Book Review: The Aviator’s Wife by Melanie Benjamin

The Aviator’s Wife by Melanie Benjamin
ARC, e-Book, 417 pages
Delacorte Press
January 15, 2013
★★★★☆

Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: Received via Netgalley from publisher for review

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.

I have been fascinated by the Lindbergh’s since I first saw a story about them and their kidnapped child in my READ magazine in 6^th grade. It wasn’t something I learned about in school otherwise and not in history class; I’m confident that if that outdated magazine had not come into my possession, I would likely have made it through school without ever learning about them. Of course Charles Lindbergh is known most for his historic flight across the Atlantic Ocean, but what does the world know about Anne Morrow Lindbergh. I knew virtually nothing.

I love that Benjamin chose to tell the story of Anne. She was always the child in the family that stayed in the shadow, but upon her engagement and marriage she was thrust immediately into the spotlight. She did an amazing job of creating the woman who had to walk a line of identity trying to figure out who she was for the public, for Charles, for her children, and finally for herself. The struggle is palpable and really the heart of the story. I found Charles to be a very dislikable character most of the time which is the exact opposite of the heroic image that is and was portrayed to the media.

The most interesting element for me was the way the story was structured. It bounces back and forth between the “present” which is with Anne accompanying Charles to Hawaii as he is dying, and the past of her life with Charles from the time they met. During my time reading I hated this structuring. I already didn’t like Charles and I really didn’t care that he was dying and I felt like I should. But as I look back on the experience a week or so after reading it I do appreciate the structure more. It showed how much Anne had grown and changed from when we first met her and when her time being in Charles shadow was coming to an end. I also think that the times that were chosen to break into the narrative and jump to the “present” were well chosen to flow with either the emotions or events transpiring between both times. I also really liked how more recent revelations about Charles Lindbergh were woven into that “present” storyline.

Overall this story pulled at the heartstrings and told a compelling story of a woman who lived her life in the spotlight while at the same time was not seen.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Flashlight Commentary

• The Good Book Fairy

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by Melanie Benjamin:

The Swans of Fifth Avenue

Alice I Have Been

Mrs. Tom Thumb

The Girls in the Picture

Find Melanie Benjamin: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Copyright © 2017 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: Grand Central: Original Stories of Postwar Love and Reunion by Alyson Richman, Jenna Blum, Sarah McCoy, Melanie Benjamin, Sarah Jio, Erika Robuck, Kristina McMorris, Amanda Hodgkinson, Pam Jenoff, and Karen White

Grand Central: Original Stories of Postwar Love and Reunion
Featuring stories by: Alyson Richman, Jenna Blum, Sarah McCoy,
Melanie Benjamin, Sarah Jio, Erika Robuck, Kristina McMorris,
Amanda Hodgkinson, Pam Jenoff, and Karen White
Paperback, 368 pages
Penguin Group
July 1, 2014
★★★★★

Genre: Short-Story Anthology

Source: Received as a gift from my 2014 Book Blogger Secret Santa

“A war bride awaits the arrival of her GI husband at the platform…

A Holocaust survivor works at the Oyster Bar, where a customer reminds him of his late mother…

A Hollywood hopeful anticipates her first screen test and a chance at stardom in the Kissing Room…

On any particular day, thousands upon thousands of people pass through New York City’s Grand Central Terminal, through the whispering gallery, beneath the ceiling of stars, and past the information booth and its beckoning four-faced clock, to whatever destination is calling them. It is a place where people come to say hello and good-bye. And each person has a story to tell.
Now, ten bestselling authors inspired by this iconic landmark have created their own stories, set just after the end of World War II, in a time of hope, uncertainty, change, and renewal….”

Of all of the authors presented in this collection, the only one that I had read any of their individual works was Pam Jenoff, who I really did enjoy. However, the authors included in this collection were not what drew me to this book. I was extremely intrigued by the concept of an anthology that actively strives to have a cohesive topic; in this case, a certain date after the end of the WWII in the Grand Central Terminal. I had recently read A Day of Fire: A Novel of Pompeii by a collection of authors which was another anthology which revolved around the event of the destruction of Pompeii, and I was excited to see another take on this style of book.

One of the greatest strengths of this book is how the stories all cover different life situations as affected by the war. Among the characters encountered are: GI coming home from war to the life he left behind, a woman afraid of the return of her husband from the war, German and Jewish refugees from Europe, a female pilot, and a Lebensborn Program mother. I felt that I learned so many different aspects of life during and after the war that I had not known about before. These characters were so different from each other and so individualized. Some of their stories are just so heartbreaking, while others are so full of hope for a better life. They will definitely pull at your heartstrings and you might even shed a tear or two.

I LOVED how the iconic train station itself was so fleshed out that it was a character all of its own. There were areas of the stations featured that I never knew existed, like the Kissing Room, the Biltmore Hotel above, an a movie theatre as well as other iconic areas such as the Whispering Gallery and the Oyster Bar. Throughout the course of these stories you come away feeling like you have personally toured the station, even if you have never been there.

While reading, I was constantly on the lookout for the intersection of characters from the other stories – and you do see them in passing. A man who plays the violin from the first story is commented on by a couple other characters, for instance. However, they do not actually engage with each other to a very great extent. I would have liked a little bit more in this manner – but I might just have been spoiled by the level of interaction in A Day of Fire.

My favorite story, was the last – “The Harvest Season”. It had some twists that I didn’t expect and I quickly connected to these characters. Their stories could have ended up a couple different ways and I really liked the result. Karen White will be an author I keep my eyes open for.

I was very impressed with the cohesiveness of this collection and enjoyed it very much. I would highly recommend this to any WWII history fan. I hope to see more of these types of collections in the future (I have heard of 2 others in the works).

You can visit the book’s website for additional information about the book.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Flashlight Commentary
• Jenn’s Bookshelf

Here are some choices for purchasing the book: Amazon, B&N, RJ Julia (my fav indie bookstore).

 

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