How Long to Read Flights of the Herons

How Long Does it Take to Read Flights of the Herons?

It takes the average reader 3 hours and 39 minutes to read Flights of the Herons by Esther Royer Ayers

Assuming a reading speed of 250 words per minute. Learn more

Description

Far from being a treatise on birds, “Flights of the Herons” is about people. Emily Dickinson wrote: "Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul." What else but hope drives the suffering to continue searching for that brightly-lit doorway that leads to freedom from oppression? "Flights of the Herons" binds three members of the Reyher family together in their flights from oppression in a seamless narrative that will keep you spellbound until the very end. Frank, a professional man living in Youngstown, Ohio, and grieving over the death of his wife, takes up genealogy. He uncovers fascinating facts regarding his REYHER ancestral history, (Reyher means heron in German) and plans a trip to Germany with his mother to obtain further information. Two weeks before their departure, Frank learns that a possible relative, Katie, whom he has not heard of before, has won a literary award. On the assumption they are related, he decides to write her to suggest collaboration on a genealogy-inspired book that would tell the captivating story of their common great-great-grandfather, Johann Gotthard Reyher, who in 1819 fled the oppression of mandatory mercenary servitude in the German Kingdom of Wuerttemberg to emigrate to the United States. Frank’s mother cautions this Katie he seeks is from an Old Order Mennonite family. Since that religion prohibits school attendance beyond the eighth grade, she could not possibly have won a literary award. Frank perseveres and writes the letter. Katie, married, is an attractive housewife who lives in Arkansas, and is painfully embarrassed over a limp, {a metaphor for women who suffer the battering effects of emotional abuse}, she acquired in an accident a couple of years earlier. Her husband Ken, an ambitious advertising executive, is extremely controlling and subjects Katie to disastrous emotional and verbal abuse. Although terrified when first receiving Frank ́s letter, Katie finds solace within his words. Through sneaky emails, she converses with Frank and eventually agrees to a clandestine meeting at her childhood homestead, which is the homestead Johann Godhard Reyher purchased when first coming to America. The story, a fiction, nevertheless contains true genealogy information on the Hans Gotthard Reyher family, and dates back to even a much earlier ancestor, Hans Reyher, who migrated to Wuerttemberg from Switzerland after the Thirty Years’ War.

How long is Flights of the Herons?

Flights of the Herons by Esther Royer Ayers is 215 pages long, and a total of 54,825 words.

This makes it 73% the length of the average book. It also has 67% more words than the average book.

How Long Does it Take to Read Flights of the Herons Aloud?

The average oral reading speed is 183 words per minute. This means it takes 4 hours and 59 minutes to read Flights of the Herons aloud.

What Reading Level is Flights of the Herons?

Flights of the Herons is suitable for students ages 12 and up.

Note that there may be other factors that effect this rating besides length that are not factored in on this page. This may include things like complex language or sensitive topics not suitable for students of certain ages.

When deciding what to show young students always use your best judgement and consult a professional.

Where Can I Buy Flights of the Herons?

Flights of the Herons by Esther Royer Ayers is sold by several retailers and bookshops. However, Read Time works with Amazon to provide an easier way to purchase books.

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