Pairing Books with Movies: The Aviator’s Wife

The Aviator’s Wife

by Melanie Benjamin

★★★★

In the same vein of Loving Frank, Clara and Mr. Tiffany, and The Paris Wife comes this novel; a fictionalized account of the actual life of Anne Morrow Lindbergh; wife of the famous aviator Charles Lindbergh and author of Gift of the Sea. All of these books tell the story of women who are paired in one way or another with incredibly strong and difficult men. These brave women spend their lives trying to appease or compensate for their brilliant but deeply flawed partners and this book paints a painful picture of that lonely life.

“He didn’t respond; we glared at each other for what seemed like the entire length of our marriage, right there – spreading, like a noxious stain, between us, pushing farther and farther apart.”

One of the things that really stood out to me is how horrifying it is to lead a life in the spotlight. There is no anonymity. Every time a celebrity goes to a movie or the grocery store they take the chance that they will be mobbed by the paparazzi. It was the same for the Lindberghs, America’s first couple of the air. They were surrounded by fans whenever they were and that attention is both exhausting.

(Photos of Lindbergh exhibits at the Newseum in D.C.)

I loved learning more about Anne’s life. Her book Gift of the Sea meant a lot to me, but I didn’t realize that she also got a pilot’s license and took solo flights. She withstood so much pressure and grief throughout her life, but somehow she found pieces of happiness and peace to hang on to.

BOTTOM LINE: Heartbreaking, but hard to put down. It was difficult to watch Anne sit back and let her husband run her life, but I also admired her quiet strength.

“What need was there for words, when we had just shared the sky?”

"I had been a passenger in our life together for far too long."

“I’d thought marriage would mean I’d never be lonely. Now I knew: Marriage breeds its own special brand of loneliness, and it’s far more cruel.”

“Unlike men, women got less sentimental as we aged, I was discovering. We cried enough, when we were young; vessels overflowing with the tears of everyone we loved.”

Pair with a viewing of The Spirit of St. Louis and Murder on the Orient Express. Both have ties to the Lindberghs, but in very different ways.

Friday Favorites: Gift From the Sea

Gift From the Sea
by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
★★★★★

Who knew that Charles Lindbergh’s wife was such a wonderful writer? I certainly didn’t. Gift From the Sea is a slim nonfiction book that she wrote on learning to enjoy life and manage the day-to-day struggles we can all relate to. The 50th anniversary edition of the book I read included an added retrospective chapter at the end.

Lindbergh compares different stages in a woman’s life to various shells she finds on the beach. The shells aren’t the point; it’s what they represent that carries the weight of the work. She touches on maintaining your individuality as a woman despite marriage and motherhood, a difficult balance to find.

Lindbergh’s writing is full of simple truths, but they’re ones we often miss in life. Her musings are all the more poignant when you remember that her child was kidnapped and murder. Yet somehow she was still able to maintain some perspective and attain a healthy life despite that tragedy.

I can’t think of a single woman I wouldn’t recommend this to. It’s a lovely reminder to appreciate whatever stage you’re in at the moment. I always fill my days with a million commitments and small tasks and this was a wonderful reminder to slow down and just enjoy the bliss of doing nothing sometimes.

Her words can speak for themselves, so here’s a few of the lines I loved…

“We Americans, with out terrific emphasis on youth, action, and material success, certainly tend to belittle the afternoon of life and pretend it never comes.”

“By and large, mothers and housewives are the only workers who do not have regular time off. They are the great vacationless class.”

“Perhaps both men and women in America may hunger, in our material, outward, active, masculine culture, for the supposedly feminine qualities of the heart, mind and spirit – qualities which are actually neither masculine or feminine, but simply human qualities that have been neglected.”

“I find there is a quality to being alone that is incredibly precious.”