Something Glorious: Born for Flight

This historical novel develops a rich picture of the United States at the turn of the 20th century, with its explosion of technology and industry and the associated politicians and tycoons such as Theodore Roosevelt, Morgan, Vanderbilt and Astor. The history of the beginnings of aviation is the big story it offers. We are plunged into the middle of the exciting effort to achieve "first flight," culminating millennia of man's dreams of flight. With the interjection of the Harrison family into the story, the author strikes a suitable balance between history and fiction. John Harrison, in his quest for doing "something glorious" becomes embroiled in the race for first flight. His upbringing does not prepare him for the conflicts he faces with his wife, Maggie, over their psychically gifted son, David. David in turn is torn between the two worlds of his parents-the practicality of his engineer father and the gentler world of his sensitive mother. This novel sets the stage for young David's important involvement in the flying game in the follow-on volumes. One can sense that David will emerge as a significant figure as a pilot, and that the reconciliation between John and Maggie, on which this volume closes, will mark a new direction of John's efforts to do "something glorious" with his life. In his pursuit of doing "something glorious," John Harrison and his family become entangled in the events surrounding "first flight." Against this historic background is a story of the struggle of two persons trying to cope with their own ambitions and especially with their child's extraordinary psychic sensitivity.