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On Borrowed Wings: A Novel
Adele Pietra has heard her mother say that her destiny is carved in the same brilliantly hued granite her father and brother cleave from the Stony Creek mine: she is to marry a quarryman. But when Adele's brother, Charles, dies in a mining accident, Adele sees the chance to change her life. Enrolling at Yale as Charles, Adele assumes his identity -- and gender -- as a way...more
Hardcover, 320 pages
Published
June 19th 2007
by Atria
(first published 2007)
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It's not often that I finish a book then say immediately afterward, "That was a really good book."
Truly. I never speak my thoughts aloud, express them to the air. But this book moved me, in good ways and bad.
A little history on how I read the book: I bought it off the Apple ebook store a year or two ago. I started reading it. I found it interesting, but I did not finish it. Last night I decided, hell, I should finish reading it! So I did because I recalled the premise: a girl goes to Yale in p...more
Truly. I never speak my thoughts aloud, express them to the air. But this book moved me, in good ways and bad.
A little history on how I read the book: I bought it off the Apple ebook store a year or two ago. I started reading it. I found it interesting, but I did not finish it. Last night I decided, hell, I should finish reading it! So I did because I recalled the premise: a girl goes to Yale in p...more
I picked this book up from the bargain table at Borders this summer because I liked the dust jacket. I knew nothing about this book going in (which is how I like to read) and it took me to a place I didn't expect or see coming at all. It had me most of the way (I'd say 3/4), but the other 1/4 of what makes an exceptional book is that things just feel right. And for some reason, this didn't. Certain things that happened were contrived; some of the situations just didn't seem possible; Adele did t...more
This is the story of Adele Pietra and her coming of age as a woman in 1930s Connecticut. After losing her brother and father in a tragic accident, she decides (with her mother's help) to assume her brother's identity and take his place at Yale. She and her mom spend weeks on how to dress and walk and act like a man and then off she goes. I really enjoyed reading this book - the character of Adele is compelling and believable. Her struggles with fitting in with her male classmates (and dealing wi...more
Finished this book in a matter of hours. Well-written, quite well-written, but a little bit fluffy at times with themes and motifs that were a little too easy to pick out of the narrative. Some characters came across as stock characters rather than original creations, and a few potentially interesting subplots -- Adele's guilt over having resented her brother so much only to see him die tragically, why Chadwick Foster is so convinced he's a terrible person (I was expecting a legitimate dark secr...more
This novel has so man things to commend it. Prasad's gentle tone and well-developed characters make one want to walk into the narrative and experience it from the inside out. The issues--identity; coming of age; gender, class, and ethnic differences; family relationships; friendship and trust; academic politics--all resonate for the contemporary reader, even though the book is set at Yale in the 30's. As Adele navigates her strange new world and overcomes so many obstacles to her success, we che...more
Chandra Prasad's On Borrowed Wings has joined the ranks of favorite books that I like to revisit from time to time. It is most thoroughly a comfort read, if only because I know how things end and find the book a completely satisfying read. Not all the questions are answered and frankly the second time around I am still left wanting more, but this is such a wonderful story questioning gender roles, and crossing class and cultural boundaries that it may be comforting to read, but it is most certai...more
Nov 30, 2008
Maggie
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
fiction,
historical-fiction,
new-haven,
connecticut,
history,
female-author,
transvestite,
glbt
Set in 1930's on the Yale campus, so it was of particular interest to me. Adele in the guise of a young man, enrolls at Yale. She's a tough cookie, which is admirable, but at the same time sensitive and concerned about the less fortunate in her community. She grapples with moral issues, intellectual honesty, and loyalty to a mother who does not understand her ambition.
I wouldn't say that it was a "great" or "sweeping" book that changed my life, but as a vignette of history, it was well-research...more
I wouldn't say that it was a "great" or "sweeping" book that changed my life, but as a vignette of history, it was well-research...more
Sep 28, 2009
Tara Chevrestt
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
historical-fiction
What a lovely story!!! And so many stories in one... so many issues dealt with by the characters.. There is a well to do, spoiled girl that marries "beneath" her and is indefinetly estranged from her parents. There is a tense marriage between an Italian immigrant and a woman not quite used to doing for herself. There is sibling rivalry as one child is always favored over the other. There is mother/daughter discord, death, grief, and of course, the main plot, a girl dressing as a boy to attend Ya...more
Nov 11, 2008
Ciara
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
women's education historians, yalies, literacy activists, boarding school obsessives
chandra prasad edited the anthology mixed, which is a collection of stories about being mixed race. her editor intro thing said that she was coming out with a novel shortly about a young woman who poses as a boy in the 1930s in order to attend yale (before yale went co-ed, obvs). for some reason, this idea captured my imagination, & i was breathless with excitement, waiting for the book to show up at the library. well, this is that book, & yeah, the protaganist assumes the male identity...more
May 10, 2008
Jennifer Wardrip
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Shelves:
trt-posted-reviews,
trt-gold-star-award-winner
Reviewed by Marta Morrison for TeensReadToo.com
The year is 1936. In the small town of Stony Creek there lives a family of four. There is the mother, a washer woman who used to be a privileged daughter of a professor until she married the father, an Italian quarry man. They had two children, a boy, Charles, and a daughter, Adele.
Charles is the apple of his mother's eye and is being groomed to go to Yale on scholarship. Adele is her father's favorite and her mom is preparing her to be the wife of...more
The year is 1936. In the small town of Stony Creek there lives a family of four. There is the mother, a washer woman who used to be a privileged daughter of a professor until she married the father, an Italian quarry man. They had two children, a boy, Charles, and a daughter, Adele.
Charles is the apple of his mother's eye and is being groomed to go to Yale on scholarship. Adele is her father's favorite and her mom is preparing her to be the wife of...more
For some reason, I felt like I read this book before. Or maybe I felt like the book was so contrived that it couldn't have really happened the way it did in this novel. Whatever.[return][return]Adele Pietra grew up in a limestone quarry town and her father and brother are unexpectedly killed in a mining accident. Her brother had just been accepted into Yale. (This is the first thing that seemed strange to me. Adele discusses how much brighter she is than her brother, yet the poor boy gets into Y...more
The time frame was off, I did not believe the plot was plausible; the story dated in 1936 the slang was not believable she couldn't convenience me that was the year this story took place. The story was predictable did not like and was irritated that the story had little depth, few struggles fitting in, I doubt that the rich and poor students socialized as easily as author portrayed.
Oh the soul in this story! Wonderful writing and personal suspense with insightful observations. Adele is intelligent, curious, full of dreams like her father, and determined to go places and escape her childhood poverty. Through fortuitous events, she becomes a male student at Yale. Will she be found out?
Her three closest male friends at Yale take her along on youthful adventures, pranks, and experiences she couldn't have imagined. She learns much, gives much, hides much and grows. Her spirit...more
Her three closest male friends at Yale take her along on youthful adventures, pranks, and experiences she couldn't have imagined. She learns much, gives much, hides much and grows. Her spirit...more
This book is perfectly written. Miss Prasad's prose is certainly one which will keep you hanging onto the edge of your seat, wondering what will happen next to Charles/Adele. Great, worthwhile read! I've never been a fan of fiction set back in the earlier eras, but the tinge of feminism, and drive of adversity held my interest up until I finished reading.<3
I read this because the author's mother is a violinist in an orchestra that I play in, Civic Orchestra of New Haven. I was not sure what to expect. But I loved it. It was a page turner and I really loved the premise of a girl who goes to Yale undercover before women were allowed.
Beautiful writing.
Beautiful writing.
read for book club
liked New Haven locale
liked main character and her dilemmas about being a young woman in a man's world
liked writing style
would read more Chandra Prasad
glad to support local talent!
liked New Haven locale
liked main character and her dilemmas about being a young woman in a man's world
liked writing style
would read more Chandra Prasad
glad to support local talent!
A coming-of-age, historical novel set in an era when women's educational aspirations were not usually nurtured equally to male's.
The main character assumes the identity of her brother, killed in a quarrying accident around 1930 (a bit later than the real stone quarrying heydey),in order to enter Yale and pursue her fierce educational passions.
A little bit "Breaking Away", a little bit "Boys Don't Cry" - Adele comes from poverty in a town with a huge divide between those who have and those who don't. Tragedy strikes and she ends up assuming her brother's identity as a freshman at Yale in the 1930's - when girls were not admitted - and learns to live her own dreams rather than the dreams of her mother. But the book felt incomplete - just when it was becoming really interesting, it ended. Also, a few of the characters, specifically the...more
The premise was good and most of the story well written. The ending was a little too pat and predictable.
The writing flows smoothly but is not stellar. It's an interesting story, but LOTS of inconsistencies. And several places where the actions of the characters are totally unbelievable. Some characters are introduced and then dropped, themes are started and then not developed, sub-plots don't fit in naturally.
This was a fun book to read especially reading about place in New Haven and Branford I know. Also some Yale history was interesting. Not sure I would have enjoyed it as much had I not had an interest in the setting of the story.
Lower class girl manages to get into Yale in the 30's, disguised as her academcially talented deceased brother. Different story line...good read
Amazing book.
Would not have chosen to read this book; it was a book club choice. The premise was
far-fetched, the characters mostly one-dimensional, and I had to suspend disbelief
a number of times to continue reading. Maybe it would be an entertaining read for young teen-age girls. There is some social history here, and the idea of a girl masquerading as a boy in an all male school might be a fun read for that age group.
This one is superb.
This was recommended to me by my friend Diana, and it's a really interesting meditation on gender and ethnic identity. Like Diana mentioned to me, it at first seems like an ideal high school read, but it really picks up during the last third, where the novel becomes a very adult treatment of how one person can rebel against sexist and racist forces in the form of crossdressing and thwarting eugenicists' aims.
I was more interested in some storylines than others. Great premise however I was a bit disappointed with plot, not much actually happens over a long time and then quite a lot happens over a short time. The themes were rather obvious and I think the character could have been more complex. Overall pretty unsatisfying but points for a great subject matter.
Not bad. There wasn't the big climax that I had anticipated - how/when/to whom would Adele reveal herself at Yale. The author did introduce a few too many subplots that were not maintained throughout the story, although all had some sort of resolution.
loved reading a book that was so close to home. Thoroughly enjoyed learning more about Stoney Creek and Yale from the 1930s. Chandra Prasad is a wonderful author!
I loved this book. It was a great story of a young girl who is forced to tell a lie in order to gain the education she desperately craves. I highly recommend it!
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“In the mornings I awoke with salty crust of tears around my eyes--my grief struggling to surface when I was in my weakest, lost in sleep. But by day I would not allow myself to feel. My misery was muted; it had to be. If I faced it in earnest, I would truly drown.”
—
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