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The Lady in the Spitfire
Returning from his first combat mission over Germany with a damaged B-17 and a wounded tail gunner, Lt. Jay Baronowsky of the US Eighth Air Force is forced to divert due to weather. In heavy cloud he nearly collides with an RAF bomber. On landing, he is shocked to discover that a woman piloted the RAF aircraft. However, he soon finds himself fascinated by the attractive and highly professional woman pilot. The Englishwoman is a sharp contrast to his American fiancée, who seems to have no understanding for what he is going through. Jay makes every effort to meet the English woman pilot, Emily, socially. Emily resists Jay's attentions. She has not yet recovered from the loss of her RAF pilot husband, Robin, who has been posted missing. In fact, she is not yet willing to admit that he is dead. But there seems to be no harm in having dinner with Jay or showing him a bit of the country. One thing leads inevitably to another, and Emily soon discovers that she likes Jay very much indeed. But should she risk getting involved with another pilot flying against Germany?
- GenresHistorical Fiction
322 pages, Paperback
First published July 20, 2006
1 person is currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
Helena P. Schrader
39 books150 followersDr. Helena P. Schrader is a highly acclaimed author with a remarkable portfolio of six critically acclaimed non-fiction history books and twenty historical novels. A testament to her storytelling prowess, twelve of her novels have earned one or more prestigious literary awards, with three titles achieving Amazon best-selling status.
Helena's deep historical insight stems from her PhD in history from the University of Hamburg, where her ground-breaking biography of a leader of the German Resistance to Hitler earned her doctorate. Her rich experiences also include a distinguished career as an American diplomat in Europe and Africa.
Her expertise spans critical historical periods and subjects, including:
Aviation
The Second World War
Ancient Sparta
The Crusader States
Award Highlights:
Helena's dedication to historical accuracy and compelling narratives has been recognized with numerous accolades:
"Cold Peace" Won the Independent Press Award for Political Thrillers 2024 and was "Runner-Up for BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023" from the Historical Fiction Company
"Moral Fibre" won GOLD in the Global Book Awards for 20th Century Historical Fiction 2024
"Where Eagles Never Flew" won the Hemingway Award for 20th Century Wartime Fiction from Chanticleer International Book Awards 2021
"Envoy of Jerusalem": Book Excellence Award for Best Biography 2017.
As the highly respected Feathered Quill Reviews noted: "Helena Schrader’s in-depth stories, fantastic characters, and ability to write an unforgettable tale make her one of the best authors out there!”
For a comprehensive list of awards and more information, please visit her author website.
Helena's deep historical insight stems from her PhD in history from the University of Hamburg, where her ground-breaking biography of a leader of the German Resistance to Hitler earned her doctorate. Her rich experiences also include a distinguished career as an American diplomat in Europe and Africa.
Her expertise spans critical historical periods and subjects, including:
Aviation
The Second World War
Ancient Sparta
The Crusader States
Award Highlights:
Helena's dedication to historical accuracy and compelling narratives has been recognized with numerous accolades:
"Cold Peace" Won the Independent Press Award for Political Thrillers 2024 and was "Runner-Up for BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023" from the Historical Fiction Company
"Moral Fibre" won GOLD in the Global Book Awards for 20th Century Historical Fiction 2024
"Where Eagles Never Flew" won the Hemingway Award for 20th Century Wartime Fiction from Chanticleer International Book Awards 2021
"Envoy of Jerusalem": Book Excellence Award for Best Biography 2017.
As the highly respected Feathered Quill Reviews noted: "Helena Schrader’s in-depth stories, fantastic characters, and ability to write an unforgettable tale make her one of the best authors out there!”
For a comprehensive list of awards and more information, please visit her author website.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 31, 2010
This was not as good as I had hoped.. In the midst of the superb aircraft descriptions and air battles, there was too much drama regarding a "love" story that felt as tho it appeared out of thin air and many unlikeable characters and their own romantic issues thrown in.
Emily is a ferry/transport pilot during WW2. Her husband, Robin, also a pilot, has been shot down over France. She has no idea if he is dead or alive. Four months after Robin's disappearance, she has an almost mid air collision with Jay, an American B17 pilot. A moment of harsh words leads to about four dates and suddenly the two think they are in love and contemplating their future together. I get that this is a time of war and emotions run high, but this supposed romance of theirs just fell flat. Plus, I thought it wrong for them to be cavorting with Emily's husband just four months MISSING, not dead.. Am I the only one that has heard of the "one year waiting period?" Nevertheless, my personal opinion got in the way of my enjoying the rest of the novel. Added to that was a trampy roommate named Phillipa and her "romantic" issues if you could call it that and I couldn't stand her. Also, the Americans (including Jay in the beginning) were portrayed as "brutes" to put it mildly. Tho Jay did show some improvement in his own personality as the novel wore on, I never did come to like him.
The missing husband, Robin, I think he warranted at least a guest appearance in the beginning of the book. It was hard to get a feeling for their marriage and Emiliy's love for him when he was missing already on page 5.
Three stars.
Emily is a ferry/transport pilot during WW2. Her husband, Robin, also a pilot, has been shot down over France. She has no idea if he is dead or alive. Four months after Robin's disappearance, she has an almost mid air collision with Jay, an American B17 pilot. A moment of harsh words leads to about four dates and suddenly the two think they are in love and contemplating their future together. I get that this is a time of war and emotions run high, but this supposed romance of theirs just fell flat. Plus, I thought it wrong for them to be cavorting with Emily's husband just four months MISSING, not dead.. Am I the only one that has heard of the "one year waiting period?" Nevertheless, my personal opinion got in the way of my enjoying the rest of the novel. Added to that was a trampy roommate named Phillipa and her "romantic" issues if you could call it that and I couldn't stand her. Also, the Americans (including Jay in the beginning) were portrayed as "brutes" to put it mildly. Tho Jay did show some improvement in his own personality as the novel wore on, I never did come to like him.
The missing husband, Robin, I think he warranted at least a guest appearance in the beginning of the book. It was hard to get a feeling for their marriage and Emiliy's love for him when he was missing already on page 5.
Three stars.
November 21, 2010
Yet another WWII story of love and conflict
This book is one more reason for me to declare my love for historical fiction. The facts behind the female flyers that moved the aircraft to operational airfields were fascinating. However, without the story that Helena P Schrader, I would have struggled to wade my way through the dry descriptions.
The story brings the well researched facts to life. I have to say that the ending, well, the ending before the end of the book, is rather predictable. What would often be entitled “Epilogue,” wraps up all of the loose ends very nicely and made me feel good.
There were a few surprises littered throughout the text. Without spoiling them, I shall reveal one of them. Remember that this story is based in the days when radar was still being developed in secret, so the pilots were flying blind if they flew into cloud, or if the airfields were fog-bound. The surprise, for me, was that the pilots were instructed to bale out and ditch their plane if they were unable to land safely on an airfield. Of course, some of them bravely disobeyed these orders and managed to land against all the odds.
You can read enough about the story in the description of the book and on the cover for me not to need to tell you more. Suffice to say that it is a love story weaved around some serious flying and combat action. There are some annoying characters in the book, but you wouldn’t want to read a book where all of the characters are nice, would you?
This book is one more reason for me to declare my love for historical fiction. The facts behind the female flyers that moved the aircraft to operational airfields were fascinating. However, without the story that Helena P Schrader, I would have struggled to wade my way through the dry descriptions.
The story brings the well researched facts to life. I have to say that the ending, well, the ending before the end of the book, is rather predictable. What would often be entitled “Epilogue,” wraps up all of the loose ends very nicely and made me feel good.
There were a few surprises littered throughout the text. Without spoiling them, I shall reveal one of them. Remember that this story is based in the days when radar was still being developed in secret, so the pilots were flying blind if they flew into cloud, or if the airfields were fog-bound. The surprise, for me, was that the pilots were instructed to bale out and ditch their plane if they were unable to land safely on an airfield. Of course, some of them bravely disobeyed these orders and managed to land against all the odds.
You can read enough about the story in the description of the book and on the cover for me not to need to tell you more. Suffice to say that it is a love story weaved around some serious flying and combat action. There are some annoying characters in the book, but you wouldn’t want to read a book where all of the characters are nice, would you?
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews