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Published Apr 2022
320 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publication Information
A former WWI ace pilot and his wingwalker wife barnstorm across Depression-era America, performing acts of aerial daring.
"They were over Georgia somewhere, another nameless hamlet whose dusty streets lay flocked and trembling with the pink handbills they'd rained from the sky that morning, the ones that announced the coming of DELLA THE DARING DEVILETTE, who would DEFY THE HEAVENS, shining like a DAYTIME STAR, a WING-WALKING WONDER borne upon the wings of CAPTAIN ZENO MARIGOLD, a DOUBLE ACE of the GREAT WAR, who had ELEVEN AERIAL VICTORIES over the TRENCHES OF FRANCE."
Wingwalkers is one-part epic adventure, one-part love story, and, as is the signature for critically-acclaimed author Taylor Brown, one large part American history. The novel follows the adventures of Della and Zeno Marigold, a pair of Great Depression barnstormers who are funding their journey west by performing death-defying aerial stunts from town to town, and braids them with the real-life exploits of author (and thwarted fighter pilot) William Faulkner. When their paths cross during a dramatic air show, there will be unexpected consequences for all.
Brown has taken a tantalizing tidbit from Faulkner's real life―an evening's chance encounter with two daredevils in New Orleans―and set it aloft in this fabulous novel. With scintillating prose and an action-packed plot, he has captured the true essence of a bygone era and shed a new light on the heart and motivations of one of America's greatest authors.
"Vivid writing pops off the page in this sixth novel from Brown. A wondrous tale, mixing fact and fiction, with colorful details of the Depression-era United States as backdrop." - Library Journal (starred review)
"Brown returns with a boozy and nimble story of William Faulkner and two flying daredevils who meet by chance in 1934 at Mardi Gras...Brown crafts a heart-pounding plot, and his gorgeous descriptions of Southern terrain from the air resonate just as much. The result is both elegant and thrilling." - Publishers Weekly
"Taylor Brown writes with rare energy, spinning out history with the force of myth. Wingwalkers thrusts us into the lives of two daredevil aeronauts during the Great Depression, who happen to awaken and inspire William Faulkner. Brown's vision is as fresh and audacious as his language. Gutsy, original, and powerfully imagined." - Paula McClain, author of The Paris Wife and When the Stars Go Dark
"Brown weaves a rich and poignant tale from a tidbit in Faulkner's life around an aerial barnstorming couple of the 1930s. Fierce and beautiful." - Kim Michele Richardson, author of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
"Like flight itself, Wingwalkers defies gravity, lifting us into the ether with its beautiful and poetic grace. Fans of Faulkner will not be disappointed. Be transported to the days of early aviation, walk in the shoes of those who dared to push the boundaries of man. Taylor Brown's characters live the kind of bold, fearless lives we all envy. This book is not to be missed!" - Susan Crandall, author of The Flying Circus
This information about Wingwalkers was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Harry Taylor
Taylor Brown grew up on the Georgia coast. His work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including The New York Times, The Rumpus, Garden & Gun, Chautauqua, The North Carolina Literary Review, and many others. He is the recipient of a Montana Prize in Fiction, and he's been a finalist for the Press 53 Open Awards, Machigonne Fiction Contest, Wabash Prize in Fiction, Rick DeMarinis Short Story Contest, Dahany Fiction Prize, and Doris Betts Fiction Prize. He is the author of a short story collection, In the Season of Blood and Gold (Press 53, 2014), as well as three novels: Fallen Land (St. Martin's Press, 2016), The River of Kings (St. Martin's Press, 2017), and Gods of Howl Mountain (St. Martin's Press, 2018)–all finalists for the Southern Book Prize. Taylor, an Eagle Scout,...
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