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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
A lovely, soulful exploration of the internal struggles faced by Anne Morrow Lindberg as she was forced to
live in her husband's shadow and in the wake of the tragic loss of her first child. Masterful.
live in her husband's shadow and in the wake of the tragic loss of her first child. Masterful.
I started by hating this book,,especially Charles, but as Anne's story is told I'm enthralled with her life and development.
this was another of those books where I can't decide how to rate it. If possible, it would be a 4 1/2 stars. While I thought I knew a lot of Lindberg story, I learned just how much Anne Morrow Lindberg really contributed both by acting as co-pilot and writing. That's in addition to being the spouse of a cold "hero" whose Nazi leanings alienated much of U.S. popular opinion. So I really enjoyed it, but it didn't quite rate five stars for me.
I wish Goodreads had half stars! This is definitely a 3.5..maybe even a 3.75 star book for me. I enjoyed it very much probably because I knew almost nothing about the Lindbergh's before reading this (aside from the kidnapping of their child, The Spirit of St. Louis, etc.). I connected with Anne and saw a little of myself in her--I cheered with her when she stood up to her husband, I cried with her when tragedy struck; I feel like we're best friends :). But honestly, Anne Morrow Lindbergh is a fascinating figure and Melanie Benjamin brings her to life in this novel.
Sometimes the narrative jumped around too much for me. It would skip ahead a few years in time, but then go back to explain what had happened in the interim. By the time I aligned my thoughts with this time jump, it would happen again. Another aspect of the novel that I HAVE to mention is the fact that Amelia Earheart is mentioned briefly in the beginning of the novel. She's speaking to Charles at a party and then turns to Anne and basically embarrasses her--so she's portrayed as a not very nice person. That's fine, but then she's never mentioned again. Her solo flight and the fact that she nor her plane were ever found are ignored. Now, I didn't really want to know more about Amelia because the book wasn't about her, but I thought it was strange that she was never mentioned again even just to make a comment about the dangers of flying, especially alone. I would like to know what Melanie Benjamin meant to say, or not to say, by not bringing this up later in the novel.
I definitely will be checking out the rest of Melanie Benjamin's novels after this read :)
Sometimes the narrative jumped around too much for me. It would skip ahead a few years in time, but then go back to explain what had happened in the interim. By the time I aligned my thoughts with this time jump, it would happen again. Another aspect of the novel that I HAVE to mention is the fact that Amelia Earheart is mentioned briefly in the beginning of the novel. She's speaking to Charles at a party and then turns to Anne and basically embarrasses her--so she's portrayed as a not very nice person. That's fine, but then she's never mentioned again. Her solo flight and the fact that she nor her plane were ever found are ignored. Now, I didn't really want to know more about Amelia because the book wasn't about her, but I thought it was strange that she was never mentioned again even just to make a comment about the dangers of flying, especially alone. I would like to know what Melanie Benjamin meant to say, or not to say, by not bringing this up later in the novel.
I definitely will be checking out the rest of Melanie Benjamin's novels after this read :)
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
My wife picked this up at a consignment shop and we've decided that we want to get back into our 2-person book club again this year after taking hiatus since Ellie was born. It's not typically the type of book I'd go for, as I tend to prefer fantasy/sci-fi type fiction, but it's easy to know it's well written and would definitely be a very enjoyable read for people who DO tend toward this genre. Even as someone who doesn't, I still liked it well enough, so my score is intended to be more reflective of the target demographic.
Since it's historical fiction, I'm going to discuss a few details that might seem like spoilers if it were a completely fictional book. All that I knew of the Lindberghs before was that Charles was the first man to fly across the Atlantic. I knew nothing of the kidnapping of their baby, their support of Hitler, or even Anne's role in their relationship as a very capable pilot and navigator herself. As a result, the first third of the book was what I expected the entirety of the book to be and the remainder was an unexpected surprise. The story of a stolen and murdered baby wasn't completely my cup of tea as a father of young children, and the explanations of why and how the Lindberghs ever supported the Nazi party were also not exactly what I would describe as pleasant reading. But it was all interesting enough and knowing that there was a historical basis from the life of an American hero kept me going.
The entire book was interesting in regards to feeling somewhat educational, and I was glad the author included some basic notes at the end to try to be more specific about which events were more accurate, which were completely fictitious and unsupported by documentation, and which were combinations of a slew of actual events. The book is told entirely from Anne's perspective, and, of course, the level of intimacy behind Anne's thoughts are all completely as the author imagines them, but it created a necessary aspect to the narration to keep things endearing.
If you already lean toward this genre, you should absolutely read it. If you don't, then you probably won't be bored, but you won't be blown away either. If you read with a partner where compromising on differences in genre tastes is sometimes necessary, you could do much, much worse than The Aviator's Wife.
Since it's historical fiction, I'm going to discuss a few details that might seem like spoilers if it were a completely fictional book. All that I knew of the Lindberghs before was that Charles was the first man to fly across the Atlantic. I knew nothing of the kidnapping of their baby, their support of Hitler, or even Anne's role in their relationship as a very capable pilot and navigator herself. As a result, the first third of the book was what I expected the entirety of the book to be and the remainder was an unexpected surprise. The story of a stolen and murdered baby wasn't completely my cup of tea as a father of young children, and the explanations of why and how the Lindberghs ever supported the Nazi party were also not exactly what I would describe as pleasant reading. But it was all interesting enough and knowing that there was a historical basis from the life of an American hero kept me going.
The entire book was interesting in regards to feeling somewhat educational, and I was glad the author included some basic notes at the end to try to be more specific about which events were more accurate, which were completely fictitious and unsupported by documentation, and which were combinations of a slew of actual events. The book is told entirely from Anne's perspective, and, of course, the level of intimacy behind Anne's thoughts are all completely as the author imagines them, but it created a necessary aspect to the narration to keep things endearing.
If you already lean toward this genre, you should absolutely read it. If you don't, then you probably won't be bored, but you won't be blown away either. If you read with a partner where compromising on differences in genre tastes is sometimes necessary, you could do much, much worse than The Aviator's Wife.
Good read if you are interested in Charles Lindbergh at all. So much I didn't know about him, and I like that it was told through the eyes of his wife (who is also an interesting person in her own right). It starts when they first meet and goes right up to his death with all the mess that was their lives in between.
I loved this book. I knew a lot of little tidbits about the Lindberghs, but having it all knit together like this, and through the lens of Anne was just really compelling. Imma just say it: Charles Lindbergh ... what a d!ck. I felt like this novel gave him a fair shake without giving him a free pass, and in a way that wasn't annoying to me. Their marriage was one based on submission and dominance... and I don't know if that's a product of their time or their personalities. The kidnapping and death of their first child was so.heartwrenching to read... and I appreciated how that story was incorporated throughout the whole book. Because honestly, how do you not have that impact everything in your life?
I want to read more books like this, about the unheralded and uncelebrated women of history. Anne Morrow Lindbergh did so much in her own rite and kept her family together to boot (while Charles was off making new families. Dick.) She's amazing and, yes, he flew a plane across the ocean first - that's big - but there's more to his story.
I want to read more books like this, about the unheralded and uncelebrated women of history. Anne Morrow Lindbergh did so much in her own rite and kept her family together to boot (while Charles was off making new families. Dick.) She's amazing and, yes, he flew a plane across the ocean first - that's big - but there's more to his story.