This work of historical fiction remembers actual figures in history, Hoy Barksdale and Lura Lee Dunn. Lura Lee has a formal and too-sheltered upbringing in New York, where her father intends marrying her and her sister off well. He didn’t intend she should be THE TEST PILOT’S WIFE.
 
Writing a memoir about a World War I flying ace would seem a straightforward way to go, but author Mark Wayne McGinnis focuses just as much on Lura Lee, who wishes to be a concert pianist. Her family won’t hear of it, so she must sneak away to audition for the Chicago Perfield Music School. During her unwilling attendances at formal parties Lura Lee meets the unconventional pilot who is considered a hero, and this means her father finds him acceptable despite their disparate backgrounds.
 
Many other real personalities of the day are featured, Jimmy Doolittle and lady flying ace Amelia Earhart among them. News and politics are discussed, but the war is the major factor of course. While flying over France, as a US pilot with the Allied forces, Lieutenant Hoy Barksdale introduces the reader to the fast evolution of fighter planes, from wood and wire to engineered beauties with speed and maneuverability to match the dangers. This is real combat, when a pilot could be killed in the cockpit, or while parachuting, or on landing. We see the nerves and tensions that broke men and addicted other men to thrills and tests flights. So much so, that after his stint, Hoy is lured to the position of test pilot. The Air Forces are also shown constantly changing, so perhaps what occurred in that day would not be the case today.
 
What kind of woman would marry a test pilot? One who would be sent around the country, accompanying her husband, never knowing if he would fly one experimental plane too many. Lura Lee is a woman with fortitude, but this life is by no means easy, and the author portrays her with grace and warmth. I am highly impressed by this work from Mark Wayne McGinnis, who has previously written science fiction. Recent history is filled with remarkable persons who got us to where we are today. Sometimes we can take too much for granted. I recommend this absorbing read THE TEST PILOT’S WIFE to all who are interested in the twentieth century history of aviation, and to lovers of historical romance.
 

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