"A thoroughly modern and heartbreaking yet magical exploration of family, migration, and mental health."
A gorgeously simple yet heartbreakingly complex debut that strays into magic realism and explores the meaning of family. Tito and his grandmother probe the magic of family bonds, as they grow older, their struggle to keep loved ones close takes its toll. Fairlight Moderns are little gems of books, small and compact, beautiful inside and out, each story packs a punch. J T Torres writes with a compassionate and thoughtful yet penetrating and provocative pen. A chain reaction of emotions ran through me as I joined Tito and his Nana and echoes of Cuba slid into Florida and Alaska. It feels as though the magic of Taking Flight will release a totally different experience to each person who steps between the pages. While readers always take a part of themselves into a book, here that piece of me stayed within it. With a devastating delicacy, Taking Flight delves into the intricate complexities of family, migration, and mental health and has been chosen as one of our Debuts of the Month.
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
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Closing date: 04/07/2026
When Tito is a child, his grandmother teaches him how to weave magic around the ones you love in order to keep them close. She is the master and he is the pupil, exasperating Tito's put-upon mother who, although exhausted from working long hours, is usually the focus of their mischief. As Tito grows older and his grandmother's mind becomes less sound, their games take a dangerous turn. They both struggle with a particular spell, one that creates an illusion of illness to draw in love. But as the lines between magic and childish tales blur, so too do those between fantasy and reality. In this beautifully told drama of the bond between grandson and grandmother, J. T. Torres delicately explores the complexities of family bonds – in which love is need, and need becomes manipulation, along with the pain and difficulties of dementia and mental ill health.
Taking Flight features in the following genres: Fiction, Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Debut Books of the Month, Family Drama, Fantasy, Shorter Reads, Magical realism, Narrative theme: Displacement, exile, migration, Narrative theme: Identity / belonging, General Fiction, Recommendations, Fiction: special features, Fiction: narrative themes
Taking Flight is available in Ebook, Paperback
Taking Flight was written by JT Torres and published by Fairlight Books
