The Closest Thing To Flying by Gill Lewis
Published by Oxford University Press
I’VE been meaning to read this book for a long time and it’s only when I took the time to sit down with it that I found something I constantly long for in whatever novel I pick up. I simply wasn’t able to put it down.
Any book particularly directed at children and young people, should be able to hold your attention straight through to the end and while many of them do, it remains a rare and glorious occurrence when you’re able to get through over half of a story in one sitting.
With only around 240 pages it doesn’t have to be too time consuming to make the impact that it does, on the way teaching lessons about family, friendship and finding comfort in all of the little things.
There are so many important themes packed in including abuse, women’s suffrage in the late 1800s and early 1900s and animal cruelty, none of which is ever out of place.
This story has two main characters at its core, and the first of which we are introduced to is Semira. After fleeing Eritrea with her mother at seven, Semira is now 12-years-old and remembers little about her life before England. All she knows are the troubles she faces every day now.
Neither Semira or her mother have any money and must rely on Robel, the man pretending to be her father to keep them in the country, for food and shelter but he uses this power not to protect them, but rather to control them.
Living with this treatment along with having to move around so regularly that real friends are few and far between means that any small comfort or luxury is incredibly valuable to Semira.
It is perhaps this that explains why after seeing an oddly familiar stuffed green bird on a Victorian hat at market she spent the last of her money on it and made a peculiar find. Hidden in the hat box that came with it was a diary from 1890 by Henrietta, the 12-year-old daughter of a man who made hats with stuffed birds and their feathers. Through reading about Hen’s conflicts with her family’s business and secretly joining a bird protection society as well as an ever-growing desire for a future where she can vote, Semira forms a deep connection to Hen and their shared newfound love of cycling as the “closest thing to flying”.
What makes this book easy to enjoy are the clear links between Henriett and Semira. They may be over 100 years apart but there’s this certainty that if they’d had the chance to know each other they’d be friends, and reading it almost feels like befriending them yourself.
Both of the girls are trapped in their own way, in a world that underestimates them, whether it’s with a wealthy family that doesn’t understand a desire to keep thousands of birds from slaughter or with a man claiming to be a father, but offering abuse instead of support.
They are linked by their troubles but also by their endless hope, by their desire to fly away, and in finding a little piece of this in moments of refuge with bicycles. The Closest Thing To Flying is a story I wish I’d written, but am simply glad I got the chance to read.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here