The Way the Crow Flies Audiobook By Ann-Marie MacDonald cover art

The Way the Crow Flies

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The Way the Crow Flies

By: Ann-Marie MacDonald
Narrated by: Ann-Marie MacDonald
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2004 Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Award - Fiction Book of the Year
Winner
2004 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book (Canada & Caribbean, Nominated
2003 Scotiabank Giller Prize

In The Way the Crow Flies, Ann-Marie MacDonald takes us back to the early 1960’s, a time of optimism infused with the excitement of the space race and overshadowed by the menace of the Cold War—a world filtered through the imagination of Madeleine McCarthy, a spirited nine-year-old. Unaware that her father, Jack, is caught up in his own web of secrets, she at first welcomes her family’s posting to a sleepy air force base in southern Ontario.

The base, however, is home to some intriguing inhabitants, including the unconventional Froehlich family, and the odd Mr. March, whose power over the children is a secret burden that they carry. Then tragedy strikes, and a local murder intersects with global forces, binding the participants for life. As tension in the McCarthy’s household builds, Jack must decide where his loyalty lies, and Madeleine learns about the ambiguity of human morality—a lesson that will become clear only when the quest for the truth, and the killer, is renewed twenty years later.

©2003 Ann-Marie MacDonald (P)2022 Vintage Canada Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction War & Military Inspiring

Critic reviews

“The prime contender for book of the fall. [T]his is an engaging and ingeniously plotted portrait of a ‘perfect’ 1960s Canadian family coming to terms with all its imperfections.” (Quill & Quire)

“[A] richly involving novel. MacDonald...makes Jack and Mimi ring true emotionally, without cliché.” (The Bookseller)

“A little girl’s body, lying in a field, is the first image in this absorbing, psychologically rich second novel by the Canadian bestselling author of Fall On Your Knees.... MacDonald is an expert storyteller, providing an intricate recreation of life on a military base in the 1960s...a chronicle of innocence betrayed.... The finale comes as a thunderclap, rearranging the reader’s vision of everything that has gone before. It’s a powerful story, delicately layered with complex secrets, told with a masterful command of narrative and a strong moral message.” (PW Daily, starred review)

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It's long and complex, but very much worth it. No spoilers here just get it!
“Beautifully written and equally beautiful in its compassion, its wisdom, even in its anger and pain. Don’t miss it.” —The Washington Post

Amazing narration, great book!

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The storytelling, the authors voice, the characters, the layers of meaning… an absolutely incredible book. I enjoyed every minute.

One of the best books I’ve ever read

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