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06/08/2017 12:01 AMAuthor Harry Haskell will give a talk about his book, Maiden Flight, on Tuesday, June 20 at 6:30 p.m. at the Essex Library, 33 West Street, Essex.
Maiden Flight is the true-life story of the Wright sister who, in 1926, left her world-famous and intensely possessive older brother to marry the man she loved, newspaper editor Harry Haskell, and suffered the unhappy consequences. An international celebrity in her own right, Katharine Wright embodied the worldly, independent, and self-fulfilled new woman of the early 20th century. Yet she remained in many ways a Victorian. Torn between duty and love, she agonized for months before making her devastating break with Orville Wright at age 52. Cast in the form of three interwoven first-person memoirs, Maiden Flight is imaginatively reconstructed from personal letters, newspaper reports, and other documents of the period—in particular, Katharine Wright’s lively and extraordinarily revealing love letters to Haskell. In allowing Wright to step outside of Wilbur and Orville’s shadow, the book sheds new light on the central role she played in their private lives, as well as on her often-misunderstood contribution to their scientific work.
From the Booklist review: “Haskell imaginatively makes what was already an interesting triangle even more emotionally gripping. This slow burn of a story draws readers in more deeply with each page and makes Katharine truly the most intriguing Wright of them all.”
Harry Haskell is the grandson of Henry J. (Harry) Haskell, husband of Wright. He is the author of Boss-Busters and Sin Hounds: Kansas City and Its Star, The Early Music Revival: A History, and editor of The Attentive Listener: Three Centuries of Music Criticism. Copies of Maiden Flight will be available for purchase and signing.
This program is free and open to the public. Call 860-767-1560 to register or for more information. The Essex Library is located at 33 West Avenue in Essex.