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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
I enjoyed this book. It was really action-packed, but it introduced me to someone I really didn't know much about: Anne Lindbergh. She led a very interesting life.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The Aviator's Wife is a novel about Anne Morrow Lindbergh, ambassador's daughter and wife of the flying legend Charles Lindbergh. The story alternates timelines beginning in 1974 and the impending death of Lindbergh and chronologically starting in 1927 when Anne met Charles in Mexico. Unfortunately, the book reads like a Wikipedia article...I did a fair amount of skimming to reach the end.
Hard to know how much is truth here, but an interesting read nonetheless.
Being in the midst of a novel and wanting to Google something certainly indicates a strong work of historical fiction. In first-person narrative, The Aviator’s Wife reads like a riveting memoir with a plethora of well-researched personal details about Anne Morrow Lindbergh, wife of Charles “Lucky Lindy” Lindbergh. The daughter of a diplomat and former JP Morgan financier, the well-educated Anne Morrow married Charles Lindbergh after graduating from Smith College. Focusing on their marriage, Melanie Benjamin brings the reader into Anne’s life from that first flight she takes with Charles in Mexico to the horrific kidnapping of their young son Charles Jr. to days when her husband supports Nazi Germany to later years when secrets emerge. Despite becoming a pilot and serving as her husband’s co-pilot on many international expeditions, Anne’s simply known as the aviator’s wife to many. In a constant media spotlight, Anne struggles to uncover an identity apart from her husband’s fame.
There were parts of this book that were very good and other parts that were just OK.
This is a well-written, intriguing, and I believe honest telling of the life of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, wife of the famous Colonel Charles Lindbergh. It opens when Anne, daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Mexico travels from college to visit her family for the Christmas holidays and meets her future husband. He introduces her to the skies, teaching her to fly a plane on her own. She is proud of her accomplishments but is always in the background. Although he professes to detest the attention of the press, he clamors for the praise of Americans all over the country who worship him as a hero. Their relationship always takes a backseat as he prioritizes his skills and reputation as an airman, while all Anne really wants is to spend more time together for him to open himself up to her. When their young son is kidnapped and he refuses help from the police, investigating every tip on his own, she recognizes that he is not infallible. Although they raise a large family, it is she who bears the burden for their day-to-day care. As was typical during the early part of the twentieth century, Anne is patronized by a husband who limits her to being only a wife and a mother. Her views conflict with his during the rise of Hitler and his treatment of Jews. Although she believes she still loves him dearly, her feelings are diminished. In the end, Anne finds the confidence that she has so sorely lacked for most of her life.
A friend has a rule: never read a book with the title "So-and-so's Daughter" or "So-and-so's Wife." After this book, I may adopt it as my own. The characterization of Anne Morrow Lindbergh as a mousy, indecisive woman who continually sacrificed for her husband and even adopted all of his views seems historically inaccurate, not to mention extremely stereotypical and just annoying! It did make me consider reading her own accounts. I may still try "The Paris Wife," but am fed up with wifery!
It is always interesting to read a historical fiction book about a live person. This one was well written and kept my interest. It is the story of Anne Lindbergh and her marriage to Charles. Like most famous people everything wasn't a bed of roses much like the press used to make it sound. They faced many problems all starting with the abduction of their son.