FLYING TIME

Flying Time portrays a city at the start of its rise to fame and fortune (recently epitomized with the mayoral elections there), of love and adventure, of the impetuosity of youth and the regrets of age.

While recovering from a fall in a nursing home, Kay joins a writing group—mainly for residents whose memories are slipping—and finds herself recounting a vivid tale from her past that still haunts her. In 1939, Kay is a lively young woman languishing in a mediocre job who is sent to work for Mr. Miyashita, the only Japanese businessman in Calgary. As his personal secretary, she is privy to not only the extensive collection of
photographs that need to be catalogued but also to Mr. Miyashita's moods, his quick intellect, and his love for Canada.

But the world is changing and in 1941 Kay is sent on a quest to Hong Kong. She must recover a bequest for Mr. Miyashita: a collection of wood prints by the famous Japanese artist Sharaku before the Empire of Japan and the ‘Sleeping Giant' plunge the world into war. On the way, during a dreamlike flight across the Pacific in the Pan Am Clipper, she meets Peyto who, like Mr. Miyashita, will change her life forever.

Suzanne North's sweeping novel takes the reader from Calgary suburbs to Hawaii to Hong Kong on the eve of war and reminds us that, as the modern world came into being, Kay's world fell away like a shadow.