Review: The Aviators Wife

The Aviators Wife by Melanie Benjamin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



For my first time flying with my 8-month old baby (and husband and dog) I was so panicked leaving the house I forgot to bring a book with me for the weekend at my inlaws'! Thankfully my mother-in-law had a copy of The Aviators Wife and recommended it.

While reading this book I kept thinking about how it reminded me of The Paris Wife and Loving Frank - other novels I enjoyed based on the lives of the wives of famous men, in those cases Ernest Hemingway and Frank Lloyd Wright, respectively. I was both happy and disappointed to see the Goodreads review say the same thing. This book was about Charles Lindbergh's wife Anne, told from her point of view. I really enjoyed learning more about Lindbergh and his accomplishments, while also appreciating how difficult a person he was in his private life.

I thought this book did a pretty good job of capturing the time-and-place of the story (the US in the 1920's through the 1950's). The kidnapping of their child played a prominent role in the story, as did Lindbergh's skilled piloting and right-wing politics. The relationship the Lindberghs had with the media was also interesting - they were victimized by the paparazzi as badly as any of today's celebrities are. I was sad for Anne through most of the book, as Lindbergh was not a warm or kind husband or father. She saw some of his weaknesses but also supported him blindly it seemed, even when he was demanding, unfair, or bordering on abusive.

Benjamin (the author) says in her afterword that the best way for her to feel like she's succeeded in writing a compelling historical novel is when her readers want to learn more about the actual history. She definitely succeeded with me.



View all my reviews