Kirkus Reviews says this novel is “well-written and insightful but so heartbreaking that it raises the question of what a reader is looking for in fiction.”
There’s a saying that winter weather brings a special quality with it – the power to stop life as you know it dead in its tracks. Groundhog Day ushered in ice and temperatures in the teens, but fortunately milder weather prevailed as 15 Bookers trekked to the home of Bonnie Magee for this month’s meeting. We welcomed new member Donna Coleman to her first Bookers, and I feel terrible I didn’t recognize Monika Allen as it was her first as well! My apologies and we hope to see you again next month.
One summer morning the lives of 191 passengers and crew aboard a flight from Newark to Los Angeles changed. Eddie Adler, his cherished brother, Jordan, and their parents shared air space with a Wall Street wunderkind, a young woman coming to terms with an unexpected pregnancy, an injured veteran returning from Afghanistan, a septuagenarian business tycoon, and a free-spirited woman running away from her controlling husband. The plane crashed in Colorado and the youngest Adler was the only survivor. As simple as it may seem, the author’s signal by changing his name from Eddie to Edward telegraphed a loss of innocence placing the burden of survivor syndrome squarely on his shoulders as he vaulted into adulthood. Edward immediately captured the attention of a nation while he struggled to find a place for himself in a world without his immediate family – a part of him was left in the sky as he would forever be tied to the plane and all the passengers. The rest of the book is a study in before and after, how a broken heart learns to love again, and in alternating chapters, we explore the backstories of the doomed passengers and their hopes and plans. Everyone read the book and most liked.
Ann Napolitano spent eight years working on the novel and was astonished when readers began reaching out to her with their own personal stories of dealing with the death of a loved one. They all echoed the same sentiment that there is no timeline for healing, no timeline to put grief on the backburner and get on with life. They commented her story spoke to the deepest part of grief…where “what happened is baked into your bones…it lives under your skin and will be a part of you every moment until you die…the key is learning to live with that.” The novel was inspired by a 2010 crash – flight from South Africa to London which crashed in Libya with only one survivor – a 9-year-old Dutch boy found still buckled into is seat half a mile from the wreckage. She created a world that was kind enough to embrace someone like Edward – like a Mr. Rogers saying – “look for the helpers” – the people stepping forward with kindness in their eyes.
Thousands of reviews echoed a glowing appreciation of the novel, but of course it’s common to have some naysayers… “disappointed in the unnecessary foul language, sexual situations, and innuendos…read it for book club and most of us happily threw it in the trash where it belonged.” “Napolitano’s writing is cold…I often felt like the story was being told by a play-by-play announcer.” “Yikes I haven’t read a novel this ridiculous and out of touch with reality in years…. skip this absurd tale all together.” And this one, a five-star glowing review from an Amazon top 500 reviewer and a Vine Voice called Edward Bruce through the entire review…oh well, we’re not a perfect society.
Jean Alexander with her ability to bring a novel to life did not disappoint with an in-depth review of the nuances of this work. In the midst of the presentation, she and I scurried off for a few minutes leaving Jane Shaw in charge of keeping the discussion going about our reaction to Shay’s pointed words to Edward – No one can ever hurt you again because you’ve already lost everything. You can never be a normal kid.
Jean, wearing a colorful wrap around her head and a bright “gypsy” top and skirt, reappeared as Madame Victory, the tarot-card/palm reader. The bells chimed as Edward, yours truly, dressed in his brother’s oversized clothes, cowboy hat, and red sneakers entered the lobby of Madame Victory’s establishment. We recreated a poignant scene from the novel where Madame Victory’s words allowed Edward to move forward in his own skin without guilt and accomplish anything he set out to do. “Take stock in who we are, and what we have, and then use it for good. There’s no reason for what happened to you Eddie. You could have died. You just didn’t. It was dumb luck. Nobody chose you for anything. Which means you can do anything.”
Bravo Ms. Alexander!
Our discussion:
We talked about the “helpers” in Edward’s life. His aunt and uncle, John and Lacey Curtis, were thrust into parenthood when they assumed the role of his guardians. They were in an impossible situation with a cross between treating him normally but also protecting him from his celebrity. They probably went a little overboard trying to shelter him, but they were also told that he could be suicidal. Edward was intuitive and interested in the dynamics of the couple commenting “like they are on the side of the mountain underprepared in terms of both fitness and supplies. He enjoyed watching General Hospital with Lacey and John proactively gathered all the information swirling around on Edward and the crash, changing the mail to a Post Office Box and storing the letters addressed to Edward in a locked duffel bag in the garage until he was “old” enough or ready to read them.
Shay and Edward were two souls adrift for different reasons. When he lost his family, he lost his identity and she lived with an absent father who cared less that she was alive or dead. Their mutual bond was one of need, of comfort, of necessity. Shay’s mother was also a helper allowing Edward space permitting him to spend each night in her daughter’s room. Edward felt the connection to Shay because of their ages and that she had remembered Jordan. She was his oxygen – what he required to survive. He was alive, not just surviving, but alive because of her. There was an undercurrent of unspoken conversation between them. In the epilogue when they drove across country to visit the crash site, he heard Jordan’s voice, “do not waste any time…do not waste any love.” Shay was the girl in the pajamas with pink clouds on them and she would be the woman who will give birth to their daughter ten years from then.
Dr. Mike, Edward’s therapist kept him grounded and was dedicated to helping Edward find a way to live with the tragedy. And the school principal took a concerned interest in him introducing him to the world of ferns. It gave him purpose – he was responsible for the care of something else.
The Letters were major characters in the novel – they were the key to his healing – they gave him purpose, a way, and a reason to move forward…giving him the “air” which allowed him to sleep and acted as a catalyst that enabled Edward to heal. Those who wrote longed to tell the only survivor of the plane who they lost in the wreckage, hoping he could recall seeing their loved one before the crash. The letters were inanimate but as it turned out, they were helpers to Edward.
The relationship between Jordan and Edward was inspirational. Edward thought Jordan should have been the one to survive – he was a real person – he knew who he was – people liked him – he was already doing important things as seen in his refusal at the airport to be scanned through the machine and his decision to move from a vegetarian to a vegan…he seldom doubted himself. The love between the two was inspired by the author’s two sons. They were babies at the time and the author said, “the only thing that was certain was they were deeply in love with each other.” Edward began wearing Jordan’s clothes – they were too big, but he grew into them – it’s not unusual when you lose someone to do this – it allows you to carry that person with you.
People were fascinated with Survivor Edward. They desperately wanted to share something extraordinary about themselves because he had experienced something extraordinary. Gary, Linda’s fiancé, drove from California to see if Edward remembered her – he did and his comments comforted Gary. Edward carried the burden of all those who lost their lives that day “they’re all alive up there as long as I’m alive down here” – including 12-year-old Eddie. We are composed of everyone we ever touched, everyone we’ve hugged, shook hands with, or high-fived – Edward had the molecules inside him of his parents, his brother, and everyone who was on the plane that day.
The cast of colorful characters on the plane included Florida, a free spirit who believed wholeheartedly she had lived several lives in the past. One very astute Booker suggested that Florida might have been reincarnated into Madame Victory – the bells on her skirt and the chiming bells at the tarot-card reader’s business might have been a subtle nod to this scenario. Linda, pregnant and flying to meet her fiancé, was uncertain he was going to commit to marriage. Mark the Wall-Street wunderkind coke head – full of himself and out to prove how productive and smart he can be even under the influence of drugs. Jax Lassio, Mark’s brother who inherited seven million dollars and didn’t want a dime of it ended up sending it to Edward who later used it to help others. Crispin Cox – ultra wealthy, traveling with a nurse, dies on the plane before it crashes. His wife rescued John and Edward when they were in Washington for the TSA hearing – sharing her car to deliver them to the parking lot to avoid the crowds wanting to catch a glimpse of the miracle boy. Benjamin Stillman was the gay ex-military guy going to visit his grandmother who raised him. Veronica, the first-class flight attendant, who was aware of her prowess and the effect on the opposite sex, “bedded” Mark in the bathroom. Her character prompted a lively discussion of whether this “activity” was a common practice and was confirmed by our own retired flight attendant. Beyond this role, the reasoning for her character was to give credence to knowledge no one else would have regarding what was going on with the flight as it “prepared” to crash. We also discussed the “death protocol” on a plane with Bonnie sharing she had two passengers die in her arms during her tenure with Pan Am. And Mahira, Jordan’s secret girlfriend who had a minor role but led Edward to seek the advice from Madame Victory.
Two Bookers were reading Dear Edward aboard airplanes and were thankful there were no specific details about the crash while they were airborne. Scary. We discussed whether we talked to fellow passengers on a flight, how it seemed to be easier to share things with strangers – they generally will not be judgmental and is often healing. We wondered whether Edward discovered where he landed after the crash when he and Shay went to the memorial, deciding it was just a quiet spot away from any tourists. We discovered some of us are Chatty Cathy’s on planes while others open a book and keep their noses in it. The epilogue moved the story forward, tying up the loose ends ensuring there was not a sequel in the works and continued with the character development. One moment that stuck with us was how the paramedic who was the first on the scene was impacted. My question was what was the pilot doing while the co-pilot was heading the plane on a disaster course? The scene that sticks out for me is when Edward was calling out, “I’m here” to the search and rescue teams at the crash site. The visualization of a twelve-year-old still strapped into his seatbelt, wedged in behind the wreckage of the aircraft – the only survivor of the crash – is heart-stopping.
COLOR CODING SYSTEM
WHITE: LIGHT READ
PINK: MODERATELY CHALLENGING
RED: CHALLENGING
March 8: The Address, Fiona Davis
When a chance encounter with Theodore Camden, one of the architects of the grand New York apartment house, the Dakota, leads to a job offer for Sara Smythe, her world is suddenly awash in possibility – no mean feat for a servant in 1884.
PINK
Discussion Leader: TBD
Home of Jean McSpadden
April 12: Cher Ami & Major Whittlesey, Kathleen Rooney
From the green countryside of England and the gray canyons of Wall Street come two unlikely heroes – one pigeon and the other a soldier. Answering the call to serve in WWI neither the messenger bird nor Charles Whittlesey the army officer can anticipate how their lives will briefly intersect in a chaotic battle in the forests of France.
PINK
Discussion Leader: TBD
Home of Bonnie Magee
May 10: Be Frank With Me, Julia Cleburne Johnson Debut
A reclusive literary legend who wrote a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winning novel at nineteen has barely been seen or heard from since though, ironically, she still lives in a glass mansion in Bel Air even after having lost all her money in a Ponzi scheme. She needs to write another novel, so her publisher sends her a highly competent editorial assistant whose job is to be a companion to the author’s nine-year-old son – a boy with the intellect of Albert Einstein and the wardrobe of a 1930s movie star.
PINK
Discussion Leader: Debbie Yarger
Home of Debbie Yarger, Bookers Evening Meeting
Bonnie Magee, Food & Beverage czar will coordinate our fare.
Summer Read: The Wives of Henry Oades, Johanna Moran
When Henry Oades accepts an accountancy post in New Zealand, his wife, Margaret, and their children follow him to exotic Wellington. But while Henry is an adventurer, Margaret is not. Their new home is rougher and more rustic than they expected—and a single night of tragedy shatters the family when the native Maori stage an uprising, kidnapping Margaret, and her children. The story is based on a real-life legal case.
PINK
Discussion Leader: Jane Shaw
It’s our job to show up for our own lives and fight for our dreams. The sky’s the limit when we believe.
Happy Reading,
JoDee
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