A Pair of Wings

An airline captain crafts a riveting,adventurous novel inspired by the remarkable true life of pioneer aviatrix Bessie Colemana Black woman who learned to fly at the dawn of aviation and found freedom in the air A few years after the Wright brothersΓÇÖ first flightBessie was working the Texas cotton fields with her family when an airplane flew over their heads. It buzzed so low she thought she could catch it in her hands. Bessie was fearless. She knew there was freedom in those wings. The daughter of a woman born into slaveryBessie answers the call of the Great Migration. She moves to Chicagowhere she wins the backing of two wealthypowerful Black menΓÇöRobert Abbottcreator and publisher of the Chicago Defenderand Jesse Bingathe founder of ChicagoΓÇÖs first Black bank. Abbott becomes her mentorwhile Binga becomes her lover. Her true first lovethoughremains flying. But in 1920no one in the United States will train a Black woman to fly. Sotwenty-eight-year-old Bessie learns to speak French and sets off for Europe. Two years ahead of Amelia EarhartBessie earns her pilotΓÇÖs licenseand later she learns death-defying stunts from French and German dogfighting combat pilots. While she finds no prejudice in the airBessie wrestles with other challenges on the ground. A plane crash nearly kills herher brothers seem to be crumbling under the weight of Jim Crowandwhile grappling with tough truths about BingaBessie begins to wonder if the freedom she finds in the sky means she must otherwise fly solo. With tenderness and masteryCarole Hopson imagines the breathtaking moxie Bessie Coleman harnessed in order to lift herself out of poverty and become known as ΓÇ£Queen Bess.ΓÇ¥