The Way the Crow Flies: A Novel. Ann-Marie MacDonald. Harper Audio. 2003. Performed by Ann-Marie MacDonald.

The Way the Crow Flies. Ann-Marie MacDonald. HarperCollins. 2003.

Book Review by Jane
The Way the Crow Flies follows Madeline, a girl of eight, through her young life but settles mostly around the time right after World War II and into the Cold War. She comes from a lovely Canadian family who is just returning from being stationed in Germany. Her father, Jack, was a pilot in training when he was injured. Her mother was an Acadian, French-speaking lady who loved her family dearly.

Ann-Marie MacDonald tries to inject some flavor of the times in this book, and if you are old enough, some things are familiar and bring on a laugh. Another familiar point to me was the innocence that Madeline's parents had, which clouded their ability to see some very important clues regarding the abuse perpetrated upon their own child. They also missed spotting a Nazi war criminal.

The tone of the book reflects young Madeline’s insight into her world--a light, often comical view--except during some of the harder moments she faces. Madeline is a resilient person as an adult and as a child. We visit her as an adult to tie up the story. If you’re looking for justice, you may wish to amend that to fit into the way things manage to change through the passing of time. This ending was more of what you may find in real life, but everything does tie up in the end.

I enjoyed Ann-Marie MacDonald’s reading of this story. I found it engrossing and often emotionally hard to listen to. The characters were human, and the plot had a genuine, real feeling to it.

This author also wrote, Fall On Your Knees (Oprah's Book Club), which is an “Oprah's Book Club” pick. The Way the Crow Flies: A Novel is a “Today Show Book Club” pick.

Jane.