Get ready to soar with former Wilmingtonian Myrna Brown’s latest novel, Harold’s Field: Barnstormers on the Frontiers of Flight.
Set in St. Paul, Minnesota, in the early days of aviation, Harold’s Field is the story of Will, a fifteen-year-old with nothing but a dream. Will is determined to build a Jenny biplane, and with it, an air show and a future.
Will has a mechanical bent and a single-minded devotion to flight. He lives in a corner of Grace’s daddy’s barn and turns wrenches at the town’s sole gas station. Two women catch his young eye: one is married, and one all too available. Will is on his own, but friends help him face financial obstacles and reversals in love.
Brown deftly portrays Will’s determination and doubts and the thirst for flight just after World War I, when Curtiss Jennies could be had for a song. Sea Leaf Book Editing helped Brown create Harold’s Field, taking us aloft with barnstorming, wing-walking, and a trip into the air in an open cockpit. Come along for the ride!