Customer Reviews

White Wings

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Dan Montague has created a mysterious and intriguing story around a sailing vessel named "White Wings." This sensitive tale takes place in the coastal New England town of Marblehead, Massachusetts. Readers will find themselves entranced as they are guided through a maze of time and tangled romances in the history of an almost magical sailing vessel. A young high school art teacher begins the journey in the present day. The story twists and turns through time as he becomes involved in the restoration of White Wings - a sailboat entrusted to a middle-aged woman by her long-lost best friend. The young man finds himself trying to solve the mysteries of the vessel's crash onto the treacherous rocks of Marblehead's Fort Sewall, the sudden disappearance of the boat's guadian, and the secret to winning a seemingly impenetrable woman's heart.

Montague has set another novel, "Second Chance," in Marblehead, as well. It is not a sequel to "White Wings," but the excellent quality of writing is of the same.

A heart melting story divided into 4 parts that tells about the lives of 3 outstanding women, Taylor Hayakawa, Rebecca Hayakawa, and Becky DeWolf, or later known as Becky Harrington, and one man, Matthew Adams, who hears and experiences lives of the 3 women, and White Wings, the sailboat that was wrecked in 1973. It's a mystery of Becky's disappearence one night when the boat came back but Becky didn't. It's one man, Taylor Harrington, and one woman, Becky, who experience love, lust, and loss. Then giving up everything she has, she floats off with that one man spending the rest of her life with him. Dan Montague puts everything in perfect form. It was so strong and moving. I loved every second of it. 'White Wings' will always be my favorite book.

It is the sweetest, and saddest book. I'd give anything to be Becky. The ending was so sweet. Dan Montague used the perfect words through the whole book. He's a master at story writing. I'm even moving to Marblehead, Massachusetts because of the book. It's my dream to have a life like Becky. I hope I do.

Dan Montague's debut novel about a wrecked sailboat, found in a garage by a lonely art teacher, is a good first effort. Reading the story of the vintage sailboat, White Wings and the three generations of women who own or sail her, is like snooping through some long-forgotten steamer trunk in your grandmother's attic.

The story, told in first person by all four narrators: Mathew-the art teacher, Becky DeWolfe-the seemingly eccentric family matriarch who disappeared without a trace while sailing White Wings during a storm, Taylor Hayakawa-Becky's spurned daughter, and Rebecca-Becky's stubborn and inflexible namesake, is handled well by neophyte author Montague. First-person narrative is often the choice of new writers and is arguably the hardest style form to master, but Montague does a fine job, lapsing only occasionally, inappropriately into the second person narrator.

However as a reader, his choice of first person was sometimes confusing. Especially during some protracted passages of dialog where it was sometimes difficult to discern who was speaking.

The four main characters are well developed and a each has a distinctive literary voice. The character of Becky DeWolfe is especially intriguing. Becky is by far the most interesting character. Becky possesses a self-assuredness that for a 19 year-old, 1940's woman is a refreshing breath if air into a rather staid time. Also, she is wickedly sensuous and at times a bit calculating and scheming but never to the point of alienating the reader. It is precisely because of Montague's acumen as a writer that Becky DeWolfe remains an engaging and sympathetic character.

Montague populates his novel with equally interesting secondary characters: the flamboyant pilot who marries Becky, the priest who becomes her lover, and Aggie--Becky's best friend who also happens to be a lesbian. Introducing a gay character, who was very much out of the closet in 1940's New England was a bold stroke. Each of these secondary characters has a compelling story to tell in their own right-stories that Montague carefully weaves into the fabric of his tale. Despite the wonderful characterizations, the dynamic between the characters at some points was a bit flat leaving me wishing for more interpersonal conflict. Also I wish the story could have been told using some other device besides a 300-some page flashback.

While this book suffers from a few shortcomings, it is a totally worthwhile read, especially if one is interested sailing boats, romance, and mystery. Just when you think the book is becoming predictable, the story jibes and takes a new tack. After turning the final page, I found myself wishing that I could sail away on White Wings.

Normally, I would not pick up a romance book written by a man, but the good reviews from reputable sources made me decide to give it a try. I was disappointed, Mr Montague does a great job in hooking you but not keeping your interest. The dialouge, especailly between the male and female charachters sounds jarringly false. Also close to the end the plot twists become silly. I reccommend that you not judge this book by it's cover but read a few pages and decide if it's for you.

This is good fun and a story that keeps your nose in the book. Montague paints a lovely picture of Marblehead as he weaves his mystery through several generaltions. I was so happy to learn that his second book will be out this July.

In Marblehead, Massachusetts, high school art teacher Matthew Adams dreams about a Buzzards Bay 15 style sailboat. The next day, he locates the identical boat from his dream at a yard sale, but the boat, White Wings, is not for sale. The owner, Taylor Hayakawa tells Matthew that the boat was her mother, Becky's boat, which has too much sentimental value to sell. She does agree to let him repair the boat. ..... In 1939 Becky met Jimmy DeWolfe, a carefree pilot trying to start his own flying business. She fell in love and married Jimmy, who died in fighting for the British in WWII. While Jimmy was overseas, Becky met and fell in love with Reverend Taylor Harrington, owner of White Wings. Reverend Taylor lost his job because of his opinion on Jewish refugees and his relationship with the married Becky, which up to that point was only sailing together. They finally made love together, but he left for the war without knowing he sired a child with her. Later on, everyone, including the military, told Becky that Reverend Taylor died, Becky believed that he still lived and sailed on the ship, White Wings, that he left behind. In 1973, Becky died in a storm. ..... In the present time, Taylor recognizes a picture that Becky's best friend Aggie gives her of a man, who probably was her biological father. He resembles the priest who helped her when she was separating from her Japanese husband in 1973. Meanwhile Matthew, Taylor, Aggie, and Taylor's daughter Rebecca, work on repairing the boat and the mystery of who was really Taylor's father. However, even if they learn the truth about Taylor's lineage, happiness is not guaranteed to go with it. Besides, there is an unknown enemy who will do anything to insure that White Wings is never properly repaired for fear it will reveal too much of what happened on that fatal day in 1973. ..... WHITE WINGS has the potential to turn into a best seller since it contains all the necessary ingredients women love to read about in their novels. The romantic intrigue that flows inside of a mainstream story line is exciting and brilliantly written by Dan Montague. This novel is the perfect seashore novel on that hot summer day. .....Harriet Klausner

I loved this book. I couldn't put it down, and once done, I missed the charaters. I will agree that at times it was difficult to remember who's point of view I was reading from, but it is an amazing love story surrounding the boat. I highly recommend it, and have to several people.