LEADER 00000pam  2200289 i 4500 
005    20190909110735.0 
008    190423s2019    nyu    e      000 1 eng d 
010    bl2019012203 
020    9781496721679 
040    NjBwBT|beng|erda|cNjBwBT|dIMmBT|dUtOrBLW 
082 04 813/.6|223 
092    |fF|aHLAD 
100 1  Hlad, Alan,|eauthor. 
245 14 The long flight home /|cAlan Hlad. 
250    First Kensington hardcover edition. 
264  1 New York, NY :|bJohn Scognamiglio Books, Kensington Books,
       |c2019. 
300    376 pages ;|c22 cm 
336    text|2rdacontent 
337    unmediated|2rdamedia 
338    volume|2rdacarrier 
520    Inspired by fascinating, true, yet little-known events 
       during World War II, The Long Flight Home is a testament 
       to the power of courage in our darkest hours—a moving, 
       masterfully written story of love and sacrifice.  It is 
       September 1940—a year into the war—and as German bombs 
       fall on Britain, fears grow of an impending invasion. 
       Enemy fighter planes blacken the sky around the Epping 
       Forest home of Susan Shepherd and her grandfather, Bertie.
       After losing her parents to influenza as a child, Susan 
       found comfort in raising homing pigeons with Bertie. All 
       her birds are extraordinary to Susan—loyal, intelligent, 
       beautiful—but none more so than Duchess. Hatched from an 
       egg that Susan incubated in a bowl under her grandfather’s
       desk lamp, Duchess shares a special bond with Susan and an
       unusual curiosity about the human world.   Thousands of 
       miles away in Buxton, Maine, a young crop-duster pilot 
       named Ollie Evans has decided to travel to Britain to join
       the Royal Air Force. His quest brings him to Epping and to
       the National Pigeon Service, where Susan is involved in a 
       new, covert assignment. Codenamed Source Columba, the 
       mission aims to air-drop hundreds of homing pigeons in 
       German-occupied France. Many will not survive. Those that 
       do make the journey home to England can convey crucial 
       information on German troop movements—and help reclaim the
       skies from the Luftwaffe.  The friendship between Ollie 
       and Susan deepens as the mission date draws near. When 
       Ollie’s plane is downed behind enemy lines, both know how 
       remote the chances of reunion must be. Yet Duchess’s 
       devotion and her singular sense of duty will become an 
       unexpected lifeline, relaying messages between Susan and 
       Ollie as war rages on—and proving, at last, that hope is 
       never truly lost.  
650  0 World War, 1939-1945|zEngland. 
650  0 Homing pigeons|xWar use|zGreat Britain|vFiction. 
650  0 Man-woman relationships|vFiction. 
655  7 Historical fiction.|2gsafd