In Hovering Flight is Joyce Hinnefeld’s first novel, and of particular interest to me because Dr. Hinnefeld is a writing professor at the school I attend, Moravian College. I’ve had her for a poetry writing class and she runs the school writing center where I work, so I was very excited to experience her first novel.
The main character is named Addie, and the book centers around her, her husband Tom, her daughter Scarlet, and Addie’s best friends Cora and Lou. In the very beginning we find out Addie has just died of cancer, and the novel that follows is a series of flashbacks from the perspectives of various characters. We get to know their personalities, hardships, and relationships in bits and pieces as the story progresses.
Addie is a bird lover and an artist, who later becomes an activist. She meets her husband Tom when he teaches a “Biology of the Birds” class at her college, and their love of birds and nature brings them together. At times it is difficult to relate to the strong feelings the characters have towards these birds, but the lengths that they go to in order to fight for what they love is both moving and somewhat frustrating. The character of Addie is certainly a frustrating one. We want to like her but her actions are sometimes so extreme that is difficult to do so, especially when we see how these actions affect her family.
One thing that is really apparent in this novel is that Hinnefeld certainly has a way with words. Her writing is beautiful and descriptive, making her prose seem almost poetic. She manages to create a delightful atmosphere of mystery, constantly leaving you wondering what the next piece of the puzzle is going to be.
However, the novel is very slow to start and difficult to get into until around page 50. The biggest flaw is the way that the flashbacks are handled. They happen sporadically, with little or not introduction to the fact that it is a flashback, and they don’t happen in any particular order. Without some sort of time line or more definitive way to keep track of time, the reader is left with some confusion about the events. While Hinnefeld has some wonderful characters here, their growth and our appreciation of them is somewhat stunted by the fact that we mostly see them through inconsistent flashbacks. Addie in particular is introduced as a rather quiet, innocent, sweet young girl, who we see later camping out in protest for weeks or running from the law. Though we see a little bit of her change through her pregnancy and Scarlet, it is still not enough to completely understand her character.
Despite the flaws, if you can get past the slow beginning the book becomes engaging and is a fairly quick read. If you’re a bird lover, nature lover, or artist, I would especially recommend this novel. Though it might not be a life changing read, it is well written and is at times emotionally touching.
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