Guest Review by Debra Marvin: Wings of a Dream by Anne Mateer

Wings of a Dream

Wings of a Dream by Anne Mateer
Bethany House, 2011

Reviewed by Debra Marvin

                                                         

Wings of a Dream, from Bethany House Publishing is Anne Mateer’s debut novel. I consider it historical fiction with romantic elements.

I didn’t know what to expect from this book other than I knew Anne was a wonderful writer and skilled editor. I had no doubts as to the quality of writing.  But these are often not enough, because it all comes down to a compelling storyline and characters we are eager to explore, bond with, and hate to part from.

Rebekah Hendricks is a dreamy nineteen-year-old when the story opens. The Great War rages in Europe and she is at odds with her small Oklahoma world. Her caring father and domineering mother are both wrapped up in concern over their son off in Europe and Rebekah is anxious to leave.  Nothing makes this more clear to her than her boyfriend’s decision to join the service, and leave her behind.

I wasn’t sure I was going to be like or be able to invest in Rebekah. It’s been a long time since I was a teenager and her focus on what she wanted made her a little selfish and all too realistic. But Anne’s beautiful writing carried me through chapter after chapter. When Rebekah’s plan for a new life in Texas completely fails, her life couldn’t have been more frustrating--and that’s when I found I’d completely invested in this character. She became precious to me.

I’ve read the two or three 3-star reviews for this book (and a few of the over forty 5-star Amazon Reviews) and the biggest complaint was Rebekah’s selfishness. It’s there but I disagree that it takes away from the book. If she’d been unselfish at nineteen-years-old, when the ‘wings of her dream’ were clipped I would have probably put this book aside as lacking credibility.

Rebekah’s life changes dramatically over the course of the book, and rather than give away plot points, I will just strongly recommend Anne’s book. It is a look study of a very difficult time in American, and world history, and exquisitely paints life in a small town during a war.

Anne brings us into the world of Spanish Flu long before Downton Abbey showed us. And yet neither could really teach us the impact of the world’s largest pandemic of death. It’s a wonder we didn’t lose an entire generation from the Tuberculosis and Spanish Flu carried home with servicemen and women after the Great War.

Rebekah’s story is one of maturity and growth. Rather than let her youthful selfishness breed resentment, Rebekah opened her heart and kept moving forward even after repeated emotional wounds by her young man, loss of her family, and the domineering, thoughtless treatment by her mother. Rebekah found joy again and optimism for the future, through situations few would have handled so tenderly. Wings of a Dream’s romance runs beautifully smooth and realistic, and I might add, did not run the obvious route but gave us a lot to consider.

I had high expectations for this book and I was not disappointed. It was in my top ten books of 2011, and I’m glad to recommend it to readers of historical fiction, historical romance, and women’s fiction, yet it is completely appropriate for male readers as well because of the vivid portrayal of this period of history. Also appropriate for the YA market.

I was sorry to see this book end and look forward to more from author Anne Mateer.

Anne's books can be purchased through Amazon, CBD, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores.

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