Americans who protested their treatment into a cohesive story that leaves conclusions up to the reader.
The story begins with Amira, an Italian whose Moroccan husband has been taken to prison from Pakistan for unknown reasons. We know only that Amira used to be called Maria and that she is slogging through the days until Ayoub, her husband, is released. The reader knows nothing of why Ayoub is in prison or what is happening to him there.
We are then introduced to Mel and her husband Al, former activists who are asked to become active again in protesting the atrocities being endured by prisoners being held at "black sites". Mel and Al haven't been active participants in protests in many years. They are told by friends that their small North Carolina town is home to a transportation company that runs prisoners and other things for the CIA. Mel is stunned to learn that her fellow school board member, Bradley, is the president of this company. Bradley and Mel have worked together successfully to bring all sides together to approve a budget for the schools that each side can live with. Mel can't believe that Bradley would knowingly be a part of something as heinous as the torture of prisoners of war.
Peter C. Baker makes each character's life accessible to the reader. We understand living a normal and mundane life and having that life, for one reason or another, ripped wide open. "Planes" is the story of how each character's life was impacted by the tragedy of what happened at those secret prisons in the middle east during the Iraq war. We can see that our lives are intimately connected globally. We can't see the connections but, nevertheless, they exist. Things do not happen in a vacuum; our lives are connected on a world stage that we cannot possibly see. Baker did a wonderful job of connecting the dots on a global scale.
In "Planes", Peter C. Baker manages to bring together what happened to prisoners from the war in Iraq that were kept at "Black Sites" and the Americans who protested their treatment into a cohesive story that leaves conclusions up to the reader.
The story begins with Amira, an Italian whose Moroccan husband has been taken to prison from Pakistan for unknown reasons. We know only that Amira used to be called Maria and that she is slogging through the days until Ayoub, her husband, is released. The reader knows nothing of why Ayoub is in prison or what is happening to him there.
We are then introduced to Mel and her husband Al, former activists who are asked to become active again in protesting the atrocities being endured by prisoners being held at "black sites". Mel and Al haven't been active participants in protests in many years. They are told by friends that their small North Carolina town is home to a transportation company that runs prisoners and other things for the CIA. Mel is stunned to learn that her fellow school board member, Bradley, is the president of this company. Bradley and Mel have worked together successfully to bring all sides together to approve a budget for the schools that each side can live with. Mel can't believe that Bradley would knowingly be a part of something as heinous as the torture of prisoners of war.
Peter C. Baker makes each character's life accessible to the reader. We understand living a normal and mundane life and having that life, for one reason or another, ripped wide open. "Planes" is the story of how each character's life was impacted by the tragedy of what happened at those secret prisons in the middle east during the Iraq war. We can see that our lives are intimately connected globally. We can't see the connections but, nevertheless, they exist. Things do not happen in a vacuum; our lives are connected on a world stage that we cannot possibly see. Baker did a wonderful job of connecting the dots on a global scale.
June 3, 2022
I can't evaluate this book... I think it when in one ear and out the other without striking any chords.
April 14, 2024
every now and then you need a reminder not to take book recommendations from instagram
May 22, 2024
I’m not quite sure what to say about this novel. It is the story of two women, living on opposite sides of the world, experiencing wildly different events. Amira is a young Italian/Muslim woman waiting for the return of her husband who, for reasons not explained, is being detained in a prison in Morocco. Mel is a middle aged woman living in North Carolina, selling real estate, engaging in an extramarital affair. When she hears from friends about a covert operation in her home town that is involved in the very type of imprisonment that Amira’s husband is a victim of, she decides to hearken back to her earlier protest days.
While Amira’s story is compelling and sharply written, Mel’s story is rather limp. A little too much tell and not enough show. There was potential for real drama concerning the repercussions over the affair, but nothing really happens. But the main problem I have with the book is I didn’t really get the connection between the two tales. And I cared about Amira and her husband, but Mel and her plight? Meh.
While Amira’s story is compelling and sharply written, Mel’s story is rather limp. A little too much tell and not enough show. There was potential for real drama concerning the repercussions over the affair, but nothing really happens. But the main problem I have with the book is I didn’t really get the connection between the two tales. And I cared about Amira and her husband, but Mel and her plight? Meh.
May 29, 2022
A very interesting book that shows two families that are touched by America’s rendition projects. One Muslim family in Italy is torn apart as the husband is imprisoned after trying to do business in Pakistan. Another couple in America, two former activists, are at a loss as to what to do as they learn that a local private airport is a front for rendition flights. A sharp book that asks tough questions.
June 27, 2022
There aren't the usual thousands of reviews for Planes so will not talk plot so much as feelings. I know, from the author, that NC has an active group trying to stop renditions and torture. I also imagine that Peter Baker thought a novel would tell a better story - he was right about that. We have all seen the horror of the black sites and are still trying to execute Julian Assange for bringing it into the news. The Bush administration and those before and after are still getting away with murder. The CIA is up to its old and heartless tricks in this novel - the stand in is Bradley. And what about Mel? And their gruesome twosome? The other characters - fairly well developed but some felt cliched - especially Michael.
The best characterization is through Amira and her world that has been put on a terrible hold and then resumes. Ayoub is more of an observation than a character. One can imagine how he would be sleeping on the floor with the cat rather than try to fit back into married life.
All this to say - the lack of a conclusive ending - what about the airport and rendition? What will Ayoub really do with his life? When will Amira's mother shut up? We don't have answers - only suggestions as to what might be possible. Not a failing, just a bit too deliberately left as a reminder that there are no easy answers to the two planes we are provided in this novel.
The best characterization is through Amira and her world that has been put on a terrible hold and then resumes. Ayoub is more of an observation than a character. One can imagine how he would be sleeping on the floor with the cat rather than try to fit back into married life.
All this to say - the lack of a conclusive ending - what about the airport and rendition? What will Ayoub really do with his life? When will Amira's mother shut up? We don't have answers - only suggestions as to what might be possible. Not a failing, just a bit too deliberately left as a reminder that there are no easy answers to the two planes we are provided in this novel.
June 24, 2022
What a tremendous and original novel. A gripping plot and wonderful characters that really come to life. I haven’t been so engrossed in a novel in a really long time. Highly recommend.
June 19, 2022
Nothing overly memorable transpires in Planes, yet it’s a strangely compelling novel that’s hard to put down and that reads with plenty of anticipation like a thriller. The final scenes prove somewhat anticlimactic, yet they offer hope and a sense of healing that is certainly satisfying for this melancholic story of two couples on opposite “planes” of the world.
The first narrative begins in Italy with Amira and Ayoub. Married only a few years, they must endure separation due to Ayoub’s unjust detainment at a CIA Black Site. Providing little information about his whereabouts or his condition, which is frustrating, the novel is most immersive, however, with charting Amira’s struggles to maintain her positivity and sanity. When new hope becomes possible, the novel handles their challenges with tremendous empathy and compassion.
The other narrative examines the marriage of Mel (Melanie) and Art who live in rural North Carolina. She has inexplicably slipped into an affair with one of the town’s affluent citizens, a politically conservative lawyer named Bradley. Two facts complicate their situation: that Mel and Brad have been working on a compromise for the local school board’s budget, and that Brad may or may not know to what purpose a charter airline business, which he manages, is utilized for.
The hardships of Amira and Ayoub come off in much more interesting and touching fashion than the self-made dilemmas of Mel, whose relations with Brad are frustrating to tolerate. Although the characters are each decently drawn, I yearned to see and understand more about Ayoub’s circumstances and more about the impact of Mel’s poor decision. Intrigue over what will happen next kept me gripped to this somber, tepid thriller, but overall the novel feels restrained, and the end result does not generate much more than perhaps wanting more, which is how I felt.
The first narrative begins in Italy with Amira and Ayoub. Married only a few years, they must endure separation due to Ayoub’s unjust detainment at a CIA Black Site. Providing little information about his whereabouts or his condition, which is frustrating, the novel is most immersive, however, with charting Amira’s struggles to maintain her positivity and sanity. When new hope becomes possible, the novel handles their challenges with tremendous empathy and compassion.
The other narrative examines the marriage of Mel (Melanie) and Art who live in rural North Carolina. She has inexplicably slipped into an affair with one of the town’s affluent citizens, a politically conservative lawyer named Bradley. Two facts complicate their situation: that Mel and Brad have been working on a compromise for the local school board’s budget, and that Brad may or may not know to what purpose a charter airline business, which he manages, is utilized for.
The hardships of Amira and Ayoub come off in much more interesting and touching fashion than the self-made dilemmas of Mel, whose relations with Brad are frustrating to tolerate. Although the characters are each decently drawn, I yearned to see and understand more about Ayoub’s circumstances and more about the impact of Mel’s poor decision. Intrigue over what will happen next kept me gripped to this somber, tepid thriller, but overall the novel feels restrained, and the end result does not generate much more than perhaps wanting more, which is how I felt.
July 15, 2022
This book was overall a fun and quick read, one of those nice books that mixes heavy issues with lighter themes and makes what’s ordinarily unpalatable much more easily processed. A major theme in the book was justice, and I think this is why the author left quite a bit of openendedness at the end of the story to let the reader decide who received just treatment at the end and who didn’t. However intentional and thought provoking this was, I thought it detracted from the story. You sort of craved the literary justice of Mel telling Art that she cheated on him, but it was just deeply unsatisfying for that to never happen. I was also confused by the Paolo plot hole; in real life you can bring an old friend into your life and then cut them out unceremoniously, but in fiction that typically comes back to bite you. I just sort of wanted something like that to happen, not even to like punish Amira but more to just give them closure on that little friendship that seemed to be meaningful to both of them. Maybe in the end the person who got some of the justice he deserved was the one who deserved it, Ayoub. Even though nothing could ever make up for the pain he went through, the reader saw his sense of dignity being restored toward the end of the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 23, 2022
Two married couples and their lives and their secrets -- Ayoub and Amira and Rome, Pakistan and Morocco; Mel and Art and North Carolina -- connected by a plane.
Reading the reviews on the back cover, I find myself wondering whether this is a personal story about political secrets or a political story about personal secrets and conclude that, as with life, it is both.
The chapters are titled with names of the character who's telling the story, whose point of view we are hearing, allowing us to hear their thoughts as well as see their actions, such that the story is experienced rather than simply being told.
And the concluding line in the final chapter (Amira's voice both begins and ends the book) is so quiet, and so powerful. To repeat it would give away too much, I think. You have to work your way up to it, page by page. And then I had to reread the nest-to-last chapter, written in Mel's voice, and discovered that it also concludes in a sentence true to her story, albeit open-ended.
And the paper: deckle-edged and thick! What a treat!
Reading the reviews on the back cover, I find myself wondering whether this is a personal story about political secrets or a political story about personal secrets and conclude that, as with life, it is both.
The chapters are titled with names of the character who's telling the story, whose point of view we are hearing, allowing us to hear their thoughts as well as see their actions, such that the story is experienced rather than simply being told.
And the concluding line in the final chapter (Amira's voice both begins and ends the book) is so quiet, and so powerful. To repeat it would give away too much, I think. You have to work your way up to it, page by page. And then I had to reread the nest-to-last chapter, written in Mel's voice, and discovered that it also concludes in a sentence true to her story, albeit open-ended.
And the paper: deckle-edged and thick! What a treat!
June 7, 2022
Planes is so good!! It’s compelling, fresh, and provocative without being pushy.
The story centers around two women, really two couples, switching back between the two perspectives. This is a no spoilers review, so I’ll just say I had that don’t-wanna-put-it-down feeling the whole time.
The book is different in a good way, it’s completely not predictable. The circumstances the characters find themselves in are things that are happening around us, but are easy to put out of mind and pretend are not happening to people who are a lot like us.
At the end of the day, the book makes you think. What does it mean to live in a society where our government condones treating people in horrible ways? Most books like that make you feel guilty for not doing more, but Planes is gentle with it.
Definitely recommend, especially if you are looking for something that doesn’t feel contrived, expected, or rehashed.
The story centers around two women, really two couples, switching back between the two perspectives. This is a no spoilers review, so I’ll just say I had that don’t-wanna-put-it-down feeling the whole time.
The book is different in a good way, it’s completely not predictable. The circumstances the characters find themselves in are things that are happening around us, but are easy to put out of mind and pretend are not happening to people who are a lot like us.
At the end of the day, the book makes you think. What does it mean to live in a society where our government condones treating people in horrible ways? Most books like that make you feel guilty for not doing more, but Planes is gentle with it.
Definitely recommend, especially if you are looking for something that doesn’t feel contrived, expected, or rehashed.
November 16, 2025
I mean, the writing was good enough, I got genuinely interested in the characters and their arcs. Baker is a compelling storyteller, yet the novel is blatantly unfinished. The relationship between the two protagonists is a single page, a mass email that gets no reply. And the book just ends in such a random place. I imagine the point of the ending is to show two different forms of healing amisdt hiding information from loved ones, but it's a really weird point to end a novel.
I'm left a bit mad, because I wanted to keep reading about these characters and how they would eventually meet!
Also a native italian falling in love and marrying an Arab refugee is not a character I had seen before, and I really liked how her insane and disjointed life was contrasted with the American suburban lifestyle.
I'm left a bit mad, because I wanted to keep reading about these characters and how they would eventually meet!
Also a native italian falling in love and marrying an Arab refugee is not a character I had seen before, and I really liked how her insane and disjointed life was contrasted with the American suburban lifestyle.
January 3, 2023
I know the two women's stories were supposed to be intertwined, but neither was compelling enough with all of the back and forth. It wasn't that the writing was confusing or hard to follow, but by the time you got invested again in one storyline, it would switch to the other. It felt arduous to get back on track. Maybe the two stories would be better on their own. Or if the intertwining is absolutely necessary, more about Amira and her husband while he was imprisoned. With Mel's storyline, skipping some of the backstory and getting to the meat and potatoes would have greatly helped keep a reader engaged.
May 23, 2024
3.5 rounded down. Very good dual POV. Two women from different countries who have a link but they don't know it. The issue that I have with the book is really about the ending. It was a solid four but the ending just felt way too rushed. One of the women had a secret to keep and the other woman was trying to learn about secrets being kept from her.
I picked up this book because I heard the author speak about having his manuscript pirated. It made me want to support him.
I picked up this book because I heard the author speak about having his manuscript pirated. It made me want to support him.
July 4, 2022
3.5 stars. Very solid debut novel by a prominent journalist. Two strained marriages in North Carolina and Italy are linked by a political movement to curb torture activity. The focus is on the two couples and a determination to keep their marriages together amid external pressures. Very compelling, but I felt shortchanged by the ending.
December 22, 2022
A good first book by Peter Baker who takes you on a trip of two world separate but two women with similar motivations. Two very interesting stories that you expect to intersect but don’t. At first I was disappointed by that but afterwards realized that was point.
I look forward to his next book.
I look forward to his next book.
May 6, 2022
Gripping and impactful. I really enjoyed this debut novel.
June 20, 2022
Really enjoyed this book. It was interesting, unique and had rich, full characters. Typically I don't love books with no real resolution, but here it worked very well.
June 22, 2022
Recommended.
Review posted at Tzer Island book blog:
https://www.tzerisland.com/bookblog/2...
Review posted at Tzer Island book blog:
https://www.tzerisland.com/bookblog/2...
July 1, 2022
Every page of this book was a delight to read.
July 2, 2022
Don't get your hopes up for a suitable ending. I enjoyed the book tremendously until that point.
July 6, 2022
Actually this is 3.5 A good read, deals with topics I’m interested in (political) and even has some suspense thrown in. Thoroughly enjoyable.
July 20, 2022
A great potential story line…. That just seemed to abruptly stop before anything really happened. It felt like half of a book.
July 28, 2022
I liked this book very much. I just wish it had been a little longer.
August 18, 2022
Promising but seemed like 2 short stories woven together with large gaps.
September 29, 2022
Well written, but I didn't enjoy it. I need an action story, but this is a thoughts in a woman's head story. It doesn't end, it just stops. No loose ends are tied off.
October 4, 2022
Drama unfolds on two planes, Rome and North Carolina. Secrets, personal and political and their effects on the characters unfold in what feels timely and unforgettable.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews