Linda 's Reviews > Black Dove White Raven

Thanks to Net Galley for the arc - Finally I finished this book, and it is not the writing’s fault. I just have had too little reading time. I sat down to finish Saturday night, and cried a little at the end. No this is not a spoiler, but Wein’s story got me again. If you loved Code Name Verity, you will love this book, too. It begins in the US south, with single mothers, Rhoda and Delia, single mothers in the years before World War II who are stunt pilots in an airshow. Emilia and Teo, the children watching, see their lives changed in a terrible accident. A bird strike brings down the plane and Teo's mother died immediately, but Em's survives. She determined to raise Teo according to his late mother's wishes-in a place where he won't be discriminated against because of the color of his skin.
In this time in America, white women don’t usually adopt black sons, so Rhoda seeks a home that might be safer. Her partner, Delia, had always wanted to go to Ethiopia, so that is where they went, and fell in love with that beautiful country. Sadly, they are also there at the beginning of the Italo-Ethiopian war when eventually Haile Selassie had to go into exile. The author’s note is detailed, Wein writing that some say this was the beginning rumblings of World War II. It’s another thrilling, complex story of people Elizabeth Wein makes one care about. Perhaps that is why it took me a long time to read, because I savored every bit. I hope you will too.