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Seven Wings to Glory
Johnnie Kitchen is finally living her dream, attending college and writing a column for the local paper. She adores her husband Dale and chocolate Labrador Brother Dog, and they reside in a comfortable home in the small town of Portion in North Texas. Their three children are thriving and nearly grown.
But Johnnie is rattled when her youngest boy Cade goes to fight in Afghanistan. The less frequent his emails, the more she frets for his safety. On the home front, Johnnie learns that Portion is not the forward-thinking town she believed. A boy Cade’s age, inflamed by a liberal bumper sticker and the sight of Johnnie’s black friend Whit, attacks them with the N-word and a beer bottle. After Johnnie writes about the incident in her column, a man named Roosevelt reaches out with shameful stories from Portion’s untold history. More tears and triumphs will follow, as Johnnie’s eyes are opened to man’s capacity for hate and the power of love and forgiveness.
The sequel to Johnnie Come Lately.
But Johnnie is rattled when her youngest boy Cade goes to fight in Afghanistan. The less frequent his emails, the more she frets for his safety. On the home front, Johnnie learns that Portion is not the forward-thinking town she believed. A boy Cade’s age, inflamed by a liberal bumper sticker and the sight of Johnnie’s black friend Whit, attacks them with the N-word and a beer bottle. After Johnnie writes about the incident in her column, a man named Roosevelt reaches out with shameful stories from Portion’s untold history. More tears and triumphs will follow, as Johnnie’s eyes are opened to man’s capacity for hate and the power of love and forgiveness.
The sequel to Johnnie Come Lately.
394 pages, Paperback
Published April 1, 2017
13 people want to read
About the author
Kathleen M. Rodgers
6 books136 followersKathleen M. Rodgers is a novelist and a former contributor to Family Circle Magazine and Military Times. Her fifth novel, The Llano County Mermaid Club, is out now from University of New Mexico Press and was named BOOK OF THE WEEK for Oct. 12 in ABQ Journal. She is represented by Tracy Crow Literary Agency. A native of Clovis, New Mexico, Kathleen resides in North Texas and is working on her sixth novel. She is available to speak at book clubs and other events.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 6, 2017
Seven Wings to Glory is an outstanding book. The reader is re-introduced to characters from Johnnie Come Lately, and also introduced to a few new characters, as well: Arty, Ladybird, Jordan, and Roosevelt among them. In this second book, we get a fuller picture of "Queen" Victoria, but just now as I type these words, I feel a little guilty. I wonder if Victoria will be hurt when she reads this.
And that is the expert skill of Kathleen M. Rodgers' writing: the characters are not simply fictional characters. To the reader, they become people, living, breathing people with all their oddities and eccentricities; their joys and sorrows, their pain and happiness. I was transported back into a military family I'd learned about in Johnnie Come Lately, and as their story continued in Seven Wings to Glory, I felt as if I were visiting with old friends, but with friends suffering the new and recent pain of sending their son off to war. I was enmeshed in their lives.
This is a story you don't want to miss. It is expertly written, a superb read, a social commentary on war, poverty, racism, love, and forgiveness, and a chance to reconnect with beloved characters from the first book. Well done, Kathleen. To the reader: one box of tissues should suffice.
And that is the expert skill of Kathleen M. Rodgers' writing: the characters are not simply fictional characters. To the reader, they become people, living, breathing people with all their oddities and eccentricities; their joys and sorrows, their pain and happiness. I was transported back into a military family I'd learned about in Johnnie Come Lately, and as their story continued in Seven Wings to Glory, I felt as if I were visiting with old friends, but with friends suffering the new and recent pain of sending their son off to war. I was enmeshed in their lives.
This is a story you don't want to miss. It is expertly written, a superb read, a social commentary on war, poverty, racism, love, and forgiveness, and a chance to reconnect with beloved characters from the first book. Well done, Kathleen. To the reader: one box of tissues should suffice.
November 28, 2017
Kathleen Rodgers delivers another outstanding novel in her latest “Seven Wings to Glory.” Rodgers’ stories include multiple layers of complexity keeping readers intrigued. She creates characters people care about, and particularly her main character, Johnnie Kitchen. Rodgers’ personal experience as part of a military family shines through in this book as she speaks through Johnnie’s voice the concerns many mothers of deployed service members share. I highly recommend this book as the writing is beautiful, the story fascinating, and the difficult subjects portrayed with emotion, empathy, and class.
April 2, 2017
3.5/5.0
“Seven Wings to Glory” is the sequel to “Johnnie Come Lately” but it can be read as a stand-alone book.
Read full review in the 2017 April issue of InD'tale Magazine.
“Seven Wings to Glory” is the sequel to “Johnnie Come Lately” but it can be read as a stand-alone book.
Read full review in the 2017 April issue of InD'tale Magazine.
May 18, 2017
The best novel I've read in ages about today's southern family. Brave, gifted author Kathleen M. Rodgers masterfully weaves the story of the Kitchen family, capturing a vivid snapshot of the American South. Seven Wings to Glory draws the reader in on every page with its characters full of heart and heartache, all the while tackling the issues facing our country today: racial prejudice, young men and women at war, and fractured family connections.
As intrepid columnist Johnnie Kitchen uncovers family ghosts, she finds long buried secrets in her community, and the simmering hatred underneath. It takes all of Johnnie's courage to dig to depths of both. I loved following Johnnie along in her discoveries, at times spine tingling and at others, inspirational. The characters of Seven Wings to Glory, especially its hero Johnnie Kitchen--full of love, truth, and hope--will stay with me for a long time to come.
As intrepid columnist Johnnie Kitchen uncovers family ghosts, she finds long buried secrets in her community, and the simmering hatred underneath. It takes all of Johnnie's courage to dig to depths of both. I loved following Johnnie along in her discoveries, at times spine tingling and at others, inspirational. The characters of Seven Wings to Glory, especially its hero Johnnie Kitchen--full of love, truth, and hope--will stay with me for a long time to come.
January 7, 2018
Kathleen Rodgers triumphs again in her deft and warm-hearted way. Seven Wings to Glory is a sweeping novel that examines the ups and downs of friendship, marriage, and family, but also don't shy away from thorny topics like war and racial prejudice. Tales of the Kitchen family are always a delight to read.
June 1, 2017
In Seven Wings to Glory, Kathleen M. Rodgers continues the story of Johnny and her family which began in the acclaimed novel Johnny Come Lately. Johnny, a columnist in the local paper in the small Texas town of Portion, is the mother of three. Her youngest son, Cade, has shipped off to Afghanistan. Communication with him is spotty with long silences while Cade is on patrol or without internet service. Johnny has a loving husband, Dale, and a teenage daughter, Callie Ann, still at home. Her eldest son, D.J., is an artist living nearby as does her colorful and slightly chaotic mother, Victoria. Her best friend Whit, an African American woman, runs the local gift shop, "Whit's Whimsies." Johnny's life is full of loving and close relationships
But there are others in town who are not so fortunate and who live lives of hate and fury. One day while Johnny is walking in a park with Whit, a young white supremacist throws a beer bottle at them and yells a racist slur. Shocked and outraged, Johnny writes a column about the incident setting off a surprising chain of events that reveal the ugly past in her sweet little town.
Seven Wings to Glory is full of elements that draw the reader in. Johnny's quest to find and confront the racist young man, to hear from her soldier son, and to reconcile with her mother who abandoned Johnny when she was little drives the plot. I enjoyed the way it captured me and made me want to keep turning pages.
Johnny is a likeable if slightly flawed character. There were times I thought she was a little naïve, but that drove the story too as I wondered just what she was getting herself into. She seemed like someone I might meet in real life and want to be friends with. I enjoyed getting to know her and her chaotic mother, her brave soldier son and talented artist son, her spunky teenage daughter, her loving husband and her colorful friend. The relationship between Johnny and her mother is given particular emphasis. Victoria is unpredictable and sometimes suicidal and Johnny must mother her mother to keep her safe while at the same time trying to understand and forgive her.
Throughout the novel the reader witnesses Johnny's endeavors to understand and help people, to put wrong things right again. She uses her column to draw the issue of injustice and racism into sharper focus. The column provides insight into Johnny and her passion for justice. The reactions of the community to the things she writes drive the plot and give the reader something to think about too.
Though Rodgers book is not about the supernatural, there are supernatural elements that are intriguing, ghostly girls and voices that break into present reality and reveal something of the past.
In spite of its tough theme of racism, Seven Wings to Glory is a gentle story. Even the young white supremacist's backstory helps us understand and sympathize with him. It is a satisfying novel. Although this novel is a sequel to Johnny Come Lately, you don't have to have read the first book to be drawn in and enjoy the second. You will like the conscientious Johnny and her friends and family so much that when you close the book, you might even seek out the first novel in the series, just so you don't have to say goodbye.
by Lisa Shirah-Hiers
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women
But there are others in town who are not so fortunate and who live lives of hate and fury. One day while Johnny is walking in a park with Whit, a young white supremacist throws a beer bottle at them and yells a racist slur. Shocked and outraged, Johnny writes a column about the incident setting off a surprising chain of events that reveal the ugly past in her sweet little town.
Seven Wings to Glory is full of elements that draw the reader in. Johnny's quest to find and confront the racist young man, to hear from her soldier son, and to reconcile with her mother who abandoned Johnny when she was little drives the plot. I enjoyed the way it captured me and made me want to keep turning pages.
Johnny is a likeable if slightly flawed character. There were times I thought she was a little naïve, but that drove the story too as I wondered just what she was getting herself into. She seemed like someone I might meet in real life and want to be friends with. I enjoyed getting to know her and her chaotic mother, her brave soldier son and talented artist son, her spunky teenage daughter, her loving husband and her colorful friend. The relationship between Johnny and her mother is given particular emphasis. Victoria is unpredictable and sometimes suicidal and Johnny must mother her mother to keep her safe while at the same time trying to understand and forgive her.
Throughout the novel the reader witnesses Johnny's endeavors to understand and help people, to put wrong things right again. She uses her column to draw the issue of injustice and racism into sharper focus. The column provides insight into Johnny and her passion for justice. The reactions of the community to the things she writes drive the plot and give the reader something to think about too.
Though Rodgers book is not about the supernatural, there are supernatural elements that are intriguing, ghostly girls and voices that break into present reality and reveal something of the past.
In spite of its tough theme of racism, Seven Wings to Glory is a gentle story. Even the young white supremacist's backstory helps us understand and sympathize with him. It is a satisfying novel. Although this novel is a sequel to Johnny Come Lately, you don't have to have read the first book to be drawn in and enjoy the second. You will like the conscientious Johnny and her friends and family so much that when you close the book, you might even seek out the first novel in the series, just so you don't have to say goodbye.
by Lisa Shirah-Hiers
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women
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February 13, 2020MWSA Review
Author Kathleen Rodgers has gotten her writing wings—this book flies and soars with great storytelling that is both entertaining and inspiring. She takes the storyline and weaves into it just enough mystical stuff to make the book sing and dance. Seven Wings to Glory, which is the author's third novel, is also her best to date. She has been growing her literary talent and is flying with the best of novelists.
She takes on the subject of racism and hate but doesn't pound the reader with a long lecture; she takes us down a more compassionate road that feels like a happy ending and a new understanding, thus giving a negative character a chance at redemption so that all of us can cheer the life lessons involved.
Her lead character Johnnie Kitchen is not a perfect cookie-cutter heroine. She has some flaws. She is a human being and that makes the story work even better. The book will make you smile at times, cry a lot, ponder the meaning of life, but always entertain you. Loved this book! I fully recommend this to all adult readers. Both men and women will enjoy this masterfully told from the heart story.
Review by Bill McDonald (February 2020)
Author Kathleen Rodgers has gotten her writing wings—this book flies and soars with great storytelling that is both entertaining and inspiring. She takes the storyline and weaves into it just enough mystical stuff to make the book sing and dance. Seven Wings to Glory, which is the author's third novel, is also her best to date. She has been growing her literary talent and is flying with the best of novelists.
She takes on the subject of racism and hate but doesn't pound the reader with a long lecture; she takes us down a more compassionate road that feels like a happy ending and a new understanding, thus giving a negative character a chance at redemption so that all of us can cheer the life lessons involved.
Her lead character Johnnie Kitchen is not a perfect cookie-cutter heroine. She has some flaws. She is a human being and that makes the story work even better. The book will make you smile at times, cry a lot, ponder the meaning of life, but always entertain you. Loved this book! I fully recommend this to all adult readers. Both men and women will enjoy this masterfully told from the heart story.
Review by Bill McDonald (February 2020)
May 23, 2017
It was a joy to visit Portion and Johnie Kitchen again. The sequel to Johnie Come Lately is another compelling story told with feeling and heart. The depth of the characters and the range of Johnie's emotions draw the reader in to the tough subjects discussed in the novel from war, racism, poverty to forgiveness.
May 11, 2017
In this sequel to Johnnie Come Lately, Johnnie is caught up in the emotions of sending her younger son off to war and finds herself untangling the ugly history of her town. This novel is a lesson in how the past cannot bind us as long as we take action to make true change.
May 9, 2017
Salute Your Mom
Have you ever dismissed your mother’s worried pronouncement about one of her darlings as ridiculous and unknowable, only to find out later that she was right?
Johnnie Kitchen, the heroin of Seven Wings to Glory has a mother’s way of knowing her son Cade, recently deployed with his Army unit to Afghanistan is in danger.
Johnnie visits the Old Soldiers Memorial in her hometown of Portion Texas. She thinks she hears the voices of suffering soldiers and her mother Victoria hears their families grieving. Johnnie’s black friend Whit is along to share and support. It’s a poignant moment for all the women because of their concern for Cade.
A beer bottle hurled at them followed by a racial epithet sets this story spinning. Johnnie writes about the incident in her weekly newspaper column in the Portion Telegraph. The response allows her to start digging through the dust of her small towns racial history. Her family is drawn into the hate and intolerance that still lurks on the fringes of society.
Johnnie is author Kathleen Rodgers All American Everymom. She has sensations and feelings that occur outside the confines of conscious awareness. This sixth sense elevates her perception, her way of knowing and connecting with those that are important to her. Rodger’s novel is full of compelling imagery and symbols that engage the reader’s empathy for Johnnie as she navigates the challenges of being a mother, wife, college student and a newspaper reporter.
When this story takes flight it lifts us to a nuanced understanding of how this mom reacts to hate, intolerance and numerous family issues by enlisting her community in acts of faith, forgiveness, love, friendship and artistic expression.
So don’t feel guilty about doubting your mom’s way of knowing, send her a copy of Seven Wings to Glory a great gift for her on Mother’s Day.
Have you ever dismissed your mother’s worried pronouncement about one of her darlings as ridiculous and unknowable, only to find out later that she was right?
Johnnie Kitchen, the heroin of Seven Wings to Glory has a mother’s way of knowing her son Cade, recently deployed with his Army unit to Afghanistan is in danger.
Johnnie visits the Old Soldiers Memorial in her hometown of Portion Texas. She thinks she hears the voices of suffering soldiers and her mother Victoria hears their families grieving. Johnnie’s black friend Whit is along to share and support. It’s a poignant moment for all the women because of their concern for Cade.
A beer bottle hurled at them followed by a racial epithet sets this story spinning. Johnnie writes about the incident in her weekly newspaper column in the Portion Telegraph. The response allows her to start digging through the dust of her small towns racial history. Her family is drawn into the hate and intolerance that still lurks on the fringes of society.
Johnnie is author Kathleen Rodgers All American Everymom. She has sensations and feelings that occur outside the confines of conscious awareness. This sixth sense elevates her perception, her way of knowing and connecting with those that are important to her. Rodger’s novel is full of compelling imagery and symbols that engage the reader’s empathy for Johnnie as she navigates the challenges of being a mother, wife, college student and a newspaper reporter.
When this story takes flight it lifts us to a nuanced understanding of how this mom reacts to hate, intolerance and numerous family issues by enlisting her community in acts of faith, forgiveness, love, friendship and artistic expression.
So don’t feel guilty about doubting your mom’s way of knowing, send her a copy of Seven Wings to Glory a great gift for her on Mother’s Day.
June 2, 2017
An outstanding sequel to Johnnie Come Lately! For those of us who got wrapped up in Johnnie Kitchen’s life and worried about her family incessantly, Seven Wings to Glory picks up right where JCL left off, so we don’t miss a thing! Rodgers wrings every emotion from you, making you laugh one moment and tear-up the next. Well done.
March 10, 2024
Every once in awhile I find an author whose stories resonate so personally to me. Kathleen M. Rodgers is certainly one of those. Seven Wings to Glory is the fourth book I have read of hers and the feelings continue. Her life as part of a military family has made it easy for her to develop characters living a similar situation. She makes their trials and tribulations, pride and worry so believable you can’t help becoming very invested in these families and what they go through. This story is the sequel to her book, Johnnie Come Lately, so most of the characters are already known to us and what they have already been through to get to the point where this story takes off.
One of the things I love about this author is that she is not afraid to address issues that continue to darken this country. We see, through her characters, the best and the worst of how these differences are expressed. She shows not only the negative but also the positive that comes out when people take the time to explore deeper the reason for others feelings. Many times this can become a real eye opener and lead to understanding and the finding of common ground. There were excellent examples of this in this story.
I also enjoy the touch of magical realism she includes in her stories. Especially the idea that those we have lost may not be as far away as you think. Even a beloved pet…..
I look forward to whatever this author writes next!
I look forward to whatever this author writes next!
One of the things I love about this author is that she is not afraid to address issues that continue to darken this country. We see, through her characters, the best and the worst of how these differences are expressed. She shows not only the negative but also the positive that comes out when people take the time to explore deeper the reason for others feelings. Many times this can become a real eye opener and lead to understanding and the finding of common ground. There were excellent examples of this in this story.
I also enjoy the touch of magical realism she includes in her stories. Especially the idea that those we have lost may not be as far away as you think. Even a beloved pet…..
I look forward to whatever this author writes next!
I look forward to whatever this author writes next!
August 24, 2018
Kathleen M. Rodgers knows that deployments, homecomings and transitions are only a few of the threads giving texture to the lives of military families. In her latest book, “Seven Wings to Glory,” published in April, Rodgers draws on her experiences as an Air Force wife and Army mom to create a nuanced portrayal of military connectedness.
Rodgers’ continuing story of Johnnie and Dale Kitchens, their family and friends presents a spectrum of military ties, both in relationship and in experience. The book is a sequel to "Johnnie Come Lately" (2015), in which Johnnie faces old family secrets, hidden grief, and the losses of a bygone war. “Seven Wings to Glory” is about coming to terms with conflict in the present, beginning in Chapter 1, when Johnnie’s son, Cade, leaves for deployment.
The thread of Johnnie’s fear for Cade’s safety is woven throughout the various plot lines in “Seven Wings,” just as concern for a deployed loved one is part of the fabric of daily military life. Rodgers writes convincingly of relationships, foibles and struggles. Johnnie’s worry over her son is particularly tangible, informed by Rodgers’ experiences as the mother of a deployed soldier.
Readers of the first book about the Kitchens were introduced to their hometown of Portion, Texas. In the sequel, the small town comes alive, contributing more to the story than location and setting. Like many towns, Portion has a flawed history and is populated by imperfect people, who encounter rank bigotry, hidden wounds, hints of the supernatural, and reasons to hope. The folks in Portion are willing to forgive — but not excuse — injuries past and present.
Johnnie and the other residents of Portion exercise the power of forgiveness to transform even those who seem damaged beyond repair: an injured soldier, a mother who abandoned her daughter, even a young boy poisoned by racism. The author uses scars, both visible and invisible, to represent healing rather than bitterness.
In “Seven Wings to Glory,” the author has created a satisfying story, one that reveals the variety of military family experiences. Sometimes we are spouses waiting for deployment to be over, but we are more than that. We are fathers mourning a lost son. We are friends who bond closely, giving support for a lifetime. We are sons and daughters, wondering how past wars affect the present and future. We are members of a community, working to make it better. Readers who consider themselves separate from military life may discover connections they had not considered after meeting the folks in Portion.
With her stories about Johnnie Kitchen, Kathleen Rodgers shows her readers — both civilian and military — the true colors and varying patterns of military families. reassuring us that someone recognizes our many colors and salutes them.
This review is an excerpt from my review for Stars and Stripes https://www.stripes.com/seven-wings-t...
Rodgers’ continuing story of Johnnie and Dale Kitchens, their family and friends presents a spectrum of military ties, both in relationship and in experience. The book is a sequel to "Johnnie Come Lately" (2015), in which Johnnie faces old family secrets, hidden grief, and the losses of a bygone war. “Seven Wings to Glory” is about coming to terms with conflict in the present, beginning in Chapter 1, when Johnnie’s son, Cade, leaves for deployment.
The thread of Johnnie’s fear for Cade’s safety is woven throughout the various plot lines in “Seven Wings,” just as concern for a deployed loved one is part of the fabric of daily military life. Rodgers writes convincingly of relationships, foibles and struggles. Johnnie’s worry over her son is particularly tangible, informed by Rodgers’ experiences as the mother of a deployed soldier.
Readers of the first book about the Kitchens were introduced to their hometown of Portion, Texas. In the sequel, the small town comes alive, contributing more to the story than location and setting. Like many towns, Portion has a flawed history and is populated by imperfect people, who encounter rank bigotry, hidden wounds, hints of the supernatural, and reasons to hope. The folks in Portion are willing to forgive — but not excuse — injuries past and present.
Johnnie and the other residents of Portion exercise the power of forgiveness to transform even those who seem damaged beyond repair: an injured soldier, a mother who abandoned her daughter, even a young boy poisoned by racism. The author uses scars, both visible and invisible, to represent healing rather than bitterness.
In “Seven Wings to Glory,” the author has created a satisfying story, one that reveals the variety of military family experiences. Sometimes we are spouses waiting for deployment to be over, but we are more than that. We are fathers mourning a lost son. We are friends who bond closely, giving support for a lifetime. We are sons and daughters, wondering how past wars affect the present and future. We are members of a community, working to make it better. Readers who consider themselves separate from military life may discover connections they had not considered after meeting the folks in Portion.
With her stories about Johnnie Kitchen, Kathleen Rodgers shows her readers — both civilian and military — the true colors and varying patterns of military families. reassuring us that someone recognizes our many colors and salutes them.
This review is an excerpt from my review for Stars and Stripes https://www.stripes.com/seven-wings-t...
April 20, 2017
For young Cade Kitchen, becoming a soldier fulfilled a long-held dream. For his parents, sending a son to war halfway around the world from their peaceful small town of Portion, Texas, was a long-dreaded nightmare. Cade’s mother Johnnie’s father died in Vietnam when she was barely old enough to remember him, but she has lived the decades since in the shadow of her mother’s grief. And with each news report from Afghanistan, with each time she passes the war memorial on the main square of her picture-perfect small town, she fears reliving that earlier tragedy.
But not until the memorial becomes the site of a racist attack on Whit, Johnnie’s African-American best friend, does she realize that terror also hides behind the outwardly sunny façade of her hometown. Johnnie will struggle with the impact of the two wars, one outer, one internal, in the course of Kathleen M. Rodgers’ 2017 novel, Seven Wings to Glory.
This is the second of Rodgers’ novels featuring the Kitchen family – wife Johnnie, husband Dale, and their children Cade, B.J., and Callie Ann. Johnnie, a recovering bulimic, has only recently reconnected with her mother, who disappeared more than 20 years earlier, leaving her young daughter to be raised by grandparents. In the interim between the first Kitchen family story, Johnnie Come Lately, and Seven Wings to Glory, Johnnie’s beloved grandmother, Opal Grubbs, has died, leaving Johnnie to deal with her grandparents’ house full of memories.
Among these is a picture of five-year-old Johnnie with her father, taken shortly before his death. Johnnie’s parents had never married. She knows little about her father except his name. She has never heard from his family. Are they still alive? Do they even know of Johnnie’s existence?
Under less fraught circumstances, Johnnie might have tried to locate these missing grandparents, but her she already has more than enough to deal with. Besides her recent enrollment at a nearby community college and part time work as columnist for the local newspaper, there’s a house, husband, and her youngest child, daughter Callie Ann, still in high school. It’s almost – but not quite -- enough to push even her ever-simmering fear about son Cade’s safety into the background.
Rodgers has dealt with military issues in her previous books, The Final Salute, as well as Johnnie Come Lately. In her latest, Seven Wings to Glory, she adds both spiritual elements and concerns with racial injustice, as one of Johnnie Kitchen’s newspaper columns acts as a catalyst, bringing to light incidents of horrific violence in her town’s past, incidents that still trouble the town’s outwardly placid surface decades later.
Although I applaud her efforts, I’ll admit having qualms about the “magical Negro” effect of some of her otherwise delightful new characters.
However, the newcomers, both white and black, are as varied, as flawed and wounded as the Kitchen family itself. There’s enough warmth, heartstring tugging and heartbreak in Rodgers’ blend of an imminently loveable protagonist, a postcard pretty small town, and a cast of quirky townsfolk to give fans of the Kitchen family hope for a series of further adventures.
But not until the memorial becomes the site of a racist attack on Whit, Johnnie’s African-American best friend, does she realize that terror also hides behind the outwardly sunny façade of her hometown. Johnnie will struggle with the impact of the two wars, one outer, one internal, in the course of Kathleen M. Rodgers’ 2017 novel, Seven Wings to Glory.
This is the second of Rodgers’ novels featuring the Kitchen family – wife Johnnie, husband Dale, and their children Cade, B.J., and Callie Ann. Johnnie, a recovering bulimic, has only recently reconnected with her mother, who disappeared more than 20 years earlier, leaving her young daughter to be raised by grandparents. In the interim between the first Kitchen family story, Johnnie Come Lately, and Seven Wings to Glory, Johnnie’s beloved grandmother, Opal Grubbs, has died, leaving Johnnie to deal with her grandparents’ house full of memories.
Among these is a picture of five-year-old Johnnie with her father, taken shortly before his death. Johnnie’s parents had never married. She knows little about her father except his name. She has never heard from his family. Are they still alive? Do they even know of Johnnie’s existence?
Under less fraught circumstances, Johnnie might have tried to locate these missing grandparents, but her she already has more than enough to deal with. Besides her recent enrollment at a nearby community college and part time work as columnist for the local newspaper, there’s a house, husband, and her youngest child, daughter Callie Ann, still in high school. It’s almost – but not quite -- enough to push even her ever-simmering fear about son Cade’s safety into the background.
Rodgers has dealt with military issues in her previous books, The Final Salute, as well as Johnnie Come Lately. In her latest, Seven Wings to Glory, she adds both spiritual elements and concerns with racial injustice, as one of Johnnie Kitchen’s newspaper columns acts as a catalyst, bringing to light incidents of horrific violence in her town’s past, incidents that still trouble the town’s outwardly placid surface decades later.
Although I applaud her efforts, I’ll admit having qualms about the “magical Negro” effect of some of her otherwise delightful new characters.
However, the newcomers, both white and black, are as varied, as flawed and wounded as the Kitchen family itself. There’s enough warmth, heartstring tugging and heartbreak in Rodgers’ blend of an imminently loveable protagonist, a postcard pretty small town, and a cast of quirky townsfolk to give fans of the Kitchen family hope for a series of further adventures.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews