The Aviator's Wife

Summary:

"For much of her life, Anne Morrow, the shy daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, has stood in the shadows of those around her, including her millionaire father and vibrant older sister, who often steals the spotlight. Then Anne, a college senior with hidden literary aspirations, travels to Mexico City to spend Christmas with her family. There she meets Colonel Charles Lindbergh, fresh off his celebrated 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic. Enthralled by Charles’s assurance and fame, Anne is certain the celebrated aviator has scarcely noticed her. But she is wrong.

Charles sees in Anne a kindred spirit, a fellow adventurer, and her world will be changed forever. The two marry in a headline-making wedding. Hounded by adoring crowds and hunted by an insatiable press, Charles shields himself and his new bride from prying eyes, leaving Anne to feel her life falling back into the shadows. In the years that follow, despite her own major achievements—she becomes the first licensed female glider pilot in the United States—Anne is viewed merely as the aviator’s wife. The fairy-tale life she once longed for will bring heartbreak and hardships, ultimately pushing her to reconcile her need for love and her desire for independence, and to embrace, at last, life’s infinite possibilities for change and happiness.

Drawing on the rich history of the twentieth century—from the late twenties to the mid-sixties—and featuring cameos from such notable characters as Joseph Kennedy and Amelia Earhart, The Aviator’s Wife is a vividly imagined novel of a complicated marriage—revealing both its dizzying highs and its devastating lows. With stunning power and grace, Melanie Benjamin provides new insight into what made this remarkable relationship endure."

Before reading this book, I only knew two things about Charles Lindbergh, He was a famous Aviator and that his child was famously kidnapped. Besides that I didn't really know much more about him (although through this book, certain things rang a bell) and I definitely didn't know anything about his wife.

Melanie Benjamin does a fantastic job at telling the story of Anne and Charlie, telling the stories decade to decade and intertwining it with Lindbergh's last days on earth.  Benjamin did a good job and getting all the information she could and appropriately asserting the emotions these characters would have felt at this time. I truly think she did a great job at writing this story and making me feel that this is really how everything went done. Not only did I learn that Lindbergh was an odd man but that his wife was a great woman in her own right.

If you were a fan of books like The Paris Wife and Madame Tussaud, or a fan of aviation and history. I do suggest you read The Aviator's Wife. I was in tears towards the end.