BookBrowse Reviews Crossing the Horizon by Laurie Notaro

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Three intrepid women chase one common goal in this engaging historical fiction novel.

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In Crossing the Horizon, Laurie Notaro takes us back to a time when flying was a rare and risky occupation, and when it was believed that women didn't have the intelligence, stamina or physical strength to pilot an airplane over long distances. This fictionalized account focuses on three real-life figures who vied to make history as the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.

The heroines of Notaro's book couldn't have been more different from each other: Elsie Mackay (1893-1928), the daughter of a wealthy British Earl who owned a shipping line; Mabel Boll (1893-1949), a brash and utterly boorish American socialite; and Ruth Elder (1902-19770), a U.S. beauty queen from a middle-class background. They shared a love of being in the air and a driving desire to achieve the goal at all costs—each making tremendous sacrifices and braving many obstacles to get there.

Elsie, Mabel and Ruth were not the only women looking to break flight records; they were constantly aware of and in competition with others who were about to beat them to it. The selection of these three subjects in particular is an inspired choice as it allows the author to explore a larger range of reasons such risks were undertaken and the wide variety of technical problems encountered.

For one thing, the women's specific objectives and motivations to reach the end goal were different. Elsie wanted to be the first person of either gender to successfully pilot a plane via the more difficult east–to-west crossing. Mabel simply wanted to be the first woman passenger to make the flight so that she should could claim the title "Queen of the Air," thereby gratifying her boundless vanity. And Ruth was talked into undertaking the West-to-East crossing by an advertising agency that wanted to sponsor an "All-American Girl" for the publicity. The three women's personalities were also so different from one another that they provide an entertaining contrast.

Notaro realistically captures the tone and mood surrounding each attempt. In some cases the flights were undertaken in secret to avoid the disapprobation of family and friends, but more often, take-offs were accompanied by a circus-like atmosphere. She describes Mabel Boll's first attempt:

Flashes of light and pops of brightness shot from all directions as Mabel emerged from the car, waving to the photographers with one arm and holding Solitaire, her black and silver miniature Schnauzer, under the other. Her bracelets collided together and chirped delicate chimes with each wave. She stopped for a moment, elated with the size of her audience, then blew a kiss; she felt the moment was worthy. Shimmering, she approached the podium, the sweater's gold links ricocheting sparks of light, glowing as she slowly moved, not missing a moment of adulation...It was a spectacle, every man with a camera jostling the others to get a better shot at Mabel, her diamonds sparkling pools of light at her throat, fingers, and wrists. Even Solitaire's collar – containing more gemstones than any of the men in the crowd could ever buy their wives – gleamed and reflected rainbows.

The author has an exceptional ability to highlight the challenges of early air travel, and she really drives home just what a dangerous undertaking an ocean crossing was at the time. It could take upwards of 40 hours, during which pilots needed to stay alert and "at the wheel." Fuel tanks couldn't contain enough fuel to make the crossing, so a co-pilot had to refill the plane while in the air from 50-pound containers. There were no current weather reports, no reliable communication equipment, no way to signal if one was in trouble. Notaro's description of each woman's record-setting attempt is nothing short of harrowing. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough and remained completely rapt throughout.

The dialog is the only aspect which falls a bit short. At times it seems unnatural – overly dramatic and like what one might hear in a B-movie from the 1940s. For example, at one point Ruth says, "This is not about beating [fellow aviatrix] Frances Grayson...This is about you and me and everyone that has worked together for this flight. This is about all of our test flights, all of our calculations, each turn of your wrench, every time you wiped your hands on that rag..." and it goes on in that vein for some time. Because the author makes a point of sticking to documented aspects of these women's lives, fortunately these fictionalized conversations are not a large part of the narrative.

In short, Crossing the Horizon is an engaging and well-written novel about the early days of flight and three intrepid women who dared to be pioneers of this new form of travel. This highly satisfying account is sure to win Notaro many new fans and introduce readers to this fascinating and little-known aspect of history.

Pictures of aviatrixes courtesy of Simon & Schuster

This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in October 2016, and has been updated for the July 2017 edition. Click here to go to this issue.