Sunday, July 8, 2012

Recommended Reading: "I Was Amelia Earhart," by Jane Mendelsohn

July 2nd (last Monday) was the 75th anniversary of the date, in 1937, when Amelia Earhart's plane went missing.

The day after the anniversary, an expedition began, to the island of Nikumaroro, in the Republic of Kiribati.  The wreckage of Earhart's plane is being sought, in the waters off the island.

(As the story below notes:  "Richard Gillespie, executive director of The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR), theorizes Earhart's plane was washed off the reef by surf days after Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, landed on Nikumaroro, about 400 miles southeast of their Howland Island destination.")

http://news.yahoo.com/researchers-set-sail-quest-amelia-earhart-fate-003056070.html
 
Because of the 75th anniversary, and the new expedition, I decided to re-read a book I first read (and first enjoyed) several years ago:  the 1996 novel I was Amelia Earhart, by Jane Mendelsohn.
 
The book is beautifully imagined, with a lovely, rich and moving sense of voice  (or, voices; it is written in both the first and third person). 

www.amazon.com/Was-Amelia-Earhart-Jane-Mendelsohn/dp/0679776362/