The Aviator's Wife: A Novel

This book was engrossing and I couldn't put it down, mostly due to the fact that Charles Lindbergh is more often the subject of discussion/novels rather than his wife. I had read articles and other material that hinted at the fact that this was a man who was not particularly nice but I had not read anything that explored the life and personality of Anne Morrow Lindbergh to this extent. I found it an interesting plot device the way the author moved back and forth between the present and the past, although more of the book dealt with the past than with the present (the present being the time shortly before Lindbergh's death). This method led to creating a feeling of the book being a bit of a mystery novel, although it really wasn't. It did serve to keep interest at a high level. The first part of the book, dealing with Anne's introduction to Charles and their "courtship," was interesting and moved the story along rather well. It was informative to learn how they related to each other as a couple and enjoyed their rather adventuresome life. It was also amazing to realize that this couple were the original victims of the paparazzi (although not called that at the time when they were hounded by the press). Constantly besieged by reporters, it is interesting to realize that their lives were under a microscope well before the influence of the internet and immediate media access. The daredevil things that they did as a couple of the sky and the tidbits about their early married life kept the book moving at a fairly rapid pace. Once the children began to come along however, especially after the kidnapping portion was over, the book began to plod along with less definition of character and lifestyle. The timeline advanced more quickly but the story of their lives, post-kidnapping, began to move rather slowly. The unfolding of Charles Lindbergh as an almost abusive husband, egotist and philanderer was eye-opening; the fact that Anne Morrow Lindbergh became close to a doormat was disappointing, especially in light of the fact that she really was a strong, independent person prior to her marriage. Was it the great sex, which she generously shared, that kept Anne tethered to this man? It was hard to see why she stayed in this loveless marriage. And why did Charles find it necessary to stray so often and with such disastrous consequences for his family with Anne (fathering 7 other children by 3 other women!)? What happened to the women and children from the extramarital affairs? How did Lindbergh's legitimate children handle this knowledge? These are all questions that were never addressed or answered - and could have been incorporated into the story for even more insider information. Nevertheless, missing some answers to critical questions did not lessen the fascination I had for this book. The author had obviously done her homework and was willing to take the risk of tarnishing an American hero's reputation. The exploits that caused Lindbergh to go down in history as a real hero were not lessened by this book, but the man who took that great risk of a flight lost some of his hero status because of the type of person he was, out of his airplane and out of the sky, through the revelations of this book. This novel was mostly about Anne Morrow Lindbergh, the aviator's wife, but it was because of him that she became a fascinating subject for a book. Without Charles, there would not have been an Anne that was of any interest at all. In that way, the two are completely intertwined and the author did a remarkable job of giving us a well-drawn picture of both, as individuals and as a couple. I highly recommend this book for a fascinating read about a fascinating couple.

Melanie Benjamin does what an author of fiction should do: make the reader feel something about the characters and the story. But the overall feeling is sadness. The story is historical fiction, but in this version the reader can know the feelings of a young girl falling in love with the man, or is it with the public image of the man?Anne Morrow is the daughter of the ambassador to Mexico. In her mind, she is the plainest and least desirable for celebrity Charles Lindbergh when he comes to visit. We experience her thoughts and emotions both in the great telling of the story, and in the excellent scenes that show what is occurring.Throughout the course of the story, we see Lindbergh ask Anne to marry him and we experience her joy that he chooses her. We also start to see that maybe it was celebrity, not personality, which made her say yes. Or maybe she was influenced by the pressures in the 1920’s for a woman to marry to be complete.The author skillfully guides the reader to slowly sympathize with shy Anne and to start to dislike the also shy Charles. We watch him train her to be a pilot just like him. She dutifully learns all the necessary skills and becomes his almost-slave in supporting his passion for flying. She becomes a skilled pilot in her own right, but is seldom recognized for her achievements, always in the shadow of Lindbergh. At first it appears to be her choice, but later we start to see her resentment at leaving the children so much and having to always behave as Charles wishes her to. He is a very controlling and unfeeling man. The kidnapping and killing of her first-born son devastates Anne for life, and she resents it that her husband seemingly does not linger on the tragedy and does not support her in her sorrow.By the end of the book the reader is seeing Anne as the victim and Charles as the perpetrator. I really didn’t like him much. The author was superb in making me feel and see and sympathize with Anne Morrow Lindbergh.But in further thinking, I wonder if his personality was a necessary requirement for achieving his exceptional feat. People don’t realize how impossible it was to fly the Atlantic from New York to Paris on May 20 and 21, 1927, with a total lack of technology that we all take for granted now, flying 33 hours, no sleep for 55 hours, and completely alone, totally alone. Only a driven, single-minded, controlling soul could have done it. And I admire Charles Lindbergh for achieving the impossible and his wife Anne for making his life, after fame, worth living and for supporting him totally.