Come Fly With Me

In "Come Fly Away with Me," you'll be intoxicated by the allure of air travel during the jet age. Pan Am wasn't just transportation – flying with them was an event dripping with glamour and possibility. The novel transports us to an era when Pan Am stewardesses embodied both sophistication and liberation, their powder-blue uniforms and perfectly coiffed hair becoming symbols of mid-century modern elegance.

Through the intertwining stories of Beverly and Judy, we witness how Pan Am's strict requirements for its stewardesses – young, single, beautiful, educated – created an elite corps of women who became the face of luxury air travel. The airline's exacting standards, while problematic by today's measures, contributed to an aura of exclusivity that made flying Pan Am feel like joining an exclusive club at 35,000 feet.

The novel weaves together the personal liberation these women sought with the broader cultural context of the 1960s. Pan Am stewardesses were among the most traveled women in the world at a time when most women rarely left their hometowns. They served cocktails in the clouds, spoke multiple languages, and navigated international customs - with ease and grace. Their sophisticated image was carefully cultivated – from their white gloves to their ability to serve a perfect omelet – the detail revealed in this book shows the high standards set by jet-age glamour.

What makes this book particularly compelling is its exploration of the paradox these women lived: they were simultaneously symbols of female empowerment and objects of male fantasy. The author doesn't shy away from showing how Pan Am's stewardesses used this duality to their advantage, leveraging their positions to gain independence, travel the world, and escape societal constraints, all while working within a system commodifying their appearance and youth.

The epistolary elements scattered throughout the narrative add mystery and depth, culminating in a revelation that grounds these glamorous heights in stark emotional reality. This literary device effectively demonstrates how beneath the perfectly maintained exterior of Pan Am's golden age lay complex personal stories of ambition, escape, and reinvention.

For anyone fascinated by the romance of air travel's golden age, this novel is a first-class ticket to an era when flying was sexy, sophisticated, and full of promise (there isn't a screaming TSA agent, X-ray machine, cramped coach seat in sight). It reminds us of a time when Pan Am's stewardesses were more than service providers – they were ambassadors of the jet age, representing American glamour and sophistication across the globe. Through its compelling narrative and rich historical detail (seriously, this is a well-researched novel), "Come Fly Away with Me" celebrates the allure of that era and the remarkable women who helped define it.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an early read.