Crossing the Horizon Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

Print PDF

For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, Early Aviatrixes and our BookBrowse Review of Crossing the Horizon.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. Crossing the Horizon opens with an account of Elsie Mackay's narrow escape from death in an airplane piloted by her flight instructor. What does her behavior in the middle of this crisis reveal about her character? How does Elsie's appetite for adventure relate to the choices she makes in other aspects of her life?
2. "Lord Inchcape had seen the will of his daughter evolve right before his eyes, her boldness take hold." (page12) How does Lord Inchcape's relationship with his third daughter, Elsie, change over the course of the novel? How do you interpret Inchcape's elaborate efforts to protect Elsie from harm—typical fatherly concern, the controlling behavior of an aristocrat used to getting his way, or something else entirely?
3. How does the $25,000 Orteig Prize (for the first nonstop transatlantic flight from New York to Paris) bring together Charles Lindbergh, an unknown airmail pilot from St. Louis, and Charles Levine, the Brooklyn-born millionaire and cofounder of the Columbia Aircraft Corporation? How would you characterize the nature of their connection? Were you surprised to learn that both were members of the Quiet Birdmen?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Gallery Books. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.