KIRKUS REVIEWBiographical novel of Anne Morrow and her troubled marriage to pioneering aviator Charles Lindbergh.Anne, self-effacing daughter of a suffragette and an ambassador, is surprised when Charles, already a celebrity thanks to his first trans-Atlantic flight in 1927, asks herĄinstead of her blonde, outgoing older sister ElisabethĂ‚ÂĄto go flying with him. And it is Anne whom Charles will marry. At first, the glamorous couple?s life consists of flights all over the world: Anne becomes a pilot and navigator and Charles? indispensable sidekick. However, when in 1932 the Lindberghs' first child is kidnapped from his nursery, the resulting press furor almost destroys Anne. In addition to her grief over her lost firstborn, a grief that Lindy doesn?t appear to share, Anne suffers the downside of fame as public adulation turns to prurient sensationalism. The couple takes refuge abroad, where they enjoy the orderly routine and docile press of the Hitler regime, as long as Charles is willing to accept a Nazi medal and attend rallies. However, Kristallnacht proves too much even for Lindbergh?s anti-Semitism, and he and Anne return to the States as war threatens. As more children arrive, Anne is beginning to bridle at Charles? domineering ways, however the aspiring author is too insecure to contradict him even as he offends her liberal friends and family by siding with right-wing groups who claim that the Jews are trying to force America into war. At Charles? behest, and against her own principles, she pens The Wave of the Future (1940), an isolationist screed which renders her anathema to the intelligentsia: Even her alma mater, Smith College, disowns her. In 1974, after 47 years of wedlock, Anne must decide whether to finally confront her husband. Although the portrayal of such a passive character could easily turn tepid, Benjamin maintains interest, even suspense, as readers wonder when Anne?s healthy rebellious instincts will burst the bonds of her dutiful deference.A thoughtful examination of the forces which shaped the author of Gift from the Sea.Pub Date: Jan. 15th, 2013ISBN: 978-0-345-52867-4Page count: 416ppPublisher: DelacorteReview Posted Online: Dec. 3rd, 2012

I'm not sure what the author intended when writing this. Were we meant to see Anne Morrow Lindbergh as a sympathetic character or as a privileged, shallow, weak woman? I've never read anything complimentary about Charles Lindbergh and there wasn't anything new here to change my mind. But at the end of this book, I also disliked Anne. ( )

I didn't realize when I first picked up the book that I'd already read something by this author. I listened to [b:The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb|9689093|The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb|Melanie Benjamin|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320416504s/9689093.jpg|14577174], which got pretty tedious after awhile. And when I first started reading (actually reading) this book, the Mrs. Tom Thumb narrator's voice was in my head, annoyingly. I could tell for certain they were by the same writer. Fortunately, Mrs. Tom Thumb's voice left my head and I could read this story without the shadow of the other. And since I was in control of the pace of this novel, I could skim when parts got too tedious (too descriptive or meloncholy, for example).

Both novels act as a telling of a famous man's wife's story, someone who is known to history primarily through her husband. Not a bad way to read a history novel, really. But these are both relatively light reads, a bit of back and forth text where most of the story is told when the narrator is in her later years, looking back, giving hints of the tragedies and knowledge that would come as time progressed. Of course with Anne Lindbergh, the reader is likely familiar with some of the bigger tragic events, so those "foreshadows" are not giving much away.

It's historical fiction, light female reading. Not a bad book for a summer's day, though I never really connected with Anne or her husband. Just another observer, peering into their life through an author's imagination.

Very interesting book. Couldn't put it down. ( )

CW: child is kidnapped and killed.

I can't say I enjoyed this book. I really had no feelings about it which I believe is actually worse than not liking it. It was interesting in parts but it definitely felt like a really really long audio-book (even on 1.75 speed, which incidentally gives the story an interesting vibe as everyone has a real sense of urgency about them - like they need to go to the bathroom or something). I didn't like either of the main characters and I am not really interested in finding out if they were as unlikeable in real life or not. ( )