FICTION

The Sky Was Ours

by Joe Fassler
Penguin. Apr. 2024. 464p. ISBN 9780143135685. pap. $18. F
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DEBUT Deeply disappointed and deeply in debt, twentysomething Jane abandons a less-than-satisfying career path as a software programmer, only to land in Lack, a small rural town in New York State. Thus begins Fassler’s (The Atlantic’s “By Heart” series) creative retelling of the myth of Icarus and Daedalus. In Lack, Jane encounters Ike and his brilliant albeit offbeat father Barry, who is obsessed with designing wings to enable humans to fly, seeing it as the path to human transcendence. Jane succumbs to Barry’s charisma as much as his revolutionary ideals, while Ike’s patience, thoughtfulness, and reason offer a different approach. Fassler skillfully describes Jane’s diving and soaring flight toward growth and maturity, a struggle to avoid flying too close to the sun that Barry’s fanaticism depicts.
VERDICT Fassler excels at detailing the nuances of his three characters’ personalities as well as the landscape of Lack and the beauty of human flight. True to its original source, this is a powerful parable about the promise of freedom through flight, balanced against the perils of human hubris and the limits of technology and innovation.
Reviewed by Faye A. Chadwell , May 03, 2024
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