The Boy With Wings

In the bright, restless world of Hendon airfield in May 1914, Gwenna Williams arrives from a narrow Welsh chapel-house childhood to taste London freedom, friendship, and the thrill of flight. With her cheerful office companions and her sharp-witted friend Leslie Long, she moves between postcards, teasing banter, and the rituals of dressing for a Kensington dinner, all while discovering how modern girlhood is shaped by desire, class, and self-invention. When Gwenna innocently chooses a postcard of a handsome aviator and calls him "my love," she unknowingly points toward the man who will matter most to her. At the aerodrome, a struggling biplane becomes, in her eyes, a living wonder, and aviation emerges as both daring spectacle and symbol of possibility, danger, and romance. Gwenna envies women wealthy enough to fly on a whim, yet she refuses to remain on the ground. Her chance to enter the aeroplane works brings purpose, pride, and a new closeness to the world she adores, even as love, rivalry, and ambition begin to tangle around her future. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.