#QueerLitLoft

E.V. Bancroft has an aptitude for bringing history to life, with Virgin Flight providing a fascinating insight into women pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary.

Virgin Flight is an interesting opposites attract historical romance. Beryl is an ambitious dreamer whose future flying aspirations are fuelled by a teenage encounter with ATA pilot Odette. Fast forward a few years and Beryl’s teenage crush becomes a living breathing reality when she joins the ranks of the ATA. A master at both flying planes and hiding her pain, Odette knows she should keep her distance from the sweet and alluring Beryl not just to protect her heart, but also her career.

Through the eyes and experiences of Beryl Jenkinson and Odette de Lavigne, the author digs into what it means to be not just a woman, but a female pilot, and gay too. With the plot set mainly within the WW2 era, all of these characteristics would have been discriminated against during that period in one form or another, but in particular, identifying as any sexual orientation other straight would have been taboo.

I loved that this story invokes the truly British spirit of ‘keep calm and carry on’. Beryl’s character and that of her colleagues and friends evoke all the hallmarks of British stoicism displaying the attitude and behaviour of the time. As a reader, Bancroft successfully transports you back in time; almost as if you were living through the period yourself. It’s clear that a huge amount of research has gone into this book and the story glistens because of it.

If you enjoy historical romance, have an interest in past events or aviation, or even the persuasion of women in uniform this will likely be the book for you. It’s a slow-burn plot that is an easy and very interesting read. I would have liked more action in the mid-section of the story as the plot did feel slower here for me, and I also would have loved a glossary for the more aviation-specific terms. I’m a visual reader and so I did find myself having to google some terminology to get a grasp of what was happening on the page.

Overall, though, a lovely simmering push-pull romance with an engaging story, and an author who excels at not making history boring!

I received an arc of this book from Butterworth Books in exchange for an honest review.

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