Her marriage to her favorite college professor a failure, Misha Gaffney, a ticket agent for Air England, applies, and is accepted into their Airport Managers Training Program. She is one of the first two women ever to be allowed into the course. When she moves to London for her training British male chauvinism rears its ugly head and she is tormented by her fellow students and faculty members alike, not only because she is a woman, but also because she is an American. She finds some allies, but encounters similar resentments on her training postings in places like Bombay, Nairobi, Sri Lanka, and Johannesburg. Torn between her career, her friends, and the possibility of another marriage, Misha Gaffney struggles to find herself, and to become the first woman to complete Air England's prestigious management training program.
The Watering Hole is a beautifully-crafted tale of a young woman looking for home, place, and belonging. Written with an insider's knowledge of the airline industry, and set in many exotic locals, this book reveals the grit and the glory of what goes on beyond the check-in counter and out on the tarmac. Dealing with the workings of the aviation world of the 1970's and early 1980's you may find some of the details disturbing, but the book is well worth reading. And it does end on an up note. OE gives this book its highest recommendation.
Sidney Grayling
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