Cloudmaker, Malcolm Brooks
Cloudmaker, Malcolm Brooks
List: $22.95 | Sale: $16.07
Club: $11.47

Cloudmaker

Author: Malcolm Brooks

Narrator: Julia Whelan

Unabridged: 20 hr 28 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/09/2021


Synopsis

From the nationally bestselling author of Painted Horses comes a soaring, spirited novel set during the summer of Amelia Earhart’s final flight, a tale of American ingenuity and optimism set against the backdrop of a deepening Great Depression.The summer of 1937 will be a turning point for fourteen-year-old Houston “Huck” Finn. When he and a friend find a dead body in a local creek, a rare Lindbergh flight watch on its wrist, it seems like a sign. Huck is building his own airplane, a fact he has concealed from his mother. That summer also marks the arrival of his cousin Annelise, sent to live with the family under mysterious circumstances. As it turns out, she has had flying lessons—another sign.As Huck’s airplane takes shape, so does his burgeoning understanding of the world, including the battle over worldliness vs. godliness that has split Annelise from her family and, in a quieter way, divides Huck’s family too. And meanwhile, there is the matter of the watch, which the dead man’s cohort of bank robbers would very much like back.In Brooks’s trademark “lush, breathtaking prose” (San Francisco Chronicle) and with a winking nod to the Sam Clemens who inspired its hero’s nickname, Cloudmaker is a boisterous, heartfelt novel that brings to life the idealism, inventiveness, traditionalism, and deep contradictions of the American spirit.

About Malcolm Brooks

Malcolm Brooks is the author of Painted Horses, a national bestseller. He has lived in Montana for most of three decades. His writing has appeared in Gray’s Sporting Journal, Outside, Sports Afield, and Montana Quarterly, among others.

About Julia Whelan

Julia Whelan is a screenwriter, lifelong actor, and award-winning audiobook narrator. She graduated with a degree in English and creative writing from Middlebury College and Oxford University. While she was in England, her flirtation with tea blossomed into a full-blown love affair, culminating in her eventual certification as a tea master. 


Reviews

Goodreads review by Bonnye Reed on September 13, 2022

I received an electronic ARC of this wonderful novel from Netgalley, Malcolm Brooks, and Grove Press. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition of and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. Malcolm Brooks writes a compelling story with......more

Goodreads review by Xray on June 11, 2021

This is a book about too many things. I picked up this book at the library and was drawn by the cover art showing a small 1930’s era airplane flying above a lonely field. Reading the dust jacket, I thought it was going to be about a small town kid, borderline engineering genius, building his own airp......more

Goodreads review by Winn on October 31, 2022

I fix stuff and I know things. My kind of guy. Has a daddy who rides across half the country as a 10 year old. Has a buddy who can shoot an ancient sharps and split a piece of sheet metal. Has an absolutely incredible cousin who he can lead or follow as circumstances call. And an overall sense of spi......more

Goodreads review by Faith on March 13, 2021

Cloud maker is a beautifully written book about a past that is romanticized without being too unbelievable. The world is fascinated by flight. Every character has something to add to this obsession. Throw in a coming of age story as teenage friends come upon a dead body and have to deal with the rep......more

Goodreads review by Cynburjon on April 04, 2021

After a fabulous debut novel 5 years ago, I was expecting so much more from this second novel by Malcolm Brooks. Gone were the beautiful word pictures he painted in “Painted Horses”. To be fair, I personally don’t have a lot of interest in early aeronautics so that may have been part of the problem,......more


Quotes

“Tells an earnest, heartfelt family story with laugh-out-loud humor, deep-seated family conflicts, and distressing coming-of-age crises. Enthusiastically recommended.” Library Journal (starred review)

“A sweeping yet personal coming-of-age story…in pitch-perfect dialect that will immerse readers firmly in Brooks’s beloved American West.” Shelf Awareness

“An entrancing tale about the challenges of pursuing one’s dreams and life on American frontiers, old and new.” Booklist

“Exciting flying scenes transport the reader to an early, adventurous time in aviation history.” Publishers Weekly

“Narrator Julia Whelan delivers a smart, sassy pair of cousins who share a love of aviation…Whelan makes the youngsters believable and likable. Her portrayals of the other characters, especially Huck’s mom, are also standouts. Superb writing and a terrific narrator, as well as gangsters, cowboys, and airplanes, all make for enjoyable listening.” AudioFile

“Epic in scope, beautifully crafted in its prose, and always—always—adoring of its cast of unforgettable characters, Cloudmaker is a stunner of a novel. A book that absolutely soars.” Nickolas Butler, author of Shotgun Lovesongs