Wingwalkers by Taylor Brown

​  The South is a destination I’d only consider literary and even then, not always. And yet there was something about this book that spoke to me. The impossible daredevilish freedom of its characters, their wild disregard for gravity and insistence at defying it, defying the odds.
    Wingwalkers, barnstormers, the early aviators of the 1900s, were a breed onto themselves. Some people, it seems, have waited so long to take flight and once such a possibility presented itself, they simply were unable to resist it. Such was the case for the Falkner boys, the oldest of whom, Bill, would grow up to add a U to his name and become a giant of Southern literature. Although, somewhat ironically, in real life a man was so short in stature that he had to lie, beg and plead to get into the air force.
    Not being a huge fan of The South, I’ve actually never read Faulkner, but now I can say I read a lot about him, he’s one of the major characters here and the novel uses a lot of biographical information to present a life that was larger and stranger than fiction.
     The other two protagonists are a couple madly in love, he’s a war veteran and an aviator, she a much younger woman who joins him on his adventures falling in love with both him and the flight itself. Della dreams of going west, being in the movies, doing stunts, but Zeno is reluctant to venture out that far and odds are their old beat-up place won’t make it that far either. So, they are flying around the south along with their adorably pup Sark in his own pair of aviator goggles, entertaining the locals for pittance, until the famous exposition with flying stunts that seems to be a catalyst for their relationship, while also presenting their possibly one and only chance at getting enough money to buy their own plane.
   It is there that they meet Faulkner. Quite late in the story. Otherwise, the two narratives travel on separate paths, united mainly by their passion for flying.
    It’s a lovely story, a lovely work of literary fiction. Every so often there’s just a turn pf phrase that makes you go, wow, that’s how it’s done. The characters are terrific, likable, charming, engaging. And from a historical fiction perspective, the novel does an excellent and credible job of representing depression-era America at its dustiest and daring. Great book. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.