Helpful Score: 5
The best book I have ever read. (So far) Left me feeling deeply moved and amazed at how one person could possibly put into words so much of life's inexplicable events. Wow, I'm amazed at this author. I have also read her first novel, "Fall on Your Knees" which is tied with the best book I've ever read. This is not a feel good book, so much, but definately worth the tears. Needs to be read!!!
Helpful Score: 4
MacDonald is a wonderful writer, the ending is something you would not expect, characters are well-developed and the plot is intriguing.
My only complaint: this book required - and did not receive - a good edit. It held me for a long time, but then moved on to a new phase in the protagonist's life and I just didn't care. I found myself skipping page after page after page - not exactly a good sign.
My only complaint: this book required - and did not receive - a good edit. It held me for a long time, but then moved on to a new phase in the protagonist's life and I just didn't care. I found myself skipping page after page after page - not exactly a good sign.
Helpful Score: 3
Enjoyed the story, but it could have ended sooner. The story of a family in Canada, there because their dad is in the military. It is about a young girl growing up on the base, and the horrible things that occur there...a murder of a young girl, the search for the killer, and troubles in school. I do enjoy her writing.
Helpful Score: 2
This book was quite an undertaking in the scope of time and level of detail Macdonald aspired to portray, and I think she did an excellent job. The characters are well-drawn and likeable. While the plot drags in spots, it generally advances steadily to the resolution of the central murder mystery as well as to satisfactory information about how most of the main characters ended up later in their lives. If you have a good understanding of Canada's political history and people groups, this book will probably mean even more to you than it did to me.
Helpful Score: 1
Very interesting at first, but then it got very difficult to read.
Christine Marie W. (CowgirlFromHanna) reviewed The Way the Crow Flies (P.S.) on + 9 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This is another excellent novel by an excellent author...I was sad when I finally reached the end and had to say goodbye to the people in this wonderfully told story
Helpful Score: 1
This book took a while to hook me. The writing was good, but the beginning does drag with lengthy descriptions prior to any major plot developments. I stayed with it, though.
I recommend the book largely because it portrayed a father's dilemma between his duty to country and his duty to humanity in a way that was emotionally wrenching. His and his daughter's inability to speak freely about certain events (for very different reasons) changed the outcome of a murder investigation in a way that caused justice to take a detour.
Be forewarned that there are situations of sexual abuse of young girls in this book. It was certainly not gratuitous and was handled very well by the author, I thought. While I don't normally read novels of that nature, I was able to handle this one. It's disturbing, but in a way that is very central to why the events happened as they did.
I recommend the book largely because it portrayed a father's dilemma between his duty to country and his duty to humanity in a way that was emotionally wrenching. His and his daughter's inability to speak freely about certain events (for very different reasons) changed the outcome of a murder investigation in a way that caused justice to take a detour.
Be forewarned that there are situations of sexual abuse of young girls in this book. It was certainly not gratuitous and was handled very well by the author, I thought. While I don't normally read novels of that nature, I was able to handle this one. It's disturbing, but in a way that is very central to why the events happened as they did.
I hated this book for most of the entire time I read it. It's so weird to see the world through an 8 year old's eyes, so many misunderstandings, so much emotional damage. I thought the author wasted words on too many details that I felt were unnecessary, and they used the tiniest font! In the end, I think the excess of details was a necessary part of the way the story had to evolve. I ended up really loving it, and I recommend it.
This story is very dark, but well written and not a predictable plot. Very good!
It took me a little while to get into this book. But once I got into it I was hooked.
Another book on my "to be kept" shelf (which has too large and must be culled). Has to be at least 4 stars.
Rather long, but a really good read. Takes place in the 60's in the family neighborhood of an Air Force base near the Canadian border. A local murder intersects with global forces. The main character is an eight-year old girl, Madelaine.
Heartbreaking, startling, profound. Expect to be drawn into the story of the McCarthy family.
This is a stunning book, a family story with a mystery built in.
It's a big book, but a hard one to put down. Anyone who lived through the 60's and the Cuban Missle Crisis will certainly enjoy this book....but it's also a study in human nature, not just a history lesson!
I loved this book! It's a long story, but one that leaves you thinking about things that may have happened in your own life.
Very long, but easy to read. Interesting story with some surprise twists.
One of the finest stories I've ever read. Complex, far-reaching, achingly beautiful and tragic.
The optimism of the early 60s, infused with the excitement of the space race and the menace of the Cold war, is filtered through the rich imagination of a high spirited, eight year old Madeleine, who welcomes her family's posting to a quiet Air Force base near the Canadian border. Secure in the love of hewr beautiful mother, she is unaware that her father, Jack, is caught up in a web of secrets. When a very local murder intersects global forces, Jack decides where his loyalties lie, and Madeleine will be forced to learn a lesson about the ambiguity of human morality- one she will onlybegin to understand when she carries her quest for the truth, and the killer, into adult hood 20 years later. This story was inspired by the real life story of Steven Truscott. 810 pages.
I loved her book 'Fall on Your Knees' and this one, 'The Way the Crow Flies' is equally as good. Beautiful, beautiful writing...read it slowly! I found myself transported often by the sentences and thoughts, and my own memories of those times, she was able to capture everything just exactly..from the way evening came on, to well..just everything! You'll find yourself pausing on a page and just rereading a sentence of two, or a paragraph over and over again because it is so profoundly right. Don't read this 'as a mystery' going fast to the end to see 'who done it', that would be missing the eloquence, the wisdom, the compassion, the depth. I can't wait for her next book. I run a small senior citizens library and both books are in it! Don't let the length of it dissuade you...just read it slowly and quietly.
I liked this book. It's about a little girl during the Cold War and there is some intrigue with her dad and a bit of excitement and mystery.
Amazing book! Very disturbing.
This book was a little long in the tooth for me. I think it could've been shorter and still have gotten the point across. I did enjoy it though. It just took much longer to read.
The optimism of the early 60s infused with the excitement of the space race and the Cold War. Madeleine (8) and her family live on an airforce base in Canada. Her father is caught up in a web of secrets and she is still searching for a killer into adulthood 20 years later.
