Katharine, the Wright Sister

A Novel

By: Tracey Enerson Wood

Narrated by: Rachel Botchan, Jim Frangione, Pete Bradbury

SHE HELPED HER BROTHERS SOAR … BUT WAS THE FLIGHT WORTH THE FALL?

It all started with two boys and a bicycle shop. Wilbur and Orville Wright, both unsuited to college and disinclined to leave home, jumped on the popular new fad of bicycle riding and opened a shop in Dayton, Ohio. Repairing and selling soon led to tinkering and building as the brothers offered improved models to their eager customers. Amid their success, a new dream began to take shape. Engineers across the world were puzzling over how to build a powered flying machine—and Wilbur and Orville wanted in on the challenge. But their younger sister, Katharine, knew they couldn’t do it without her. The three siblings made a pact: the three of them would solve the problem of human flight.

As her brothers obsessed over blueprints and risked life and limb testing new models on the sandy beaches of North Carolina, Katharine became the mastermind behind the scenes of their inventions. She sourced materials, managed communications, and kept Wilbur and Orville focused on their goal—even when it seemed hopeless. And in 1903, the Wright brothers made the first controlled, sustained flight of humankind.

What followed was the kind of fame and fortune the Wrights had never imagined. The siblings traveled the world to demonstrate their invention, trained other pilots, and built new machines that could fly higher and farther. But at the height of their success, tragedy wrenched the Wright family apart … and forced Katharine to make an impossible choice that would haunt her for the rest of her life.

From international bestselling author Tracey Enerson Wood, Katharine, the Wright Sister is an unforgettable novel that shines a spotlight on one of the most important and overlooked women in history, and the sacrifices she made so that others might fly.

©2024 Tracey Enerson Wood (P)2024 Recorded Books

Women’s inequality

Too much description of the making of the plane enjoyable interpersonal relationships. Sad that Katheryn died after all her sacrifices

Katherine Wright’s part in brother’s success

Katherine was the wind beneath the wings of the Wright brothers in development of flight. She delayed her own personal life to support the brothers. This was economic as well as encouragement and making a home for her father and brothers. In another time she might have been more directly involved in the flight trials.