I’m always struck by how organic her stories feel there’s no sense of forced drama, and Wein reaps the rewards of her slow-burner with the climax of the novel which is, once again, gut-wrenching.
Similar again is the slow-burning nature of the story Wein’s novels are typically slow starts that build up to a crescendo, and Black Dove, White Raven is no different: it’s engaging from the start, thanks to Wein’s penchant for characterisation, but things only start to heat up when Ethiopia is threatened by Italy. It’s difficult to tell apart Teo and Emmy’s logs too, though I appreciated the insight into their characters. Unfortunately, it’s not as effective here as it was for Code Name Verity, being more confusing than it is helpful. Like its predecessors, Black Dove, White Raven is a frame-narrative from dual perspectives, introduced first by Emmy as plea to the Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie before presenting the flight logs of the two, in which their story is told. When she dies in a flying accident, it’s all Rhoda can do to honour her friend and fly the clear African skies.
All four dream of a place and time where the different colours of their skin no longer matter where half-Ethiopian Teo can walk alongside half-Italian Emmy Delia dreams of returning to Teo’s homeland, the only African nation never to have been invaded. With no blood relations, they’re as close as siblings, having been brought up by their two aerobatic mothers Delia and Rhoda. Set in the 1930s, Black Dove, White Raven is the story of Teo and Emmy. In recent years, Wein has made a name for herself writing superb historical fiction that heavily features female protagonists and flying, so it’s hardly surprising that her latest novel, Black Dove, White Raven is an extension of her success with Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire, even if it is set on a new continent: Africa! As Italy prepares for its invasion of Ethiopia, Em and Teo find themselves inextricably entangled in the crisis - and they are called on to help. She moves to Ethiopia with her daughter, Em, and Delia’s son, Teo.Įm and Teo have adapted to scratching a living in a strange land, and feel at home here but their parents’ legacy of flight and the ability to pilot a plane places them in an elite circle of people watched carefully by the Ethiopian emperor, Haile Selassie, who dreams of creating an air force for his fledgling nation. When Delia is killed in a tragic accident, Rhoda is determined to make that dream come true. Rhoda and Delia dream of living in a world where neither gender nor ethnicity determines their life. But while the sight of two girls wingwalking – one white, one black – is a welcome novelty in some parts of the USA, it’s an anathema in others. Rhoda and Delia are American stunt pilots who perform daring aerobatics to appreciative audiences. Synopsis: A story of survival, subterfuge, espionage and identity.
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