The Way the Crow Flies: A Novel (Hardcover)

by Ann-Marie Macdonald (Author) "The birds saw the murder..." (more)
Key Phrases: little green bungalow, air force hat, following little girls, Henry Froelich, Ricky Froelich, Rock Bass (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
The Way the Crow Flies, Ann-Marie MacDonald's follow-up novel to her bestselling debut (and Oprah Book Club pick), Fall on Your Knees, opens in 1962 when the McCarthy family moves from Germany to their new home on a Canadian air force base near London, Ontario. Madeleine, eight and already a blossoming comic, is particularly close with her father, Jack, an air force officer. Her loving Acadian mother, Mimi, and older brother Mike round out this family, whose simple goodness reflects the glow of an era that seemed like paradise. But all that is about to change. The Cuban Missile Crisis is looming, and Jack, loyal and gullible, suddenly has an important task to carry out that involves a scientist--a former Nazi--in Canada.

While Jack scrambles to keep his activities hidden from his wife, Madeleine too is learning to keep secrets (about a teacher at school). The Way the Crow Flies is all about the fertility of lies, how one breeds another and another. Although the writing flows with a strong current, the profusion of pop references, especially ad slogans, grows tiresome. The author can, however, capture a lovely image in few words: "The afternoon intensifies. August is the true light of summer" and "yes, the earth is a woman, and her favorite food is corn." At times the story is marvelously compelling, as the mystery of a horrific murder in the fields near the base is unravelled. When events lead to a trial and its outcome, the story peaks, in a conclusion with no easy answers. The last third of the book takes place, for the most part, 20 years later. Here the novel meanders somewhat, losing its ability to captivate with the same intensity. The reader longs to return to the earlier world, which MacDonald has captured in vital detail. --Mark Frutkin, Amazon.ca

From Publishers Weekly
A little girl's body, lying in a field, is the first image in this absorbing, psychologically rich second novel by the Canadian author of the bestselling Fall on Your Knees. Then the focus shifts to the appealing McCarthy family. It's 1962, and Jack, a career officer in the RCAF, has just been assigned to the Centralia air force base in Ontario. Jack's wife, Mimi, is a domestic goddess; their children, Mike, 12, and Madeleine, 8, are sweet, loving kids. This is an idyllically happy family, but its fate will be threatened by a secret mission Jack undertakes to watch over a defector from Soviet Russia, who will eventually be smuggled into the U. S. to work on the space program. Jack is an intensely moral, decent guy, so it takes him a while to realize that the man is a former Nazi who commanded slave labor in Peenemande, where the German rockets were built in an underground cave. Meanwhile, Madeleine is one of several fourth graders who are being molested by their teacher, and one of them winds up dead in that field. McDonald is an expert storyteller who can sustain interest even when the pace is slow, as it is initially, providing an intricate recreation of life on a military base in the 1960s. As the narrative darkens, however, it becomes a chronicle of innocence betrayed. The exquisite irony is that both Madeleine and her father, unbeknownst to each other, are keeping secrets involving the day of the murder. The subtheme is the cynical decision by the guardians of the U.S. space program to shelter Nazi war criminals in order to win the race with the Russians. The finale comes as a thunderclap, rearranging the reader's vision of everything that has gone before. It's a powerful story, delicately layered with complex secrets, told with a masterful command of narrative and a strong moral message.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 722 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; First Edition edition (September 23, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060578955
• ISBN-13: 978-0060578954
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (123 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #607,886 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Disturbing but well-written, February 15, 2004

By	Diane "dianemax" (Newfoundland, Canada) - See all my reviews

I am a fan of Ann Marie MacDonald. I loved her first book, Fall on your Knees. I do not think that this one was as good as her previous one however. Her storytelling in the first one was phenomenal.

This book is an intense drama taking place in the sixties at a base in Ontario at the height of the Cold War and the space race. The story revolves around the families at the base, most notably that of Jack McCarthy and his family. The story is mostly told through Madeline's point of view as a child and later as an adult. Though it is a dark story, Madeline is able to convey some houmor throughout and still make us feel such sorrow for her shattered innocence.

MacDonald looks into the subject of politics, justice, molestation and many others. She has the ability to understand all of these things and write about them in an amazing way.

It is a fascinating story and at the end the reader has to reconsider the fact that the past is not always what it seems. Sometimes when you seek the truth, you uncover much more about others and yourself.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LOVED THE FIRST - THE SECOND EVEN MORE!!, November 15, 2003

By	"christyrae" (Clarence , NY United States) - See all my reviews

A father "wants what he has". MacDonald creates a family that all of us who grew up in the sixties wanted to be a part of - and then she deconstructs it!! Exquisitely, quietly, despairingly the characters struggle to make sense of a world, a time and an event that does not fit into their innocent technicolor lives.

MacDonald's story hardly let me breathe - her sense of place, her depth of character, and her incredible insight into the mythical innocence of childhood is so pure and so true it hurts.

MacDonald is my kind of writer. She uses up all your senses, she surrounds you with place and time, and she pulls you into the story and leaves you exhausted but hopeful.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MacDonald's done it again!, January 22, 2004

By	Lisa Fischbach "Lisa Fischbach" (Henryville, IN United States) - See all my reviews

I couldn't agree more with most of the other reviewers here, although I will go so far as to say that the first 150 pages (rather than 100 as mentioned by another reviewer) are a bit slow and difficult to wade through, even so I say it still earns 5 stars. Once this wonderful, destined to be a classic novel gains momentum, you'll be rereading passages just to make it last longer. It is a very long book at just over 700 pages. As in MacDonald's debut novel Fall on Your Knees, she has created characters that you will love, hate, cheer for, jeer at and cry for. Both of her books have a penchant for elicting our emotions. I found myself weeping for the main character Madeleine at several points throughout the book. This is a mystery, a family saga, a spy novel, a coming of age novel, a comedy (though possibly a dark one), a love story, and a horror story. It encompasses all genres in one.
Set amidst the backdrop of the race for the moon, the cold war and a time that was safe and family oriented but rapidly changing.
I loved the depiction of the family of the era, the marriage of Jack and Mimi, who was the consumate wife of the time. The relationships between parents and children, especially that of Jack and Madeleine. MacDonald's use of language and realism is incomparable to most of todays authors.
I just can't say enough about this book, if you are considering it, and you must be or you wouldn't be reading this, consider no more, click on the buy button, you won't regret it. The characters will live on in your memory like old friends forever.