Tag: books

#GuestPost Richard Eager: A Pilot’s Story by Barbara Evans Kinnear

whatcathyreadnext

I’m delighted to welcome Barbara Evans Kinnear to What Cathy Read Next today to talk about Richard Eager: A Pilot’s Story, her late father’s memoir which she co-authored.

The US Air Force celebrates its 75th anniversary on 18th September 2022 and 100% of the profits from the sales of Richard Eager: A Pilot’s Story will be donated to the Air Force Aid Society, the official charity of the US Air Force which has been supporting Air Force members and their families since 1942.

You can find out more about Richard Eager: A Pilot’s Story, including many wonderful photographs, on the book’s dedicated website. I can imagine the book – a true labour of love – making fascinating reading for anyone interested in military history, aviation or wartime memoirs.

Book cover of Richard Eager by Barbara Evans KinnearAbout the Book

This is the story of how young Captain Richard Evans became the B-17 ‘Flying Fortress’ pilot for Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery, Commander of the British 8th Army, during missions throughout North Africa and Italy.

Told with humour and humility, Evans’ recollections of cadet training, combat missions and experiences with the ‘top brass’ provide a fascinating first-hand account of a World War II pilot in both the Mediterranean and Pacific theatres of operations.

Nicknamed for his over-eagerness as a cadet, “Richard Eager” shares his stories with great optimism for the future and poignant reflections on growing up.

Format: Paperback (508 pages) Publisher: Kieran Publishing Company
Publication date: 3rd July 2021 Genre: Nonfiction

Find Richard Eager: A Pilot’s Story on Goodreads

Purchase links
Amazon UK
Link provided for convenience only, not as part of an affiliate programme

Guest Post – Richard Eager: A Pilot’s Story by Barbara Evans Kinnear

Richard Eager: A Pilot’s Story was published in the United States but the stories in it easily cross the Atlantic Ocean to be enjoyed by British people. Readers from both sides remember that military men and women from the US and the UK shared equally a determination to rid the world of the terror and destruction executed by the Axis countries.

November 11th 2022 is Veteran’s Day in the United States. I mention that date because another similar day, Armed Forces Day, is celebrated in the United Kingdom on June 24th 2023. These days are permanently set aside to remember the armed forces and their dedication to their countries. We not only remember the individuals, but we remember their stories.

It is said that many WWII military veterans do not and did not want to tell their war-torn accounts. We respect their concerns, their emotions, and their memories. But we have lost truths, real-life legends of bravery, tenacity, and history.

Colonel Richard E. Evans felt it was important to tell his story. Not because he was in it, but because his family, friends and fellow veterans were. He wrote a first-hand account of a young man coming of age just as the Second World War erupted. For Richard E. Evans, and for many other young men and women, this was a harrowing and life-changing time to be alive. In the service of their country, average citizens became professional soldiers and had experiences that movie producers can only dream about. As they performed their duties they met, served and protected illustrious and prominent leaders, who are today recognized in the pages of history, but they themselves are not.

Richard Eager PhotoDuring WWII Captain Richard E. Evans was an American B-17 ‘Flying Fortress’ pilot. He flew fifty-five combat missions and was chosen to fly Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery to wherever he needed to be throughout North Africa and Italy. Evans and ‘Monty’ travelled together during a particularly dangerous phase of the war. The Allied forces were just beginning to turn back the brutal Axis armies that had invaded North Africa and were trying to close in on Egypt in an effort to gain control of the strategically vital Suez Canal. Over the deserts of Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, a rocky but honest and respectful friendship formed between the young American pilot and Field Marshal Montgomery, later to become 1st Viscount of Alamein.

Although Colonel Evans died without seeing his book in print, he believed he’d written stories filled with compassion, courage, humour, humility and history: poignant anecdotes of his early life in Tennessee, his US Army Air Corps training, his B-17 bombing missions over Africa, Italy and German-held parts of Europe, and, of course, enlightening accounts of his time spent with Monty on long flights and at Monty’s headquarters.

To provide greater context and colour to Colonel Evans’s experiences, I have included in the book much research and additional archival material, including:

  • a chronology of his life’s milestones
  • a glossary of war terms – many defined with his customary humour
  • primary sources – original family letters, Victory Mail, commendations and other documents – that shed light on his fears, reflections and important personal and professional relationships
  • photos from his childhood in Tennessee and his years in military service
  • maps illustrating the lands and seas over which he flew
  • an epilogue detailing his work after the WWII

So, dear reader, I hope as you peruse this post you will be encouraged to read Richard Eager: A Pilot’s Story. As one reviewer has stated, “Most particularly this book shows us how many individual stories it takes to complete the story of WWII. You will remember this book and Richard Eager for a long time to come and be grateful that he was fighting on our side.”

#BookReview At the Breakfast Table by Defne Suman, trans. by Betsy Goeksel

whatcathyreadnext

At the Breakfast TableAbout the Book

Buyukada, Turkey, 2017. In the glow of a late summer morning, family gather for the 100th birthday of the famous artist Shirin Saka. It ought to be a time of fond reminiscence, looking back on a long and fruitful artistic career, on memories spanning almost a century. But the deep past is something Shirin has spent a lifetime trying to conceal.

Her grandchildren, Nur and Fikret, and great-grandchild, Celine, do not know what she’s hiding, though they are intimately aware of the secret’s psychological consequences. The siblings invite family friend and investigative journalist Burak along to interview Shirin – in celebration of her centenary, and also in the hope of persuading her to open up.

Eventually Shirin begins to express her pain the only way she knows how. She paints a story onto her dining room wall, revealing a history wiped from public consciousness and generations of her family’s history.

Format: Hardback (416 pages)             Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 1st September 2022 Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Literature in Translation

Find At the Breakfast Table on Goodreads

Purchase links
Bookshop.org
Disclosure: If you buy a book via the above link, I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops

Hive | Amazon UK
Links provided for convenience only, not as part of an affiliate programme

At the Breakfast TableMy Review

As with her previous book, The Silence of Scheherazade (which is still on my Kindle waiting to be read), the location of At the Breakfast Table is the author’s native Turkey.  Although set in the present day it involves events dating back to the 1920s.

The story is told from four different points of view: journalist, Burak; Shirin Saka’s grandchild, Nur; Celine, Nur’s niece; and Sadik Usta, Shirin Saka’s faithful servant and companion. Although the unfolding of Shirin Saka’s story forms a key element of the book, we never hear from her directly but through the narratives of others. The same is (largely) true of Suheyla, Nur’s dead mother. I confess it took me a little time to get the family relationships straight in my head partly because, although the book does contain a family tree, this wasn’t included in my digital copy. (I was also confused by Shirin Saka sometimes being referred to as Shirin Hanim until I got to the glossary at the end of the book and learned Hanim means Mrs.)

The author creates distinctive narrative voices for each of the four characters. Celine is all breathless excitement at the prospect of discovering her great-grandmother’s story, although she felt rather immature for the age she is supposed to be. Burak is more matter of fact and thoughtful but exudes a real sense of melancholy, mainly because of his complicated relationship with Nur. Sadik Usta tells his story in a restrained way, often referring to himself as ‘I, your humble servant’. His protectiveness towards Shirin Saka (which extends to a reluctance to delve into the past) and his quiet devotion to her, and the family in general, made him my favourite character.  Nur was a character I really struggled with. I found her self-obsessed and her treatment of Burak, toying with his affections when it suited her and discarding him at other times, difficult to forgive.

There is a lot of moving back and forth in time, with present day events being described alongside memories of (sometimes quite incidental) past events and the transition between the two not always entirely clear. This is especially the case in the sections told from the point of view of Nur and Burak. One minute they’ve just met, then they’ve broken up because Nur has married someone else, then they’re back in the early days of their relationship.

Between the four different narrators – and through the art made by Shirin Saka – we gradually learn about the early lives of Shirin Saka and Sadik Usta, and the source of their unique bond. It also provides a lesson in a period of Turkish history about which I knew very little and during which shocking events took place. Many of these, sadly, are echoed in events taking place in the world today: cultural and religious persecution, forced migration, extreme nationalism. Look, for instance, at what is taking place with the Uyghurs in China.

At the Breakfast Table is an interesting story of family relationships and exploration of the concept of intergenerational trauma. I also enjoyed the insight into Turkish culture (especially its cuisine) and history. However, the disjointed way in which the story was told and its slow pace meant it didn’t quite live up to my expectations.

I received a digital review copy courtesy of Head of Zeus via NetGalley.

In three words: Immersive, intense, affecting

Try something similar: Island of Secrets by Patricia Wilson

Defne SumanAbout the Author

Defne Suman was born in Istanbul and grew up on Prinkipo Island. She gained a Masters in sociology from the Bosphorus University and then worked as a teacher in Thailand and Laos, where she studied Far Eastern philosophy and mystic disciplines. She later continued her studies in Oregon, USA and now lives in Athens with her husband. The Silence of Scheherazade, first published in Turkey and Greece in 2016, was her English language debut.

Connect with Defne
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram