Flight of Dreams

The Stewardess

It s a bad idea, don t you think? Emilie asks, as she stands inside the kitchen door, propping it open with her foot. Striking a match in here? You could blow us all to oblivion.

Xaver Maier is young for a head chef, only twenty-­five, but he wears the pressed white uniform ­a double-­breasted jacket and checkered pants ­with an air of authority. The starched apron is tied smartly at his waist, the toque fitted snuggly to his head. He gives her that careless, arrogant smirk that she has begrudgingly grown fond of and puts the cigarette to his lips. He inhales so deeply that she can see his chest expand, and then blows the smoke out the open galley window into the warm May evening. Ventilation, love, it s all about proper ventilation.

The way he says the word, the way he holds his mouth, is clearly suggestive of other things, and she dismisses him with a laugh. Xaver Maier is much younger than Emilie and a great deal too impressed with himself. At the moment, love, it s about aspirin. I need two. And a glass of water if you can summon the effort.

The kitchen is small but well ordered, and Xaver s assistant chefs are busy chopping, boiling, and basting in preparation for dinner. He stands in the center of the melee like a colonel directing his troops, an eye on every small movement.

Faking a headache? he asks. Poor Max. I thought you d finally come around. We ve been taking bets, you know.

Don t, she says, flinging a drawer open and shuffling through the contents. She has made it perfectly clear that all discussion of Max is off limits. She will make up her mind when she is good and ready. I went to the dentist yesterday, and the left side of my jaw feels like it s about to fall off. She leaves the drawer open and moves on to another.

Usually when a woman tells me her jaw is sore I apologize.

Emilie opens a third drawer. Then a fourth. Slams it. I had a tooth filled. She s impatient now. And irritated. Aspirin? I

ARIEL LAWHON is a critically acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author of historical fiction. Her books have been translated into numerous languages and have been Library Reads, One Book One County, Indie Next, Costco, Amazon Spotlight, and Book of the Month Club selections. She lives in the rolling hills outside Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband and four sons. Ariel splits her time between the grocery store and the baseball field.

An enthralling nail-biter. People 

 
We are introduced to a carousel of suspicious characters . . . so as the zeppelin cruises serenely through the clouds, the earthbound reader ricochets from distrust to uncertainty to outright foreboding. At every page a guilty secret bobs up; at every page Lawhon keeps us guessing. Who will bring down the Hindenburg? And how? The New York Times Book Review

 
A fascinating blend of love and murder, big dreams and betrayal, history and pure imagination I could not put it down. Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants 

 
An Agatha Christie style page-turner. . . . Suspenseful and fun. Kirkus Reviews

 
Rich with historical detail and spiked with plenty of surprises. Shelf Awareness


Mystery, romance it is all here, told in a mesmerizing tale. Kate Alcott, New York Times bestselling author of The Dressmaker

 
Flight of Dreams may be viewed as a Titanic of the skies. Lawhon s novel, however, needs no such comparison. It has ample emotional fuel to sail on its own, even knowing its spectacular end. Associated Press

 
A magnificent, tour-de-force story, Flight of Dreams will break your heart and satisfy every conspiracy theorist who s wondered what really happened to the Hindenburg. Simply spectacular. . . . Lawhon has written the book of the year. She s a writer to watch now, and for many years to come. J.T. Ellison, author of What Lies Behind


Difficult to put down. BookPage


A spectacular page-turner of class and distinction. Intricately plotted and deftly characterized, this beautifully written novel is wonderfully satisfying historical fiction at its best. Alex George, author of A Good American


It s a sign of an extremely talented writer who can take a story that s been told before and tell it in a completely new imaginative way that is so