am_pugs 's review for:

The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin
5.0

The same as Anne Morrow Lindberg's marriage, my feelings of this one are complex.
I loved the narrative, how it gave a voice to a woman who had long lived in the shadow of her husband partially of her own doing, partially his. In many ways, it's a story that repeats o over and over for any woman who has been the rock for the military man, the congressman, any man of power: generals wouldn't be generals without their wives. I loved the spotlight that this story gave to that internal struggle to these women, who are unbreakable and continue to give even when they have nothing left, but also wishing for once that they didn't have to. Wanting to be loved by their spouse, who simply refuses to see that being the hero of the world doesn't make you the hero of your own house. The book highlighted Charles Lindberg's continued decline as a personality, a man who couldn't find himself outside of being a hero, and it damaged his family greatly. It also highlighted Anne's loss of identity among society as a Norge and wife, and how she felt and was regarded as nothing more than those roles, despite her own education, skills, and personality. Highly recommend.