Flying with Amelia chronicles the dreams and struggles of a cast of unforgettable characters through more than a hundred years and across a vast landscape as they face challenges and find courage, sometimes in surprising places.

In 1847 a famine ship arrives in Canada from Ireland, setting off a chain of events that reverberate through generations. A St. John's boy learns the finer points of communication while his employer receives the first transatlantic wireless signal. A British Home Child finds sorrow and solace on an Ontario farmstead. In 1920s Montreal, a one-armed veteran gambles everything for a future with a beautiful, intelligent, political young woman. In northern Manitoba, German prisoners of war find creative ways to quell boredom. RCMP officers snatch Doukhobor children in British Columbia, while a decade later U.S. draft dodgers find refuge in Canada. In the Maritimes, a young woman answers a personal ad written by a Saskatchewan schoolteacher, resulting in recipes and romance set against a backdrop of unrest during the Great Depression. All the while, the world looks to the skies for hope, inspiration, and a glimpse of a bright wingtip caught in the sun.

From the heady days of the FLQ crisis to the dawning evidence of climate change in Canada's north, Flying with Amelia weaves a collective identity, taking us on a journey from the first sight of a new land, through a century, and beyond.

Anne DeGrace is the author of four novels: Treading Water, Wind Tails, Sounding Line, and Flying with Amelia. Her resume includes stints as an illustrator, journalist, bookseller, publisher, and librarian. DeGrace lives with her partner, three dogs, and a dozen chickens near Nelson, British Columbia, where she writes in a hillside studio with a view of a lake, mountains, and the occasional elk.

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“Being moved by a book is one of the great joys of my life, and Anne DeGrace never fails to deliver emotionally rich and aesthetically enticing fiction … Flying with Amelia is a beautiful achievement by a gifted writer.”

The Globe and Mail