Join us for an in-person program with Becky Aikman!
Spitfires: The American Women Who Flew in the Face of Danger during World War II by acclaimed journalist Becky Aikman (on sale – May 6th, 2025), coincides with the 80th anniversary of VE Day, which marked the official end to the war in Europe. Spitfires follows the stories of nine of the women who served, drawing on unpublished diaries, letters, and records, along with exclusive personal interviews, to bring these forgotten heroines fully to life
About SPITFIRES:
They were crop dusters and debutantes, college girls and performers in flying circuses from all over the US—all of them trained as pilots. Because they were women, they were denied the opportunity to fly for their country when the United States entered the Second World War. But Great Britain, desperately fighting for survival, would let anyone—even Americans, even women—transport warplanes. Thus, twenty-five daring young aviators bolted for England in 1942, becoming the first American women to command military aircraft.
In a faraway land, these “spitfires” lived like women decades ahead of their time. Risking their lives in one of the deadliest jobs of the war, they ferried new, barely tested fighters and bombers to air bases and returned shot-up wrecks for repair, never knowing what might go wrong until they were high in the sky. Many ferry pilots died in crashes or made spectacular saves. It was exciting, often terrifying work. The pilots broke new ground off duty as well, shocking their hosts with thoroughly modern behavior.
With cinematic sweep, Aikman recounts the women’s loves, losses, hopes and failures during wartime and beyond. Spitfires is a vivid, richly detailed account of a group of remarkable women whose lives were as unconventional as their dreams.
Becky Aikman is the author of two books of narrative nonfiction: her memoir Saturday Night Widows and Off the Cliff: How the Making of Thelma & Louise Drove Hollywood to the Edge. Aikman was a journalist at Newsday, and her work has also appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and other publications. She lives in New York.
Please register, so we can set the community room up with appropriate seating.
Books will be for sale at this event.