Amelia Earhart

Amelia Earhart is presented in the book’s documentary postscript through her aviation achievements and disappearance, placing her among the historical facts against which the novel’s imagined history can be read.

Aviation Achievements

In 1932, Earhart set a transatlantic record of fourteen hours and fifty-six minutes on a flight from Newfoundland to Ireland. The postscript also identifies her as the first woman to make unaccompanied flights across both the Atlantic and the Pacific, including a Pacific crossing from Honolulu to California.

Disappearance

In 1937, Earhart and navigator Frederick J. Noonan disappeared when their plane was lost somewhere over the Pacific during an attempt to fly around the world. The account records the disappearance without resolving what happened to them.

Place in the Book

Earhart’s biographical entry appears in the postscript’s documentary material. The postscript explains that the book is fiction and that its references are intended to help readers distinguish historical fact from historical invention. Her entry therefore supplies a concise historical reference rather than an episode in the Roth family’s narrated plot.