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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
Melanie Benjamin is hands down my favorite historical novelist. The insight she gives into the lives of Charles and Anne Lindberg is both entertaining and educational. He seems to always focus on the strong woman beside the famous man.
I'd long had this book and decided to read it after reading Swans of Fifth Avenue and Girls in the Picture by the author. Anne Morrow Lindbergh was a fascinating woman who too often is written up by history as the wife of Charles Lindbergh (aviator from the title) and the mother of a kidnapped/murdered infant. This fictionalized account of her life does well by her and reminds readers she was an aviator, writer, and fascinating person in her own right.
Made me reevaluate what it means to be your own person and it's importance in living a whole and well rounded life. The history was great as well. I definitely recommend despite the slow getting into.
The overarching message of this book is a good thing -- it's a cautionary tale about giving oneself over to a narcissist. But I found it unpleasant and unrewarding to read. Anne is a tryingly self-important narrator who whines about her inconsequential, privileged life Before Charles. I know the author was trying to depict a woman who recognised nothing of value in herself and thus felt she didn't live until she found someone to live through. But abiding the text is arduous. Even as an audiobook (possibly worse as an audiobook), Anne winges for nearly two hours before she finally gets into a darn plane.
It's audacious to write first-person historical fiction from the point of view of someone who actually existed and in this case it falls flat, painfully.
It's audacious to write first-person historical fiction from the point of view of someone who actually existed and in this case it falls flat, painfully.
So this book is well written and an engaging read. At the same time Charles Lindbergh was clearly such a horribly terrible person that it was also a bit hard to read and I wouldn't say I enjoyed this book. The author seems to have a good amount of respect for the Lindberghs but this book (and my wikipedia research on the side) made me despise them. This is a four star book I actually don't recommend.
Anne Lindbergh is stunned when her daughter doesn't realize she too was a pilot, that she had a life beyond motherhood. I felt the same way as her daughter - with this whole book, you expect tales of adventure and far-off places and more details about her writings. But these moments from her life are fleeting. What you get instead are pages and pages of the woman moping about her love-hate relationship with her cold, insensitive husband. Sure there were times of despair that warranted it - the kidnapping especially - but the effort put into Charles Lindbergh bashing (and I'm not saying he was a saint by any means) could have been filled with more adventures and dialogue instead of these lengthy internal monologues. I guess I went into this hoping to learn about the Lindberghs and expecting an enjoyable read, but instead I walk away too disappointed in them to care.
This is a wonderful book that outlines the beginning of aviation and the hardships that early women aviator's dealt with. From someone in the aviation industry, this book really helped to impact my future career opportunities and how times have changed. The author also does a great job of tying in the responsibilities of women and the want to have a career and raise a family, as well as how your responsibilities and goals change as you age. I loved this book and recommend it highly.
Could not put it down! I didn't know anything about Anne, but now want to learn more. Not sure how she did it. It was, very much, a different time and many things were accepted that most would not put up with in today's society. Really made me think of how great the transatlantic flight really was and how much we never learned in school about all Charles (and his family) accomplished.
Before I read this novel the name Lindbergh only conjured up a few associations - mainly the first transatlantic flight and their baby's kidnapping. Granted, not much! So, not only did I learn a lot about Anne Morrow and her husband Charles Lindbergh, it also made me more curious about the historical facts. For the most part, the author Melanie Benjamin accurately followed history in her account of the marriage between the two. Charles comes across as extremely driven - not hard to believe - but with lacking emotional intelligence and therefore limited in his support and expression of his love as a husband. Anne Morrow, albeit very intelligent and educated, is rather insecure for many years of her marriage and very much in the shadow of Charles, even as his actions and beliefs complicate her life, to say the least. Melanie Benjamin does a great writing job portraying the initial infatuation with a hero, the deep bond over flying, the gradual discontent and slow disattachment and awakening to Anne's own needs and desires. I quite enjoyed this fictional account of this famous couple.