Flygirl
By: Sherri L. Smith / Narrated By: Bahni Turpin
Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
Good, but Smith should’ve gone for amazing…
There’s nothing really to DISlike about Flygirl as author Sherri L. Smith crafted a likable, adventurous, (almost) courageous heroine in Ida Mae, a young “colored” (Okay, last time I’m gonna use quotes as that’s the word of the era) girl who passes herself off as white so that she might fly with the Women Airforce Service Pilots, ferrying airplanes, doing whatever is needed/asked. Whatever it is, she just knows: I’m going to fly again! So see, right there we know we’re dealing with a young woman who goes after what she wants. What’s not to love?
And Bahni Turpin as narrator?!? Hold me back from rushing in to ask for her autograph cuz THAT seasoned narrator knows how to do it all as far as submitting compelling performances sure to delight and awe listeners. Here, she does it again: Men, women, younger, or more cynical, she captures each voice perfectly. So nooo, there’s no reason for Turpin to be anything but one big ol’ massive YES!
Rather, I think what it comes down to is that the book never lives up to how awesome and tense the Publishers Summary hints that it’ll be.
Ida a.k.a. Jonesy by her flight mates is verrrry fair skinned, and her hair texture is smooth. Knowing she will not be accepted into the WASP program, she borrows a few clothes from the lady whose house she cleans to jazz up her own outfit, and she pulls back her hair into a bun so none of her hair will do something temperamental, like frizz from nervous sweating. Her best friend, who will NEVER pass for white, encourages her and tells her not to talk “country”. Armed with the clothes and smooth speaking voice, and desperately trying to tell herself that it’s okay to make eye contact with white people rather than subserviently dropping her eyes, she aces the interview (And yes, she has managed a faked pilots license).
This sets up what you thiiiiink is going to be the major issue of the book: She goes home and tells her black family that she will be white, just for awhile. This is not received well, and one thinks she will have to choose somewhere along the way. Pretty tense and suspenseful, right?
Uhm, noooo. Aside from one unfortunate incident, Ida really never has to choose between her family and her new life as an independent white woman. Neither does she have to deal with it during the enTIRE book. Except for one instance that had me at the edge of my seat, where a black man who’s just been mistreated sees her for what she is, and the store clerks might come to that knowledge also…? My palms were sweating, it was that rough for Ida.
And then Poof! Nothing. She’s NEVER in danger of being found out; she never has to choose, just seamlessly goes from family and back to WASP again. So BOOOOOO!!!! I was listening to the story for just that, and it never happened.
Okay, so I’ve griped enough. Here’s where it’s really good: It shows us what it was like to be a woman back then and during a time of war. Ida and her friend are chosen to fly the B-29, but they’re chosen only to show cowardly men that it’s safe (If you’re gonna lose some pilots, why not women?), and because the man in charge knows that women/the WASPs have a lot to prove. They do it, even when a couple of engines die, and we see Ida facing her fears and not only calming them, but she goes on to kick some righteous Female A**! And there are plenty more examples, through the various characters, of courageous women who will speak up for themselves and will act according to their words.
So the audiobook is good like that; and with Bahni Turpin, that just adds a bit of fanTASTic-ness to it all. And with that one episode of near-discovery that had me breathing quite shallow indeed, I could see that this really could have been one helluva story. But no fears for Ida, plus an abrupt ending that was inconclusive and unsatisfying as all get-out?
Well, it’s just a crying shame, I gotta tell ya…
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.