There is an upcoming Long Island book event for SPITFIRES: The American Women Who Flew in the Face of Danger During WWII by acclaimed journalist / former Newsday reporter Becky Aikman (on sale – May 6th, 2025) at the Rockville Centre Public Library on May 22nd.
Becky was a longtime Newsday reporter, and the book has Long Island ties as some of the women lived on Long Island or flew there: Winnie Pierce flew at the fashionable Roosevelt Field airport before the war, along with a couple minor characters, Louise Schuurman and Suzanne Ford. And Jackie Cochran belonged to the tony Long Island Aviation Country Club. Despite her status as the country's leading aviatrix, setting records and winning races, and the fact that she was a self-made millionaire through her cosmetics company, she struggled to fit in with the upper-crust set at the club. Long Island was an aviation center, and it made sense that many of the aviators passed through there.
SPITFIRES covers a completely fresh and shockingly little-known story about World War II and will be published the week of the 80th anniversary of VE Day (May 8th), which marked the official end to the war in Europe. SPITFIRES also vividly showcases an untold and captivating chapter of women's history and a cast of fascinating women who have been overlooked by history and whose lives were as unconventional as their dreams.
Becky will be at the Rockville Centre Public Library at 7pm ET on Thursday May 22nd in conversation with local author Carol Hoenig. More about the free event / RSVP is here: https://rvcpl.libcal.com/event/14504717
SPITFIRES just received a great review from Oprah Daily, who included it in a piece about upcoming books for Women’s History Month: “When the U.S. military refused to let women pilots enlist and the editor of an aviation magazine scoffed at 'the woman who thinks she ought to be flying a high-speed bomber when she really has not the intelligence to scrub the floor of a hospital properly,' there were 25 American women flyers who told them to stuff it, and went off to join the British Air Transport Auxiliary, one of the most dangerous jobs of the war. The party girl, the debutante, the impoverished beauty, the illiterate gold-digger turned star aviatrix, the stunt pilot, the lesbian flight instructor—Aikman’s amazing account brings the 'Atta-Girls' boldly to life, underlining the truth of a headline that ran at the time: 'Girls Taken to Britain by Jacqueline Cochran Fly 121 Types of Planes, Sleep Wherever They Land, Find Romance and Tragedy.' Boy, did they! The star-crossed affairs and marriages, the gossip and the drama, the death-defying near-crashes and the heartbreaking fatal ones, the blackout partying in blacked-out London – if these fierce heroines don’t show up on a limited series soon, we’ll eat our hats."
SPITFIRES follows twenty-five daring young aviators who embarked for England in 1942, becoming the first American women to command military aircraft, and risking their lives in one of the most dangerous jobs of the war, transporting barely tested fighters and bombers from factories to frontline airfields and returning shot-up wrecks for repair. One in seven pilots died performing this work, and others made spectacular saves.
They were crop dusters and debutantes, college girls and performers in flying circuses from all over the US—all of them trained as pilots. Because they were women, they were denied the opportunity to fly for their country when the United States entered the Second World War. But Great Britain, desperately fighting for survival, would let anyone—even Americans, even women—transport warplanes.
Flying up to 140 models of advanced aircraft with little training, the aviators became some of the most accomplished pilots in the world. They also seized the opportunity to live as women did decades later, pursuing their ambitions in the air and shocking their hosts with thoroughly modern behavior on the ground.
Aikman recounts the women’s loves, losses, hopes and failures during wartime and beyond. The American flyers did indeed lead lives that were glamorous and exiting beyond imagination. They also led the way for other women of ambition. The United States ultimately started the short-lived, more limited WASP women’s flying program based on the proven success of the American women flyers in Britain. Still, it took decades for others to achieve a fraction of what the Spitfires did.
Becky Aikman is the author of two books of narrative nonfiction: her memoir Saturday Night Widows and Off the Cliff: How the Making of Thelma & Louise Drove Hollywood to the Edge. Aikman was a journalist at Newsday, and her work has also appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and other publications. She lives in New York and Los Angeles.
Additional praise from writers such as the Pulitzer Prize winning author of King: A Life, Jonathan Eig, New York Times-bestselling author of Fly Girls, Keith O’Brien, New York Times bestselling authors Olivia Campbell (Women in White Coats), and Lynne Olson (Madame Fourcade’s Secret War), Roseanne Montillo, Major General Mari K. Eder and more is below.
Advanced Praise for Spitfires:
“A soaring narrative of a handful of women who wanted to choose their own path and ended up helping to change the world. It reminds readers of the obstacles that women faced—in the air and on the ground—during World War II, and what it took to overcome them. Becky Aikman puts these forgotten heroines back where they belong: in the cockpit, risking everything, to live the lives they wanted." —Keith O’Brien, bestselling author of Fly Girls
“A bold and soaring work of history, one that illuminates not just the lives of these courageous women but also the shifting social dynamics of a world at war. As intimate and enthralling as a novel, this book is whip-smart, deeply researched, and beautifully written.” —Jonathan Eig, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of King: A Life
“With prose that sweeps you across the Atlantic, Spitfires is the long overdue account of the brave and fascinating women who risked their lives flying during World War II. Thanks to Becky Aikman's deep research and riveting storytelling, the accounts of the women of the Air Transport Auxiliary are finally being told with the nuance and panache that they deserve. A must read not just for aviation buffs, but for anyone who appreciates a great tale of unsung heroism.” —Mary Pilon, New York Times bestselling author of The Monopolists
“Women who dared. Journalist Aikman draws on diaries, letters, and interviews to create a brisk, lively account of nine intrepid American women, among the 25 who joined Britain’s Air Transport Auxiliary, the civilian arm of the RAF ... Engaging portraits of a spirited crew.” —Kirkus Reviews
"In Spitfires: The American Women Who Flew in the Face of Danger During World War II, Becky Aikman combines meticulous research and vivid storytelling to craft an inspiring story about the resilience of the human spirit. This deeply engrossing biography of several ace aviatrixes tells the story of American women who yearned to live a life less than ordinary, and World War II reluctantly allowed them to do that. This is not a book to be enjoyed solely by the history buff. Rather, it is a page-turning chronicle that reads like a novel and that will appeal to discriminating readers of beautifully written accounts. Rescuing this type of account has become of paramount importance, and Aikman has done an astounding job to make sure these women get their moment in the spotlight." —Roseanne Montillo, author of Deliberate Cruelty and Atomic Women
"The adventure of a lifetime started with a simple invitation: ‘Would you be willing to volunteer...’ Volunteer to fly for Britain, into danger and into history, breaking through the clouds into the future. These American women set the bar high for generations of aspiring women pilots. Sure, it was an unlikely proposition; they had been denied the opportunity to fly for the U.S. But they had something to prove - women could fly - and not just crop dusters or clunky transport planes, but that they could fly any plane in the military inventory - untested, new, or even badly shot up. The stories of this daring cohort make for a heart pounding read and Spitfires they were themselves - but easy to get to know, fast friends who readers will be sad to leave at the story's end. But their adventure stays with the reader even so. Just look to the sky.” —Major General Mari K. Eder, author of The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line
“A rollicking ride through history, I couldn't get enough of the stories of these brave women defying convention and risking their lives in search of adventure and fulfillment. Empowering and inspiring, Spitfires brilliantly illuminates the incredible contributions of women pilots during WWII.” —Olivia Campbell, New York Times bestselling author of Women in White Coats and Sisters in Science
"While the exploits of the Women Airforce Service Pilots in the U.S. are fairly well known to readers steeped in WWII history, Britain’s Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) and the American women who flew for it have been overlooked. Aikman mined letters, diaries, and newspaper articles as well as an enormous number of books containing material on the subject to craft this concise narrative about the ATA and the women who answered the call for recruits willing and able to fly anything and everything to assist in the war effort ... This joins such titles such as The Women with Silver Wings (2020), Fly Girls (2018), and The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line (2021) as authors retrieve the stirring yet neglected history of brave flying women... An exciting well-documented read." —Booklist
"A grippingly lyrical and character-driven tribute to no-longer-forgotten heroes of the Greatest Generation." —Catherine Grace Katz, author of The Daughters of Yalta
"An enthralling account of the World War II exploits of a group of audacious, hell-raising American women who risked their lives to ferry warplanes for the British. Displaying an abundance of courage and extraordinary flying skills, these female mavericks showed Allied military officials just what they were missing by barring women from flying in combat.” —Lynne Olson, New York Times bestselling author of Madame Fourcade's Secret War
"Spitfires is the astounding and little-known story of the American Atta-Girls ‘dicing with death’ during WWII. Dorothy, Virginia, Winnie, Hazel, Ann, Mary, Roberta, and a host of other unforgettable women— with origins as varied as their ends— face down stalled engines, hazardous weather, defective propellors, and enemy fighters in order to reinvent themselves and reimagine women’s role in aviation. Meticulously researched and utterly absorbing, Aikman’s Spitfires is a real nail-biter!” —Shelley Puhak, author of The Dark Queens