Editorial Content for Eyes Turned Skyward

Alena Dillon, author of MERCY HOUSE and THE HAPPIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD, returns with her most ambitious, sprawling novel yet. EYES TURNED SKYWARD is a dual-perspective, dual-timeline story about the legacy of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs).

In 1939, as World War II began to take hold of the world, pilot Jacqueline “Jackie” Cochran suggested using female pilots in non-combat missions. Initially conceived as a way to preserve manpower by releasing male pilots for other duties, the WASPs ultimately led to 1,074 women piloting, testing and training for a total of 60 million miles --- all as unrecognized civilians with no military standing. In EYES TURNED SKYWARD, Dillon profiles one of these pioneers, Peggy Mayfield, and the painful legacy of service, sacrifice and stewardship that she bestows upon her daughter, Kathy Begley.

"Perfect for readers of Kate Quinn, Martha Hall Kelly and contemporary fiction authors like Katherine Center, EYES TURNED SKYWARD is an unforgettable, redemptive novel that will educate readers about WASPs (what a history!), as well as misogyny, feminism and heroism."

In 2009, empty nester Kathy finds herself and her household upended when her high-earning husband is unceremoniously let go. As a middle-aged man, he finds that prospects are few and far between. Although he has worked hard to provide for his family, his shrinking household means that he may be able to take a lesser-earning job, which he feels would be a blow to his identity and confidence.

A former nurse, Kathy has always maintained her license and training, even when it meant squeezing in blood bank volunteer hours between raising her own children. And with her husband’s job hunt reaching desperate levels, she knows that it is time for her to re-enter the workforce. She never expected to have another “first day” in her 50s, but she finds the reintegration invigorating, offering her a new purpose now that her children are grown and her life has lost focus. But even though her husband has never been a chauvinist, their role-reversal irks him and adds tension to their marriage.

At the same time, Kathy’s stubborn, stalwart and critical widow mother is having her own first. After a bad fall in her home, it is clear that Peggy, alone for 15 years, can no longer live on her own. Although Kathy and her well-meaning, but distant, brothers decide on a course of action --- a new home in a jazzy assisted living facility --- the emotional burden of telling their mother, convincing her and sorting out her possessions falls to Kathy. With her role as a woman butting up against the men in her life in more ways than one, Kathy starts to consider the woman who made her and why she always has been so hard on her. A change of heart puts Peggy directly in Kathy’s care, resulting in the ultimate role-reversal. But no one can predict the depths of the mother-daughter reckoning that awaits them.

While going through her mother’s belongings, Kathy discovers a letter from Congress inviting Peggy to an awards ceremony celebrating WASPs. Kathy’s father was a veteran who was involved in the training of WASPs, so she assumes that her mother has been invited to represent him. But a call from the office of Nancy Pelosi confirms the unimaginable: Peggy, who claims to have waited out the war on her family’s farm before settling down with her colonel husband, was in fact one of the original WASPs, a legacy she has hidden from Kathy her entire life.

In alternate chapters, Dillon takes readers back to those first thrilling days of the inception of the WASP organization. A young Peggy, taught to fly by her crop-duster father, joins the ranks of the women fighting for proper training, recognition and respect, and finds so much more. For the first time, she is part of a world aimed at women, where education is geared toward them and motivations are hurled at them, even as the rest of the world turns a blind eye to the women doing just as much work as the men but with none of the glory. This training changes her in more ways than one.

As the past meets the present, readers learn the true meaning of legacy, as well as the devastation caused when we forget the pioneers who led the way for all that we have today. As Peggy and Kathy find themselves --- as women, mothers, daughters and wives --- the true perils of the patriarchy are laid bare for readers as they watch misogyny shift, adapt and transform with the ages.

Readers of Dillon’s other works will not be surprised by her feminist approach to a World War II story or her sensitive and compassionate unpacking of the inheritances of women. Yet in this book, she has not only fine-tuned her signature approach but applied it more broadly and ambitiously than ever before. The result is one of the finest, most educational works of World War II fiction I have ever read. It is also a searing, intimate and thoughtful mother-daughter story that encompasses three separate, but equally fulfilling, narratives: that of a mother coming to terms with her mistakes, a daughter learning to see her mother for the woman she is, and a mother and daughter meeting each other for the first time.

Perfect for readers of Kate Quinn, Martha Hall Kelly and contemporary fiction authors like Katherine Center, EYES TURNED SKYWARD is an unforgettable, redemptive novel that will educate readers about WASPs (what a history!), as well as misogyny, feminism and heroism.