The Wright Sister

Maurer seizes the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the flight at Kitty Hawk to examine the role of Wilbur and Orville Wright's older sister, Katharine, and in the process liberates her from the obscurity history often assigns those whose sacrifices and support enable others to triumph. Where Jane Yolen's My Brothers' Flying Machine (reviewed above), for the picture-book crowd, casts Katharine as a narrator of her brothers' story, Maurer's dynamic biography explores the woman as a subject in her own right. Katharine began keeping house for her father and brothers at the age of 14 (when her mother died), and Maurer depicts her as neither drudge nor martyr; she emerges as a vivacious, supremely competent woman. The only member of her family to graduate from college, she was nevertheless expected to continue to care for her father and unmarried brothers-acting as secretary as well as managing the household-while she also taught school. Excerpts from her correspondence demonstrate how Katharine sails through these challenges, enthusiastically maintaining a social and intellectual life as she encouraged and aided her brothers, and, later, charmed European dignitaries and royals. The author also discusses the Wright Brothers' accomplishments and, engrossingly, uses family letters to paint a picture of the household dynamics. The relationships merit scrutiny: Orville disowned Katherine when, in middle age, she finally married. A perpetually rewarding and illuminating read, illustrated with black-and-white period photographs.