Wingwalkers

A former WWI ace pilot and his wingwalker wife barnstorm across Depression-era America, performing acts of aerial daring. They were over Georgia somewhere, another nameless hamlet whose dusty streets lay flocked and trembling with the pink handbills they'd rained from the sky that morning, the ones that announced the coming of DELLA THE DARING DEVILETTE, who would DEFY THE HEAVENS, shining like a DAYTIME STAR, a WING-WALKING WONDER borne upon the wings of CAPTAIN ZENO MARIGOLD, a DOUBLE ACE of the GREAT WAR, who had ELEVEN AERIAL VICTORIES over the TRENCHES OF FRANCE. Wingwalkers is one-part epic adventure, one-part love story, and, as is the signature for critically-acclaimed author Taylor Brown, one large part American history. The novel braids the adventures of Della and Zeno Marigold, a vagabond couple that funds their journey to the west coast in the middle of the Great Depression by performing death-defying aerial stunts from town to town, together with the life of the author (and thwarted fighter pilot) William Faulkner, whom the couple ultimately inspires during a dramatic air show―with unexpected consequences for all. Brown has taken a tantalizing tidbit from Faulkner's real life--an evening's chance encounter with two daredevils in New Orleans--and set it aloft in this fabulous novel. With scintillating prose and an action-packed plot, he has captured the true essence of a bygone era and shed a new light on the heart and motivations of one of America's greatest authors.

About the Author :
Taylor Brown grew up on the Georgia coast. He has lived in Buenos Aires, San Francisco, and the mountains of western North Carolina. He is the recipient of the Montana Prize in Fiction, a finalist for the Southern Book Prize, and was named the 2021 Georgia Author of the Year. His novels include Fallen Land, The River of Kings, Gods of Howl Mountain, and Pride of Eden. He lives in Savannah, Georgia. Mark Bramhall has won the prestigious Audie Award for best narration, more than thirty AudioFile Earphones Awards, and has repeatedly been named by AudioFile magazine and Publishers Weekly among their "Best Voices of the Year." He is also an award-winning actor whose acting credits include off-Broadway, regional, and many Los Angeles venues as well as television, animation, and feature films. He has taught and directed at the American Academy of Dramatic Art.

Review :
"Brown packs their vagabond lifestyle with plenty of trials and bootleg liquor, while Faulkner's star as a script writer and novelist continues to rise...Brown crafts a heart-pounding plot, and his gorgeous descriptions of Southern terrain from the air resonate just as much. The result is both elegant and thrilling." -- "Publishers Weekly" "Brown weaves a rich and poignant tale from a tidbit in Faulkner's life around an aerial barnstorming couple of the 1930s. Fierce and beautiful." -- "Kim Michele Richardson, author of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek" "Narrator Mark Bramhall portrays the bold, charismatic Zeno Marigold, a flying ace...[and] allow[s] the listener to relish the story's breathtaking prose and rich imagery...With a gentlemanly Mississippi drawl, Bramhall presents Faulkner's story, rich with lyrical dialogue and canny wit." -- "AudioFile" "Taylor Brown's characters live the kind of bold, fearless lives we all envy. This book is not to be missed!" -- "Susan Crandall, author of The Flying Circus"