Historical fiction is a great way to learn about events, much more so that reading out of a history book. It truly assists you in relating to this historical persona; allowing insight into their emotions and personalities. If the novel is accurately written, you gain the desire to delve into the history itself, to study more and understand the lives they lead....The Aviator\'s Wife is such a novel.

You could have put my \"Lindbergh\" knowledge in a thimble before reading this fabulous book. 1. He flew the Spirit of St. Louis in a transatlantic flight. 2. Their first child was kidnapped and murdered. Wow! That is so embarrassing to admit.

This couple accomplished so much as both individuals and as a team, that it is incomprehensible, and yet I don\'t remember once ever hearing of these achievements.


Anne is such a strong woman and yet this reveals her weaknesses in a very humble way. I appreciated the candid view of a life full of achievement, but also of loss. It is sad to think that someone had to live a life with no freedom, to live their life without constant scrutiny and bombardment from the press. They were shameless!!!

Since finishing this book last night, I began reading \"Gift from the Sea\" by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. I wanted to read something in her words, just to hear her voice a little longer. In the near future, I will read \"Lindbergh\" from Scott Berg. I want to get a perspective of Charles\' view on his life events.

I\'m not going to give you a breakdown on every aspect of this book. You need to read it for yourself...it is a journey well worth the flight.

The Aviator’s Wife by Melanie Benjamin
This well written fictionalization of Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s life from just before she meets Charles A Lindbergh until his death in 1974 is thought provoking. Approximately equal time is given to “the events of 1932” (the kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh’s first born child), the early days of the their marriage and Anne’s development as an aviatrix and navigator, and Anne’s life as mother usually left alone as her husband is increasingly absent. Charles’ possible anti-semitism and both of their positive opinions of Germany under Hitler’s early days is briefly touched upon.
The novel is the story of their marriage and Anne’s transformation from naïve and easily compliant young girl to confident, self-reliant woman sure of herself and confident of her ability to write. Charles is portrayed as arrogantly self-confident, selfish and controlling of both his wife and children even while also needing Anne’s unflagging support.
I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to others interested in reading/learning more Anne, her marriage and the early days of “women’s liberation”. This book will provide much fodder for discussing marriage, family dynamics, child rearing methods, news gathering and reporting, and America during the Nazi era and during wartimes.

While this wonderful book was fiction based on fact, it provided much personal as well as historic information about the Lindberghs\\\' lives. Charles was not a likeable man and Anne was way to accepting of his \\\"qualities\\\". That being said, their life together made for a very interesting read.

Women and their roles in a marriage are dictated by times in which they live. Anne and Charles made choices in their lives based on the strengths and weaknesses of their characters. I found the book interesting and thought provoking. My book club will enjoy discussing the two main characters but also the role the press played in how they lived. They were wealthy and this opened doors for them that others may not have been able to go through.

This book was a real page turner for me. I knew very little about the Lindberghs and am now fascinated by them. I plan to read the sources the author mentioned and learn more.

A very interesting insight into the world of 2 incredibly famous people. We learn about their ongoing devoted & tragic love. Anne is both submissive & strong with & without her husband. Incredible legacy these parents left to their children.

Quick read and interesting topic. Truth vs. fiction - hard to tell...

Anne Morrow the quiet, unassuming daughter. Anne Morrow the shy sister of Elisabeth Morrow who hid in Elisabeth's shadow. Anne Morrow the woman no one thought would marry before her beautiful sister, Elisabeth married. Anne Morrow.....who did marry and who married a famous man....Charles Lindbergh, behind whom she continued to be a shadow.

Anne's life was beautifully detailed by Ms. Benjamin in terms of Anne's feelings and personality especially during the kidnapping. The era was nicely portrayed as well. It covered how women from wealthy families went to prestigious schools and never used their education, but were expected to be the perfect wife and mother. Ms. Benjamin will definitely get you involved in the story through her outstanding, exceptional, in-depth writing style.

I enjoyed reading about the era and about Anne Morrow and Charles Lindbergh. I would not have wanted to live Anne's life, though...she had no life of her own per say. She had to follow Charles on his adventures, be his wife, be in the public eye, and heartbreakingly leave her children. Despite all of this, she willingly allowed him to control her and willingly backed him no matter what. Anne did come out of the shadows as she aged and was actually a very strong woman.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, but don't think a man would enjoy it simply because of the domestic factors and the details of Anne Morrow's family and all of their lives. It is more geared toward women and the feelings and beliefs we as women share and that we like to know about other women's lives....especially famous ones. Anne, Charles, and the Morrow family led very interesting lives. I, as I am sure you will do, found myself looking up information on the life of the Morrows and Lindberghs just as the author said we would. :) ENJOY!!! 5/5

I won this book in a giveaway on LibraryThing with no compensation and simply a request for an honest review.

This book was a bit difficult for me to read not because the topic was boring or difficult. What got me was the main character. Sadly it is base on true facts and can not be disputed. Most women and mothers especially will find this to be the case. That a women who accomplished so much could have done so at the expense of her children and her self respect.

this is a great book for a book club. There is so much to discuss and you also learn alot about american aviaton history at the same time

I really enjoyed this book, it was interesting and moving quickly. It was very insightful to the time period, what it meant to be an American hero and women's roles during that time. I felt I really got to know Charles Lindbergh, although it was cross between biography and novel. Alot could be discussed in a book club.

Well written book, complied from personal journals and news articles, leading the reader through the amazing story of woman well ahead of her times.

This book gave us a lively discussion about Anne and Charles Lindbergh and their life!! Highly recommend this!! It led to reading nonfiction books about the couple and Anne\\\'s writings....

I enjoyed the book and it inspired me to read more about Charles and Ann Lindburgh

It was an informative book that held our interest and there was good conversation about it.

This historical fiction based on Anne Morrow Lindbergh\'s life was written in a format that drew the reader into her life right from the beginning. Our club enjoyed a lively discussion about this woman who remained in the shadow much of her life, but was quite an accomplished person in her own right. It was informative and insightful.

I loved the book as it was inspiring and informative. I enjoyed that it focused on the wife and all her accomplishments.

Interesting with many details I was not aware of. She seemed to be a rather conflicted woman---sometimes dependent and needy, other times brave and adventurous. Overall I thought it must have been a very difficult marriage, even without the tragedy of their son.

I really enjoyed this book. I learned a lot about Anne Morrow Lindbergh and Charles Lindbergh. The characters were deeply flawed, which some in my book club had difficulty seeing past. The biggest question asked during our discussion was, \\\\\\\"Did they really love each other?\\\\\\\" Read it and see what you think.

Learned so much, yet fictionalized private interactions allow us to image what happened behind the facts.

I loved this book. As a fan of historical fiction I found this book the perfect blend of fact & fantasy. Really fascinating to learn& read about such a remarkable real life couple. A wonderful and enjoyable read!

Great book for book club...we had a wonderful discussion.

The book is an easy read but the author's point of view does not match the time period of Anne Lindberg. She is more feminist in attitude than a woman of Anne's time and does not give an accurate portrayl of the accomplishments of a woman of her time. It did lead to an interesting discussion about Anne's life and times and also lead many of our members to looking up more information about her. One of our members read Gifts of the Sea and another the A. Scott Berg Lindberg biography. Overall our members felt the book was entertaining and a spark toward more investigation of her life.

Anne Lindbergh was a truly interesting woman who wore many different hats. Thank you, Melanie, for giving us this informative historical novel.

insightful book

A good read, good story, quite factual. makes me want to learn more about both of them.

Great book great story befriend a historical event

It had a little of everything. Adventure, Romance, and Sadness

An excellent presentation of life and marriage to a hero.

Everyone in the group of 12 liked the book but felt it bogged down in the part about the kidnapping. We learned things about Lindbergh that we didn't know and really came to appreciate Anne. We like Benjamin's writing style and would read other books by her.

This was an eye opener for me! Very interesting.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The writting was excellent and it felt as if it were written by Ann herself. I didn't know a great deal about Charles Linderg, but now I know a great deal about an interesting yet confusing, secretive man. Anne Linberg was certainly a strong women or at the very least developed into a strong woman

Excellent book for discussion about an era and personalities who were part of our history

I enjoyed reading this book. I learned a lot about the Lindberghs.

Wonderful book. Fictionalized account of Anne Morrow Lindbergh and Charles Lindbergh\\\'s life and marriage told from her viewpoint. Thought it also represented marriages from that time period.

An eye opener

Interesting to read about such a public figure that was so hounded by the media and then the tide turned. Ann finally found her own footing and self worth,

This is the fictional account of aviator Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow. Anne was the shy sister-- socially awkward and quiet-- when she meet Charles Lindbergh at a family party. In the story, she is shocked to discover that Lindbergh is interested in her, rather than her sister Elizabeth (the sickly yet pretty one that was socially in demand). After a rather sedate courtship, Lindbergh and Anne were married in May 1929.

Soon she is Lindbergh's partner, learning everything she can about flying and soon sharing the workload on the worldwide flights together. Yet this was the 30s, and Anne was simply seen as the wife of Charles Lindbergh, despite her personal accomplishments.

In 1930, their first son Charles Jr. was born. And, of course, that little baby was quite famously kidnapped for ransom at 20 months of age. Probably the most famous kidnapping in history. (His body was found months later about 4 miles from his home. It is speculated that the kidnapper dropped him when the ladder broke as he carried Charles Jr. down, and the infant died.)

The author outlined her goal in a note at the end of the book:

"...I wanted to make Anne the heroine of her own story, finally-- as in memory (both her written accounts and the public's perception), she is far too often overshadowed by the dominant personality that is Charles Lindbergh. (p. 336)"

I think this book succeeded on that point. You find yourself frustrated with the lack of acknowledgement of her accomplishments, since she did some pretty amazing things.

My final word: The book isn't poorly written, isn't horribly boring or filled with drivel. It simply wasn't very exciting, nor did I find it very interesting. I didn't find myself hanging on the book's every word, wondering what would happen next. In fact, it was so forgettable that I didn't think I had finished it, since I couldn't remember anything about the ending. So I picked it up to finish it, and found I recognized everything I was reading, and realized I'd finished this book a month or so ago, and totally forgot it. I thought Lindbergh was really unlikable. I just don't get the public's love affair with him. He was sympathetic to Hitler, and yet they loved him. He could do no wrong. I found some of the dialogue to be unrealistic. This is one of those books that I would have been happy to have never read, even though I like Melanie Benjamin's writing well enough.

Easy to read. It absolutely kept your attention. It was very informative. I learned so much about the Lindberg's that I didn't know before reading this book. I would highly recommend for those interested in this period in history. It made me want to learn more about this fascinating man and his family.

Very interesting. Makes me want to read more about the subject

This book was very informative about the life of Charles Lindberg's wife and her struggles to maintain a happy marriage. We needed to recognize when this happened and that there was no women's lib at the timel.

My favorite line is “What need was there for words, when we had just shared the sky?” To me that expresses everything the book is---The Sky! The craziness of flying with love intertwined. The book is an exhilarating ride I have no desire to get off of. You feel every twist, turn, dip, and emotion with her.

Educational as I did not know much about the wife.

I couldn't put this book down. All I ever knew about Lindbergh was his flight from America to Paris and the horrible kidnapping of his oldest child. What was most interesting was how his wife coped an the role of women during this era.

Wow, What a story. Beautifully written look at the inside of a complicated relationship. Our book club read it and the vast majority thought Anne was redemptive in the end, versus her husband. Fascinating look at a difficult, complicated man and his marriage.

Our book club loved this book about the life of Anne Morrow Lindbergh. We were inspired by her growth as a woman, a mother and wife, as a career woman, and as a woman living independent from her hero husband. We were also fascinated by the development of their marriage...many of our women could relate to Anne's feelings and desires. Excellent historical novel!

Great Book. Makes you want to read more about several of the characters .

This is a very interesting book about the Lindbergh family. Our club had a great discussion about the book and it was interesting to learn the many perspectives of Anne.

If you like historical fiction, then you will like this book!

Incredible true story told from the woman's perspective. A slice of history. Very enlightening.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh, who is she, what was life like for her married to the most famous person in the world at the time and how did her life change over time? All of these questions can be answered by reading this historical fiction book. Lots to discover about Anne, the times and their relationships.

I knew very little about Charles Lindbergh (other than headline news) much less his wife. So that\\\'s why I chose informative as a descriptive word. Insightful in the day in time of their lives and how they interacted with each other.

We really enjoyed the book and had wonderful discussion. All decided we didn\\\'t like Lucky Lindy but loved and admired his wife!

This author did a good job of fictionalizing historical events with a great deal of accuracy. There was a lot of information about both Charles and Anne that most of us did not know. A good read!

I was caught up in the ever changing relationship of Anne and Charles. I came away wondering what was fact and what was fiction.

This book made for a lively discussion. We were all surprised at the additional information regarding their lives other than the flights and kidnapping.

This was a good book and showed the reader how horribly a marriage can be moved to the interests of one person instead of a couple. I am glad I read the book, it definitely makes me want to do further research on Charles and Anne

Great insight into the lady known to many only as Mrs. Charles Lindbergh. This book generated a lot of discussion at our meeting.

The book gives you a lot of information unknown to most people about Charles Lindbergh, the husband and father. Although hailed a hero by the public, he is a flawed person who cannot show affection to the people closest to him. He is cold, controlling, selfish. He was a proponent of racial purity and worried that his children would develop mental issues. He was unfaithful to his wife, having mistresses and fathering other children.

Much more indepth than what we learned in history class. We learned so much more about Ann and their relationship.
Very good.

Everyone in our book club was enthralled with this portrait of Charles Lindbergh and his wife. And surprised at what kind of man he was. Unexpected.
Anne Lindbergh was a complicated woman who was a product of her time and yet transcended it.

I like her and hated him. He was a very selfish man. Sad that the world didn't see her and documentaries made on her achievements instead of his selfish ones. He was also a Nazi and that truly disturbed me as America hailed him.

This book made me aware of a subject I would not have otherwise researched on my own. I am interested in learning more about Charles & Anne Lindbergh.

Loved this book because I could relate to it. Well written. You are cheering for the wife. I like any movie or book that creates a strong/soft woman.

Everyone enjoyed "The Aviator's Wife" and the general consensus was that Charles was a brilliant but despicable guy and that Anne Morrow, brilliant in her own right, was caught in the era of women's rights in the 20's and allowed herself to be controlled. So of that was believed to be her introverted personality.

It was well written but I would not recommend it for other book clubs because it's fiction & you can get the real information about the Lindberghs elsewhere. I found that I didn't like Charles Lindbergh after reading the book.

Our group enjoyed reading the book. We learned a lot of information that we had not heard of before.

Very interesting and so much I had never known about the Linbergh. Fascinating... Anne was so much more than her husband could even imagine. Lovely writing.

The other side of the story...thanks for bringing us such insight into the Lindbergh's life.