East To The Dawn: The Life of Amelia Earhart

I don't like not finishing a book. I usually stick with a book till the end hoping it gets better (i.e., The Goldfinch). For me, this is a book I chose to stop reading. It felt...tedious. It took me four days to get through 11 pages! The author tossed out so many names, so many people, so many "facts", that I had to keep re-reading prior pages to remember who/what she was writing about. The audio book was only a bit better. All the time while reading it, my thought was "where was her editor?" It just didn't do it for me.

This book was so throughly researched, I felt as if I watched Amelia grow up. She became a wonderful example of what any girl could become if allowed to be a little daring. It will be very interesting to see how closely the movie sticks to the facts. "Just the facts,Ma'am."

I have long been fascinated with Amelia Earhart and am impressed with how both the person and the legend spring to life in this riveting book. Susan Butler shows herself to be a superb researcher as well as a gifted story teller. There will always be unanswered questions regarding the circumstances surrounding Earhart's death, but after reading East to the Dawn I am satisfied that the bigger story will always be the story of her life. I just learned that a movie based on the book is about to be released. I can't wait to see it. If it is half as gripping as the book, it is bound to be a blockbuster success.

Reading this book I realized that most of what I knew about Amelia Earhart concerned her famous disappearance and presumed tragic death. Author/journalist Susan Butler wants us to know so much more about this girl genius who built her own roller coaster at age seven and started flying as soon as she was old enough to step inside a cockpit, despite the obvious risks to limb and life. She was attractive to everyone who met her, a prolific and skilled writer and a tireless dedicated social worker. She was also a feminist who never lost her zeal to help the downtrodden or her determination to encourage women to be strong and stand up for their right to succeed on their own. The book is an inspiration, reminding us that the living breathing Earhart is the one we should remember. Barbara Bamberger Scott

I grew up hearing bits and pieces about Amelia Earhart. There was always the slight inference that she may have been a lesbian and the stories about her possible capture by the Japanese. I found EAST TO THE DAWN illuminating and informative. The author makes Amelia much more of a feminist and political person than I had ever imagined. For example, I did not know about her friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt. But Amelia's friendship with Nancy Cook and Lorena Hitchock and involvment in the Val Kil project made me think that there may have been some validity to the rumors about her life style. It's also interesting how much the government did for her on her flights. The possible capture by the Japanese seems to me looking back in retrospect that it could be a form of very suttle anti Japanese propaganda. One of the previous reviewers commented that EAST TO THE DAWN finds no fault with Amelia - she was perfect in every way. Thinking about the book in retrospect, there is a lot of validity to that statement. But all in all the book gives a good view of women and their roles in society in the 1920's and 30's. It also give a whole new side of Amelia. As a result of this book I want to read more about Amelia. The author's conclusion that Amelia became bigger in death than she may have been in life is also valid but Amelia is one of those American icons that will live on and on because she died so young and under strange circumstances.

EAST TO THE DAWN not only gives the reader an incredibly detailed account of Amelia Earhart's life, but its presentation allows one to have a clear sense of the period, places and people of her life. From childhood in Kansas at the turn of the century, through an exciting adulthood which took her all over the world, you will feel that you are almost there. It is both informative and absorbing.