Eagle in the Sky by Wilbur Smith; William Heinemann Ltd., London 1974
By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson
MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — I ordered this book from Bibliophile because the blurb proclaimed that its main character was a pilot who fell in love with an Israeli woman and fought for his adopted country. That, in essence, is the nub of the story, but around it surges and swells a series of events and adventures involving love and enmity, joy and sorrow, and a veritable roller-coaster of emotions for the reader, who cannot help but be drawn into this gripping tale of romance, adventure and action.
The hero of the story, David Morgan, is a handsome young man born into a wealthy South African dynasty who is expected to become a respected partner in the family firm. However, he spurns the career that has been mapped out for him in order to devote himself to his love of flying. In his travels through Europe he encounters a beautiful young Israeli, Debra, and eventually follows her to Israel.
In Israel he is considered suitable to serve as a fighter pilot in the country’s Air Force (I’m not sure that is actually feasible in this day and age), and forges a brilliant career for himself in that capacity. In the chapters that follow the reader is treated to a highly detailed account of the method of operating a Mirage aircraft, with copious amounts of technical information on a subject which this particular reader found rather tedious.
Subsequently the events come upon the characters thick and fast, with tense descriptions of incidents which may or may not have actually taken place at some point in Israel’s history, and these affect our main characters in various ways.
Without giving away too much about the way the story twists and turns in ways that have a direct bearing on the behavior of the principal characters, the plot takes us on a bumpy physical and psychological ride through extensive medical procedures (again, far too much technical detail for my taste) more adventures and derring-do, and a final twist in the tail on the very last page of the book..
Although this type of book does not conform to my usual taste in reading matter, I found it to be well-written, interesting (on the whole), and a gripping yarn. On consideration, I’d say that the wealth of technical detail and high level of tension in the development of the narrative indicates that the target readership is the male of the species. It seems clear to me that the book was written with the idea or ambition in mind of having it turned into a movie So if that kind of book is your cup of tea, go for it!
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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson is an author and freelance writer residing in the Jerusalem suburb of Mevasseret Zion, Israel. She may be contacted via dorothea.shefer@sdjewishworld.com