Paper Airplanes - by Tabitha Forney (Paperback)

About the Book

When Erin loses her husband on September 11, she thinks her life is lost, too. She surrenders to fate by diving into a self-destructive cocktail of grief, guilt, and substance abuse. But when the road to destiny presents a twist, she realizes she has one more chance to decide whether marriage means forever, or if there's life after happily ever after.

Book Synopsis

When Erin loses her husband on September 11, she thinks her life is lost, too. She surrenders to fate by diving into a self-destructive cocktail of grief, guilt, and substance abuse. But when the road to destiny presents a twist, she realizes she has one more chance to decide whether marriage means forever, or if there's life after happily ever after.

Review Quotes

2022 eLit Book Awards Gold Winner in Literary Fiction
2022 16th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist in Women's Fiction and Literary Fiction
2022 IPPY Awards Bronze Winner in Best First Book (Fiction)
2022 Eric Hoffer Book Awards Winner in General Fiction

2022 Eric Hoffer First Horizon Book Awards Winner
2022 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards Finalist in Best New Voice: Fiction
& Fiction: General

2021 American Fiction Awards Finalist in Literary Fiction

". . . a love story about a marriage that's imperfect but everlasting, and about the guilt that comes when we survive and must keep on living."
--Kirkus Reviews

"On the twentieth anniversary of the World Trade towers attack comes an unflinching novel that explores the aftermath of the tragedy. Forney, whose own husband survived 9/11, takes us into the heart and mind of a widow whose husband jumped from a tower to escape the terrifying fires. Her life abruptly broken, Erin journeys through hell and back in this fictional account of a loved one left behind. An elegantly written tale that engages a gamut of emotions, this is a powerful debut by a gifted writer."

--Chris Cander, USA Today best-selling author of The Weight of a Piano

"Surprising, poignant, hopeful and heartbreakingly honest in the best ways, Paper Airplanes is achingly hard to put down. Tabitha Forney is a literary force."
--Carrie Jones, New York Times and internationally best-selling author of the Need series

"This haunting novel captivated me from the beginning. Forney pulled me in with her gorgeous prose and a heroine who made my heart ache. I rarely cry when I read, but Paper Airplanes had me sobbing. This is the kind of book that only comes around once in a lifetime."
--Laura Heffernan, internationally best-selling author of Finding Tranquility and Anna's Guide to Getting Even

"The world changed irreparably in 2001, but most of us only knew the events from a distance. Forney takes us into the searing rupture of that day--and the unstable life that followed--with fortitude and insight, grace and eloquence, reckoning and ultimately peace. A tour de force."
--David Eagleman, author of Sum and Livewired

"With depth and empathy, Tabitha Forney navigates the emotional wreckage left by tragedy, exploring questions of fate, self-destruction and ultimately hope. Paper Airplanes is a lovely and moving novel."
--Mark Haber, author of Reinhardt's Garden

"As the Twin Towers fall on September 11th, Erin struggles through a world she neither recognizes nor understands. She begins a journey to find her missing husband and comes to realize that she has lost not only him, but herself. This is a compelling story of destruction and death and the slow process of self-discovery and redemption. It is a beautifully written debut novel that has the courage to face the worst nightmare imaginable, the loss of a great love."
--K. Blanton Brenner, author of Appaloosa Sky