This is a book that takes its readers soaring through the skies over the Simien Mountains, bearded vultures circling overhead, in an unusual and unforgettable adventure. Emilia and Teo have been flying almost since before they can walk: their mothers, Rhoda and Delia, are stunt pilots, daring young women in the early flying machines. When Delia is killed in an accident, Rhoda follows her best friend’s dream and takes them all to live in Ethiopia, the only country in Africa never to be colonised. Their idyllic life there is torn apart when Mussolini’s army invades. The history is fascinating, the descriptions of Ethiopia and the scenes in the air breath-taking, and the characters vividly alive, it’s exceptionally good. ~Andrea Reece
This is a story of survival, subterfuge, espionage and identity. Rhoda and Delia are American stunt pilots who perform daring aerobatics to appreciative audiences. 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 dream of living in a world where neither gender nor ethnicity determines their life. When Delia is killed in a tragic accident, Rhoda is determined to make that dream come true. She moves to Ethiopia with her daughter, Em, and Delia's son, Teo. Em 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. 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.
Elizabeth Wein was born in New York, and grew up in England, Jamaica and Pennsylvania. She is married with two children and now lives in Perth, Scotland. Elizabeth is a member of the Ninety-Nines, the International Organization of Women Pilots. She was awarded the Scottish Aero Club's Watson Cup for best student pilot in 2003 and it was her love of flying that partly inspired the idea for Code Name Verity.
