Lexington, KY - With the wartime remembrances of her father-in-law as her inspiration, Kentucky author Bobbie Ann Mason writes the story of Marshall Stone -
a bomber pilot shot down over a Belgium field in the early years of World War II.
Now at 60, he is forced, by corporate mandate, to retire from his profession as a commercial pilot, flying the 747s he has operated since his return from the war -
crossing the Atlantic on flights much different from those he flew over France in the '40s. A widower for two years, Stone's life now seems overly quiet, and he finds himself drawn back to the years of his time in the service -
and to the many European citizens that risked their own lives and families to save his.
Questions surrounding these people, and the crew with whom he flew bombing missions, trigger his memories and imagination. He recounts being downed by gunfire, crashing in a field where he and his crew were immediately warned by the residents of the small community that the Germans would be arriving at the crash site at any moment. Fleeing into the woods, leaving behind some of his wounded crew members, he eventually finds refuge in a barn and, after careful interrogation, is spirited into the channels of the Resistance.
Clandestinely moving from one location to another, Stone meets the stalwart people who gratefully offer him their meager food supplies and limited accommodations in thanks for his efforts to reclaim their freedom. Claimed as a hero, he makes his way to his own freedom, where his life assumes a rhythm reflecting the postwar era: home in New Jersey, pretty wife, two children and a job that rewards his passion for flying.
When that life dissolves, he crashes again. Stone is plagued by what he feels is the misconception of being a hero and by the need to retrace his original trek to freedom -
his return to France to do so is both a revisit to a past life and a journey to a new one.
Reuniting with one of the Resistance members, Annette, then a young girl who donned a blue beret and led him through the streets of occupied Paris, author Mason writes of Stone's reaction to their conversation, in which he realizes all that was endured and suffered:
"He wanted to scream, hit, crush - something. His own past was splintered by her tale. It was falling into a new design. He wanted to see his long-dead mother again. He wanted to apologize to (his wife)Loretta, to make up for all the slights and indiscretions, anything he had ever done wrong. He wanted to tell his children all his memories of the war, and all of Annette's. His breathing was like the labored gasping of a rickety antique machine. He couldn't fill his lungs."
Author Bobbie Ann Mason provides a story of historical relevance, and one of sacrifice, love and the incredible possibilities that come of second chances. She is a writer-in-residence at the University of Kentucky and is the author of the previous works "In Country," "Shiloh and Other Stories," "An Atomic Romance" and "Nancy Culpepper."