Saskia Swann & Nicola Stow – Above and Beyond: Secrets of a Private Flight Attendant

Above and Beyond: Secrets of a Private Flight Attendant by Saskia Swann & Nicola Stow is exactly that! A memoir written by Saskia Swann, a woman who worked as a flight attendant on commercial and private planes too.

This is a brutally honest account of her career and one that made me feel like I was on a joyride! It transported me to the luxurious world of rich people and excess. A world that I will never inhabit and looking at the cost of living in this world I think I shall stay here. Being allowed into the world of the crew as they let it all go made for a thrilling read. The luxurious hotels, the fine expensive restaurants and even the casino’s they visit, all in the name of ‘work’. The cost of these things is the expectation of many a boss who owned the jet. You always think you know what they could want but this book gives you the bare truth of them and how the attendants didn’t really have much choice if they wanted to keep the job.

I enjoyed getting to know the crew and my favourite was Nancy! Smuggling alcohol into a country it is banned in, certainly had me laughing. Then we have Pavel, a rather sad man who uses money and power to get exactly what he wants and throws you aside when he is bored, whoever that man is, he needs a good dose of his own medicine sooner rather than later! I felt for Saskia at a certain point and it really proved a point for me how Pavel reacted.

I was whisked away when I started reading this and didn’t land home again until I had finished. A riveting, humorous, truthful and even at times brutal read. I certainly hope to see Saskia Swann and Nicola Stow collaborate again. I am certain Saskia has a ton of stories she can include in a second book…I would imagine this was only the tip of the iceberg!

Thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours and Lume Books for my copy of this scintillating read.