The Aviator's Wife: A Novel Paperback Author: Visit Amazon's Melanie Benjamin Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0345528689 | Format: PDF, EPUB
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Amazon.com Review
Melanie Benjamin on The Aviator’s Wife
What was I thinking, writing a novel about Anne Morrow Lindbergh?
That is a question I asked myself every time I sat down to work on The Aviator’s Wife.
For Anne Morrow Lindbergh guarded her privacy fiercely and, at times, I felt she was eluding me just to make that point! My other heroines—Alice Liddell in Alice I Have Been and Lavinia Warren Stratton in The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb—gave up their secrets easily, almost eagerly. Anne, however, did not.
But that was what attracted me to her story in the first place—because of how elusive Anne remains to this day. She is known in fragments but never completely. Some are aware of her child’s horrific kidnapping and murder. Others remember her chiefly as the shy, pretty bride of the most heroic man of his time. Many women revere her as an early feminist writer.
But few know her entire story, including her major accomplishments as an aviator in her own right, her grit and determination, her inner strength. Always she seems willing to stand in the tall shadow of her husband, Charles Lindbergh. And it was her marriage that fascinated and obsessed me; this marriage between two extraordinary and very different individuals under the relentless glare of the spotlight. This operatic life they led, through dizzying heights of accomplishment and celebrity to the devastating lows of what Anne always saw as the price they paid for flying too close to the sun.
It seemed to me, as I studied her, standing always slightly behind her husband, that there was a sly smile, a gleam in her eyes that she was always suppressing; a secret strength hidden from the world and even, at times, herself. This was the Anne Morrow Lindbergh whose story I wanted to tell. It’s time for Anne to step out from behind her husband’s shadow once and for all and be the heroine in her own epic story.
Photos from The Aviator's Wife
Charles A. Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Courtesy of SDAM
Click here for a larger image
Anne Morrow Lindbergh with Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr. at Next Day Hill, NJ.
Copyright: Lindbergh picture collection, 1860-1980 (inclusive). Manuscripts & Archives, Yale University
Click here for a larger image
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Benjamin, author of the highly acclaimed Alice I Have Been (2010) and The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb (2011), delivers another stellar historical novel based on the experiences of an extraordinary woman. In this outing, she spotlights Anne Morrow Lindbergh, wife of wildly famous Charles Lindbergh and pioneering aviatrix and accomplished author in her own right. Though their courtship is the stuff of every girl’s romantic fantasy, time and reality combine to reveal a much different story. Plagued by tragedy and often stifled by her domineering husband, she eventually manages to carve out a quasi-independent life and career for herself. Fictional biography at its finest; serious readers may want to pair this with the recently published Against Wind and Tide, the sixth and final volume of Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s copious letters and journal entries. --Margaret Flanagan
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
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Direct download links available for The Aviator's Wife: A Novel Paperback Epub Download
- Paperback: 448 pages
- Publisher: Bantam (November 26, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0345528689
- ISBN-13: 978-0345528681
- Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 1.2 inches
- Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Melanie Benjamin takes on one of the greatest heroes of the twentieth century in her new book, "The Aviator's Wife." The story is told by Anne Morrow, soon to become Anne Morrow Lindbergh.
Colonel Lindbergh is as handsome and boyish as the newsreels have shown him to be when Anne meets him. She is sure he will fall for her older sister, but to her surprise, he enjoys her quiet company and her willingness to chance an adventure. Though her life as an ambassador's daughter has prepared her for society, Anne is much more comfortable out of the spotlight. The same is true of Charles.
The excesses of a celebrity-mad culture disturb them at every turn. Charles and Anne have to fly to find their peace, their time to feel united in a cause. Once they are on the ground, photographers and reporters make their lives a misery. If they aren't given an interview, they make things up.
Benjamin ably handles the heartbreak of the loss of their first-born son, Charlie, when he is kidnapped. The fog of grief, the lack of privacy, and her husband's determination that he alone can solve the mystery contribute to the crisis in the household. Once the child's body is found, Charles instructs Anne that they must go on. They must not stop and grieve, for it will not bring him back.
Lindbergh comes off as a highly discipline and yet naive man, one who loves airplanes and adventures. He is not someone to hand out compliments or try to feel another's pain. All the while, Anne continues at his side: co-piloting, writing, visiting foreign countries. The Lindbergh accused of being anti-Semitic and a Nazi sympathizer is someone she wishes she didn't know. He brings more trouble to the household.
I found this book remarkable from the beginning to the end. It's the story of a woman trying to find her own voice and her own life. She wanted more than to be the "Ambassador's Daughter", the "Aviator's wife" or the mother of her six children. She accomplished many things on this road and endured tragedy beyond comprehension. In the end, she took charge of her life and responsibility of her actions. She became a mature, grown-up woman.
Anne married a hero and that was a tough choice. The Lindbergh's were hounded by the press in a way that only Princess Di could have empathized with them. She virtually became a prisoner in her own home unable to go out to the theater or to shop. The only time they were free of scrutiny was when they were flying. In the earliest of airplanes, Anne became a pilot, a navigator and Charles' trusted one man crew. The soared before there were Tower controls, other planes, or radio communication. They planned airline routes and explored places that were hard to get to. They were a close couple and Charles called all the shots. Anne just obeyed.
Then children came along and Anne wanted to be with them. Her first child was kidnapped from her home and found murdered months later. They were innudated by well wishers, charlatans, police and, of course, the press. It was an event that marked their lives and forever changed them. They fled America and moved to England. Then Charles became enamored of Germany and Hitler. He spoke out in support of the Nazis and briefly flirted with the idea of living there. By the time the Lindberghs returned to America disillusioned of the Nazis they were shunned. His repeated requests to assist the government were denied until Henry Ford came to his aid.
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