Night Over Water
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Night Over Water is a politically-minded novel written by author Ken Follett and published by William Morrow in 1991. It was reprinted as a paperback book in the U.S. in 1992.
Night Over Water is a fictionalized account of the final flight of the Pan American Clipper passenger airplane during the first few days of World War II, early September, 1939. Follett is careful to state that, though the flight and all of the characters are fictional, the plane (Boeing 314) was real. This plane, nicknamed the "Pan Am Clipper," was a sea-plane, an aircraft that landed in the sea, not on an airstrip. It was powered by 4 propeller engines, and was capable of crossing the Atlantic Ocean in little more than 24 hours. This made it the fastest mode of transatlantic travel at the time -- and very appealing to those who want to escape from Britain before the start of the war.
List of Characters
- Eddie Deakin - flight engineer
- Carl Hartmann - German scientist
- Harry Marks - lower class Englishman; petty thief
- The Oxenfords (Lord, Lady, Percy, Margaret) - wealthy English family
- Diana Lovesey - Englishwoman; running away with Mark Alder
- Nancy Lenehan - American businesswoman
- Tom Luther - enigmatic passenger
- Lulu Bell - fictional American actress
- Mark Alder - American radio manager; running away with Diana Lovesey
- Mervyn Lovesey - English scientist, businessman
External link
- Ken Follett's Night Over Water - official site (http://www.ken-follett.com/bibliography/nightwater.html)