This book is the sequel to A Lantern in Her Hand, part of the Bison Books by this author. The story takes place in Nebraska during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is the story of life with its loves and disappointments. The title is taken from advice from Grandma Deal to Laura, her granddaughter, that life is where "spirit" takes one, whether it's the farm or the big city. The words in the book were beautiful and descriptive. Will definitely read the others if I can find them at a reasonable price. 352 pages ( )

On my second reread of this book, I enjoyed it immensely, and am just as pleased by the pairing of the two main characters. Also, now I know what Ak-sar-ben means, which I did not know when I first read it. :) Not that it comes up a lot. But it's mentioned.

I did feel a smidge more frustration on this reread with Laura and her inability to know herself.

Laura, a third-generation resident of Cedartown, Nebraska, begins the novel at about age 12. She is mourning the loss of her recently deceased grandmother, the person she felt closest to. Laura makes a promise to herself that she will do all the things her grandmother had to skip. That is, rather than settling down to a humdrum domestic life, she will see the world. She will write books. She will be somebody.
Fast-forward a few years, and Laura is at university in Lincoln. She is still single-minded about her career, but she is also drawn into friendship with Allen Rinemiller, a university student from her hometown. After her grandmother, he has been the only person she feels she can really be herself with. The rest of the novel is concerned with Laura's struggle between the life she thinks she wants, and the more subtle value of a loving relationship and a home.

This book is a real love letter to Nebraska and its settlers. It was published in 1931, and it is a sequel to "A Lantern in Her Hand," which details the entry of several pioneer families to the Midwest. By the time "A White Bird Flying" picks up, we are well into the third generation of those families, and it is interesting to see how priorities change from generation to generation.
The families in the preceding novel were primarily concerned with matters of actual survival, and then, as stability was reached, with beginning a community. By the time their grandchildren reach maturity, their opportunities look very much more like what we have today...questions of career, education, culture, social status, and money.
Bess Streeter Aldrich uses this book to stand up for the value of hard work and family.

It has some amusing lines, too, and some great bits of descriptive writing. I'll include a sample of each:

To top one of eastern Nebraska's low rolling hills in October and see the entire hollow bowl of the world fitting in the entire hollow bowl of the skies is to glimpse a bit of Infinity.

"Look at your own Aunt Isabelle Rhodes in Chicago. Hasn't she been a professional singer and music teacher ever since she and Harrison Rhodes were married?"
"Yes, but they're different. They work together. He composes and she sings."
"Well, so could we. You'd write, and I'd sharpen your pencils."


I've read the preceding book in this set once or twice, and it is certainly helpful for getting to know the background of the families, but I like A White Bird Flying as a standalone. I think people get more interesting as you move past the struggle-for-survival bits of history and start to have time and energy for the problems of the heart and mind. ( )

Taught me that change needs to come and can be as good as the memories. ( )

A White Bird Flying by Bess Streeter Aldrich is a sequel to A Lantern In Her Hand, but this book is about her granddaughter, Laura. In fact, Abby passes away in the opening chapter of this book. Laura was the grandchild that was closest to Abby, she visited her everyday and feels a great emptiness in her life when her grandmother passes. Abby understood Laura and encouraged her dreams and her ambitions to become a writer. As Laura grows, she decides that marriage will not be for her, she will instead concentrate on becoming an author.

Laura stays true to her dream all through high school and university. She makes plans to leave Nebraska and go to New York but during the final summer months before she is to leave, she falls in love with a local boy, Allan. Allan wants her to stay, marry him and become a farmer’s wife. As this is an era when married women did not have careers, she knew it would have to be one thing or the other. Then during a horrific summer storm, she realizes just how much she does love Allan. She turns to her memories of her grandmother to help her make her final decision.

I found this book to be a charming and sentimental story. It highlights the issues that women were dealing with in the early years of the 20th century. This quiet, gentle read makes me appreciate that although women are still striving for equality, at least we are able to have marriage, family and a career today. Originally published in 1931, A White Bird Flying is another tribute to her home state and the author’s ideals of hard work and family. ( )

Sweet but pale in comparison with A Lantern In Her Hand. ( )