A Journey to the Past: A Historical Fiction About the Lindbergh Family

     I am so excited to share this gem with you all. Melanie Benjamin was a treasure to be found, and I'm so glad I found her with this phenomenal book. If you like to learn about important figures from our past, but don't like the dry style of history books, then this is for you. Benjamin said that her goal with writing historical fiction is to spark inspiration in her readers to further research her subjects, and she most definitely achieved that with this one.

"You will feel amazed, inspired and frustrated you are only hearing this story now..." -T.I.M.E

The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin

     Release Date: January 15, 2013

     Read from: 5/7/2020 - 5/16/2020

     Format: Audiobook (Overdrive)

     My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

     Goodreads Rating: 3.89 stars

Goodreads Link

     I really enjoyed this and definitely recommend! So far, this is the best historical fiction about real people I’ve ever read or listened to. I will now be adding all of Melanie Benjamin’s books to my TBR list lol. I thought she did a fantastic job on this book. Not only did I learn a hell of a lot, she achieved her goal as stated in the author’s note of inspiring people to do further research on the subject of the book. I definitely am left wanting to know more! Because this is a historical fiction it is not 100% true, and she discusses what parts are imagined, to make this more of a story, and not a blow by blow account in the spirit of school history books, in the author’s note as well. I think she did a fantastic job of giving it the story feel, while keeping it full of truth and facts. It definitely helps that Anne Lindbergh kept many diaries throughout her life that she published, as well as other books that she penned, so that we could get some real insight into her head beyond what the media or Charles Lindbergh himself put out there about their family life.

     If you don’t know much about the Lindbergh family it’s time that you learned. This book is a perfect starting point because you can’t fully understand Charles without knowing Anne. I’m sorry to admit when I first started this book that all I knew was the name "Charles Lindbergh." The subject of this book reminded me that he was important in the history of modern flight, but everything else I now know came from this book. These are people who lived at least some of their lives during many of our life times. And if not yours then definitely your grandparent’s or your parent’s life times. They are not quite yet figures of our distant past. To me, it’s not just fun but important to know more than just the names of famous historical figures. I loved this book because it gave me insight to what these people were like as humans, and not just as historical heroes.

     Anne Morrow grew up in a political family. Charles Lindbergh was the first person solo to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. Together, they became a powerful couple in aviation history, literally flying all over the world. Their relationship was amazing and strenuous. Their family life tragic and beautiful. Being big celebrities in the '30s wasn’t any different than it is now, but the emotional toll it took on celebrities of the time was much more of a shock than it is now. People expect it now. Then, they were just getting used to the idea that their private lives would be shared so extensively with the entire country. Fame was not what these two were seeking, and they struggled a lot with balancing their lives because of it. Then after the events of ‘32, their lives would never be the same, in so so many ways. This book actually pulled emotion out of me when I was listening to the narrator portray Anne in a lot of the scenes during this part of the book, and in any reflecting on it. So that to me makes for a higher rated book and huge props to the author for succeeding in pulling that out of me. I don't think I've read a historical fiction that managed to do that to me yet. It is much harder as an author to achieve that in a historical fiction, I imagine, because they only have access to whatever information is already out there about their subjects. Creating too many opinions and emotions in a historical figure may begin to turn the story away from accuracy. Luckily in this case, the author had Anne's diaries to learn her inner feelings.

     Before this book I was definitely enjoying historical books about real people, whether there was fiction tied in or not. I was picking them up whenever I came across them in my audio book apps. It’s been about a year since this pattern began, but now, after several books, I have not only added a bunch of non-fictions about certain historical families and figures to my TBR, I’m now beginning to brainstorm any people from this country’s history that I have even a slight interest in, so that I can hopefully find books just like this about them. First to come to mine, the Rockefeller’s and other families who lived in those big mansions in Newport! I’ve visited several of them on more than one occasion, and loved hearing about them, seeing their belongings and where they lived, reading information supplied in the museums about them, as well as hearing quotes from them in the self guided audio tours. But I want to know more of their thoughts and minds while they lived there! If anyone knows of any good resources for that definitely let me know!

And in the meantime, pick up this book. If you care about history at all, you’ll be glad you did.