Her Last Flight(117)
For more on the derring-do mentality of pioneering pilots—and sheer exhilaration—you can’t beat Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff. Winston Groom’s The Aviators combines the biographies of Lindbergh, Jimmy Doolittle, and the indestructible Eddie Rickenbacker in lucid, breathtaking layers. I relied heavily on Jason Ryan’s marvelous Race to Hawaii for background and details on the 1927 Dole Air Derby. More fascinating stories and characters emerged from The Lost Pilots, by Corey Mead; Sky Girls, by Gene Nora Jessen; and The Airplane: How Ideas Gave Us Wings, by Jay Spenser.
Returning to Earhart herself, two biographies in particular stand out: the extensive and illuminating East to the Dawn, by Susan Butler, and Doris L. Rich’s Amelia Earhart: A Biography. I was especially absorbed by Earhart’s childhood and her brilliant, alcoholic father, who never lived up to his promise; and her relationship with her business manager (and later husband), the publishing scion George Palmer Putnam. Earhart’s fans will certainly see shades of Putnam in my fictional George Morrow—created with a wink to my own publisher, William Morrow—but I’m afraid my imagination took over from there. (After Earhart was declared dead in 1939, G.P. Putnam married twice more and died eleven years later in Death Valley, California.)
Beyond all the research, though, I have a host of people to thank for bringing this book into the world, the bookstore, and your hands. Ten years ago, as a mother of four young children with an oversized manuscript called Overseas, I met my literary agent, Alexandra Machinist of ICM Partners, and her enthusiasm, persistence, crack negotiating skills, and (most of all) friendship have kept the books coming and the children fed, clothed, and housed for a decade now. I am so grateful to her for seeing us safely through every storm, especially now that those little kids are somehow starting college.
William Morrow has been my publishing home for seven books now, and I will never take for granted the enthusiasm and dedication of the entire team as they turn each manuscript into a real book and send it out into the marketplace. Huge thanks to my tiger editor, Rachel Kahan; to her assistant, Alivia Lopez, who keeps us both on track; to Tavia Kowalchuk and Brittani Hilles, for all their magical works in marketing and publicity; to my branding guru, Kathy Gordon; to the fabulously talented Mumtaz Mustafa, who designs those gorgeous covers; to the copy editor (my savior!), who catches all my errors and omissions and keeps my moon phases straight; and to all my heroes in production and sales.
To booksellers and librarians everywhere, thank you so much for your enthusiastic support of my books, and for fighting the good fight to keep us all reading, reading, reading, amid all the distractions of modern life. You are truly the guardians of civilization.
I’m so fortunate to be part of such a supportive community of women writers and bloggers, whose generosity and commitment to one another sometimes staggers me. To name each wonderful soul would require another page or two, but special thanks this year go to the ever-energetic, ever-talented, ever-thoughtful Kate Quinn, whose heart is as genuine as her terrific books. Of course, my love goes out always to my dear chums and “Team W” writing partners, Karen White and Lauren Willig, without whose friendship and fellowship I couldn’t last another day in this crazy business. (And if you liked this book, you should really read the ones I write with the other two-thirds of the legendary Unibrain.)
As always, I’m grateful to my family—husband and four adorable kids—who put up with this writerly life, year after year, and still manage to grow into the kind of decent, honorable human beings who will put away the abandoned shopping carts in the parking lot without expecting thanks.
Last and most heartfelt. Thank you, thank you to my loyal readers, one and all, whether you picked me up at the library, the bookstore, the internet (legally, for goodness’ sake!), a book club, or from a friend. Your support, your thoughtful reviews, your lovely messages, all sustain and inspire me to pick up my laptop and write the next novel.
About the Author
BEATRIZ WILLIAMS is the bestselling author of eleven novels, including The Summer Wives, A Hundred Summers, The Secret Life of Violet Grant, and The Golden Hour. A native of Seattle, she graduated from Stanford University and earned an MBA in finance from Columbia University, then
spent several years in New York and London as a corporate strategy consultant before pursuing her passion for historical fiction.
She lives with her husband and four children near the Connecticut shore, where she divides her time between writing and laundry.
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