Synopses & Reviews
When Erin Byrne travels, she lets the journey transforms her.
Wings from Victory is a collection of stories about her unique and authentic experiences in France. Some come through serendipity, good fortune, or by accident. But each time, Erin takes the experience, digs deeper and discovers meaning from it. Each story demonstrates in a different way, this idea put forth by Joseph Campbell:
The passage of the mythological hero may be overground, incidentally; fundamentally it is inwardand#151;into the depths, where obscure resistances are overcome and long lost powers are revivified.
From Cand#233;zanneand#8217;s studio in Aix-en-Provence to a tiny village in the Jura Mountains, from a tiny bistro on the Left Bank of Paris to a plain high above the Normandy beaches, Erin travels through France collecting stories, characters, tastes and secrets that act as ingredients for change. She learns to trust her intuition after listening to Henri Cartier-Bressonand#8217;s advice. After gazing at van Goghand#8217;s self-portrait, Erin finds a way to be more honest.
The Introduction presents a gift, wrapped in shiny fuchsia paper, waiting on a table in a cafand#233; near Saint Sulpice in Paris, just as the place begins to wake up. The book is about the gifts we all glean from our travels, and will inspire readers to unwrap their own images and impressions in a new way.
Wings from Victory is arranged in 10 chapters of three stories each, with Introductions which include quotes by many of Erinand#8217;s colleagues in the travel writing world, including Tim Cahill, Marcia DeSanctis, Jeff Greenwald, and Larry Habegger. Each Introduction links Erinand#8217;s travels through France with deep psychological, spiritual or emotional changes.
The first chapter, and#147;Les Deux Garand#231;ons,and#8221; follows Erinand#8217;s teenage son Brendan and his friend as they swagger their way through Paris and Normandy. In these stories, they ride the rough rapids of travel and find a way to right their rafts; detect something in a painting that proves the artist achieved his lifetime goal; and are changed to the bones in Normandy. As she takes the new role of observer/photographer, Erin sees her son through a new lens and modifies her style of parenting.
In the and#147;Charactersand#8221; chapter, the late George Whitman, proprietor of Shakespeare and Company Bookstore in Paris, presides over his domain; a woman in Normandy emerges from the past to assuage Erinand#8217;s grief; and Henri Cartier-Bresson becomes her unlikely mentor. and#147;The Tastes of Placeand#8221; offers French history in a bite of baguette, a glass of ruby-red Bordeaux in the cellar of Chand#226;teau Lafite Rothschild, and a morsel of Jurassic Cheese that tastes of the source of all fromage, all rivers, and all stories. and#147;Connectionsand#8221; reveals an unrecognized hunger, a chance to work with writers from all over the world at Shakespeare and Company Bookstore, and puts Erin on a windswept plain in Auvers-sur-Oise staring at twin gravestones covered in emerald ivy while feeling a link of love that breaches the boundary between life and death.
and#147;The Mystique of Artand#8221; invites the reader to catch the live current of any artist. Cartier-Bresson reappears with a challenge, van Gogh teaches us all how we can tell our own truths. The statue Winged Victory, who is regarded as a character throughout the book, beckons Erin to the Louvre and helps her excavate and integrate her original self, whom she discarded sometime around 1965. This story is framed around the concepts of pilgrimage found in Phil Cousineauand#8217;s groundbreaking book, The Art of Pilgrimage. and#147;Winged Victoryand#8221; is a story as solid as the Parian marble that was, sometime around 190 BC, chiseled into the shape of Nike, goddess of Victory, and placed in a niche on the Greek island of Samothrace.
and#147;The Storykeeperand#8221; rewinds to the last days of the German occupation of France, when on the evening of June 22, 1944, seven-year-old Renand#233; Psarolis was walking down his Paris street when a B-17G crashed in front of him. This event made such an impact on Renand#233; that he spent years of his later life piecing together the stories of the crew. He had plaques put up all over Paris to commemorate the fallen and brought two survivors back to Paris to offer them healing and closure. This chapter places us in World War II Paris and gives an inside view of the making of the film, The Storykeeper, by Erin and Rogier van Beeck Calkoen, on the streets and bridges of Paris.
and#147;Transformationsand#8221; celebrates Bastille Day on the wheat fields of Washington state, tracing the agony and eventual soothing of the reverse culture shock that can strike any traveler; plunges underground to a Paris metro station where the sound of an oboe evokes Carlos Santanaand#8217;s expressive guitar wails; and examines the cathedral of Notre Dame, the psychological circles we often trace, and how, if we are open, we can truly change.
and#147;Secretsand#8221; of Parisian women, the butte of Montmartre and a set of 17th-century ceiling beams are revealed; and#147;Signsand#8221; of an artistand#8217;s past, an impending disaster, and the darkest forces in humanity are examined; and and#147;Belongingand#8221; is defined by the lack of it in the life of Paul Cand#233;zanne in Provence; by the affinity Erin feels for the Patron Sainte of Paris, Sainte-Geneviand#233;ve; and, finally, by the way those wings given to her by Victory in the Louvre do now in every way belong to her to cherish, nurture, and keep.
For, as Erin writes,
Here lies the beauty of travel: We see, we feel, we perceive, receptors reach out from the deepest parts of ourselves toward what we need, and we have the potential to act to integrate into ourselves the incredible treasures of the world.
Review
and#147;Reading these beautifully crafted essays is like traveling with your best friend. Erin Byrne not only experiences France with her senses, she experiences it with her heart, rendering her impressions of the country, its art, and its people with both grace and warmth.and#8221;
and#151;Janis Cooke Newman, author of A Master Plan for Rescue
and#147;Reading Wings from Victory reminds me of the memorable moments Iand#8217;ve had riffling through boxes of old postcards and the pages of antiquarian books in the beloved green boxes of the bouquinistes along the Seine in Paris.
and#147;The serendipitous thrill that can be found discovering long-lost wonders in the bookstalls is similar to the joy found in Erin Byrneand#8217;s essays about Franceand#8217;s grand treasures, from her museums to her old bakeries, creaky bookstores, wine shops, sun-spangled cafes, the red windmills of Montmartre, and even the harrowing bullet holes left behind from past wars. Read on for this is a reverie-inducing glimpse of past and present France.and#8221;
and#151;Phil Cousineau, author of The Book of Roads: A Life Made of Travel, and The Art of Pilgrimage
and#147;In her literary travels, Erin Byrne has soaked up the essence of France and drips it to her readers in wonderful vignettes that make up Wings from Victory. Masterfully weaving personal reminiscences with history, culture, and personages, both famous and unknown, Byrne has created a mini tour of the nation and its most significant times that will enchant the reader while it enlightens them.
and#147;From the landing beaches of Normandy to apartment walls that relate their own intimate memories, Wings from Victory bares the soul of a country and is a dream read for any Francophile.and#8221;
and#151;James Michael Dorsey, author of Vanishing Tales from Ancient Trails
and#147;Anyone who has ever fallen in love with a place will find a kindred soul in Erin Byrne, an irresistible bon vivant whose appetite for the art, culture, cuisine, history and traditions of France is second only to her devotion to the craft of storytelling. This is a must read for anyone traveling to France. Byrneand#8217;s prose reads like a love story, flooding her readerand#8217;s senses with Franceand#8217;s triumphs and tragedies, and some of its more beloved characters, from Madame Simone Renaud to Henri Cartier-Bresson to George Whitman.
and#147;Even if Byrne hadnand#8217;t divulged that she was once a teacher, her ability to impart learning through her stories with so much joie de vivre gives her away. By the end of this book, you will have received a crash course in French history, art, and culture unlike anything else.and#8221;
and#151;Jayme Moye, 2014 Travel Journalist of the Year
and#147;Erin Byrneand#8217;s Wings from Victory presents a mosaic of storytelling as vivid, compelling, and rich as the City of Light itself. Itand#8217;s almost impossible to stop reading. Of course Iand#8217;m partial to and#145;Ave Metroand#8217;and#151;her masterful rendering of what it feels like to discover, then rediscover, the power of musicand#151;but Byrneand#8217;s lyric writing and eye for detail make every story a standout. What time is the next flight to Paris?and#8221;
and#151;Nancy David Kho, writer, MidlifeMixtape.com
and#147;After reading Wings from Victory I canand#8217;t imagine going much longer without a trip to France. I was hungry for everything while I read it; the perfect baguette, the scented breeze of the Luxembourg gardens...everything. Byrne is a master at the art of travel writing that transports and enchants. Byrneand#8217;s eloquent prose is the perfect cadeau for Francophiles and armchair travelers; she captures the smells, tastes, and memories of her beloved France in a book you will not want to put down.and#8221;
and#151;Jennifer Hillman-Magnuson, award-winning author of Peanut Butter and Naan: Stories of an American Mom in the Far East.
Synopsis
France is steeped in refined traditions, with its rich history, exquisite art, robust culture, and varied cuisine. Writer Erin Byrne was changed by traveling around this country with the ghosts of artists and historical figures who shared with her their guides to living.
Wings: Gifts of Art, Life, and Travel in France is a collection of essays drawn from Byrne's travels across the country. From Cezanne's studio in Aix-en-Provence to a tiny village in the Jura Mountains, from a neighborhood bistro on the Left Bank of Paris to a plain high above the Normandy beaches, she travels through France collecting stories, characters, tastes, and secrets that act as ingredients for change, then takes those experiences and digs deeper to uncover meaning.
Henri Cartier-Bresson issues a challenge, Sainte Genevieve offers resilience, Salvador Dali seduces, Picasso entertains, and a wrought iron sign portends the future. Wings is about the gifts that we all glean from our travels. This book will inspire readers to unwrap their own images and impressions in a new way.
Synopsis
Erin Byrne captures the essence of France through unique and authentic experiences in
Wings from Victory, her collection of stories about travel in one of the world's most alluring countries. Some or her experiences come through serendipity, others via good fortune, still others by accident. But each time, Erin takes the experience, digs deeper, and discovers meaning from it. Each story demonstrates in a different way this idea put forth by Joseph Campbell:
The passage of the mythological hero may be overground, incidentally; fundamentally it is inwardand#151;into the depths, where obscure resistances are overcome and long lost powers are revivified.
From Cand#233;zanneand#8217;s studio in Aix-en-Provence to a tiny village in the Jura Mountains, from a cozy bistro on the Left Bank of Paris to a plain high above the Normandy beaches, Erin travels through France collecting stories, characters, tastes, and secrets that act as ingredients for change. She learns to trust her intuition after listening to Henri Cartier-Bressonand#8217;s advice. After gazing at van Goghand#8217;s self-portrait, Erin finds a way to be more honest.
This book is about the gifts we all glean from our travels, and will inspire readers to unwrap their own images and impressions in a new way.
About the Author
Award-winning author Erin Byrne writes travel articles and essays, short stories, poems, and screenplays. Her writing has won numerous awards, including three Grand Prize Solas Awards for Best Travel Story of the Year.
Her work appears in a variety of publications, including Adventures of a Lifetime, Travelers' Tales Best Travel Writing, The Best Women's Travel Writing, Wild Horses: Women on Fire and Burning the Midnight Oil anthologies, Points North Atlanta, World Hum, and Vestoj, The Journal of Sartorial Matters. She has also appeared on radio and written a series of articles about travel writing for Writer's Digest, Shelf Pleasure, and several other publications.
Erin is editor of the Vignettes and Postcards series of destination-specific anthologies by notable writers. A third edition of Vignettes and Postcards from Paris will be released by Reputation Books in 2016, and includes photographs by William Curtis Rolf, sketches by Candace Rose Rardon, with new stories by Don George, Georgia Hesse, Jayme Moye and other writers. Vignettes and Postcards from Morocco will also be released in 2016. This new collection of stories by 28 writers includes work by Rolf Potts, Suzanna Clarke, Phil Cousineau and Michael Chabon.
Also successful in the world of film, Erin has written a short feature screenplay, Siesta, which is in pre-production in Spain. It is scheduled to be filmed by Dutch filmmaker Rogier van Beeck Calkoen in November 2016. She is also the screenwriter of The Storykeeper, an Accolade Award-winning documentary short subject about occupied Paris, also directed and produced by van Beeck Calkoen. The Storykeeper was on the first list of nominated films at the Jaipur International Film Festival and was named Best Documentary Short at the Geneva Film Festival and the Universe Multicultural Film Festival. It was shortlisted for the Onecloudfest Award and continues to screen at festivals and other venues.
As an occasional instructor at Shakespeare and Company Bookstore in Paris, Erin shares her expertise in writing, as well as teaches on Deep Travel trips.
Wings from Victory is Erinand#8217;s first book, and she is working on the novel, The Red Notebook.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Les Deux Garand#231;ons
Two Boys and a Bistro
Day Dreamer
Coasting Beyond Boyhood
2. Characters
The Rarest of Editions
Dear Madame Renaud
Donand#8217;t Think, A Message From Henri Cartier-Bresson
3. Tastes of Place
The Taste of This Place
A Rare Blend
Jurassic Cheese
4. Connections
French Connections
Vignettes and Postcards From Paris
Vincentand#8217;s Vision
5. The Mystique of Art
and#192; Propos de Paris
Eye to Eye with van Gogh
Winged Victory
6. The Storykeeper
Mentalitand#233; Terrible
The Boy and His Shield
Storykeepers
7. Transformations
Bastille Day on the Palouse
Avand#233; Mand#233;tro
Deep Travel, Notre Dame
8. Secrets
The Secret of It
The Mirror of Montmartre
Wise Beams
9. Signs
In Vincentand#8217;s Footsteps
Signs
Duende in the Louvre
10. Belonging
Cand#233;zanneand#8217;s Salon des Refusand#233;s
Reconnaissance: Seeking Sainte Geneviand#232;ve
Now, Fly
Publications and Awards
Acknowledgments