Flying Lessons

Flying Lessons

Finding himself in his fifties, Michael Southern has crash-landed. He’s lost all passion for his job, his marriage is strained, and his kids are moving out of his house, one by one. On top of that, he is in constant demand to look after his 101-year-old grandfather, whom he despises. When the old man dies of natural causes, Michael is tasked to clean out the house and get it ready to sell. Little did Michael know that his grandfather’s death would reveal a trove of secrets about a highly decorated pilot, a wartime hero, and a lost love. Michael decides to travel to Normandy to piece together his grandfather’s hidden past, and his journey becomes a lens for his own personal reckoning that changes the flight of his life forever. FLYING LESSONS unfolds across two timelines, one in 2023 and another surrounding D-Day in 1944. Woven seamlessly together throughout the book, they portray generational tension and reconciliation, uncover hidden truths, and embrace transformation. War enthusiasts will appreciate the attention to historical detail and the sudden violence that wartime brings, romantics will weep at opportunities lost and a love wholly realized, realists will understand the modern day struggles of middle-aged Americans, and travelers will love the travelogue-like descriptions of post war Normandy. It is a story written today, with past lessons for our own future.