What readers think of The Aviator's Wife, plus links to write your own review.

Very enjoyable and interesting perspective on Charles Lindbergh's life as told through the eyes of his wife. Good character development with the right amount of fact and fiction. I found myself routing for Anne and disliking Charles more than I expected.

Years ago I enjoyed reading "Gifts of the Sea" and only as I began "Aviator's Wife" did I recall the little book that made me look at shells differently. I read eagerly the life of Charles and Anne all the while hoping they would find true peace in their lives together. I especially enjoyed how Ms. Benjamin described the historical details surrounding Hitler's Germany of the late 1930's. Historical fiction makes history come alive and Ms. Benjamin is one of the best. I look forward to handselling this title for bookgroups to discuss. I have seen Melanie Benjamin's books on the shelves at work and have thought "have to read that next" but, now they are on a pile next to my bed! Look forward to meeting her at her upcoming signing!

I was first captivated by Melanie Benjamin's writing while reading her debut novel "Alice I Have Been". Her work seamlessly merges historical fiction and biopic - it takes you straight to other times, into other places and reintroduces you to someone maybe you thought you knew of. And there was so much more to know! The Aviator's Wife certainly brought out the very complicated world, relationships, challenges and limitations that Anne Morrow Lindbergh faced in the early and mid-1900s and has also drawn me to want to learn more about her life and her writings.

"The Aviator's Wife" is one of the best historical novels I've read this year! If you're an Anne Morrow Lindberg fan, you'll be glued to the page and admire Anne's resilience and courage even more as the strong woman behind the public image is brought to life. Somehow knowing what's going to happen just makes the story all the more suspenseful. If you don't know much about the Lindbergs, meeting Anne through Melanie Benjamin's eyes is a special treat. I can tell you I read the last line, grabbed a tissue--then immediately scrounged up my old copy of Gift from the Sea. Don't miss this one!

In this novel, Melanie Benjamin successfully delves into a complex life led by complex characters. Exquisitely portrayed is Anne Morrow Lindbergh in a way few have been privy to. She is not the shrinking violet forever stuck in the shadow of her famous husband but rather a loving, courageous, strong-willed, intelligent, creative woman. During the course of the novel, Anne comes to realize her strengths as a wife, a mother, and a woman. Anne doesn't need a hero; she is a hero and more than just "the aviator's wife." Anne's voice is strong and reassuring as she relates her own story in the first person narrative.
A thoroughly enjoyable read--a book club hit!

Melanie Benjamin has written a fictional first person account of Anne Morrow Lindbergh's life. Born in a strong privileged family, meeting the most famous person on earth, a hero of huge magnitude, she marries him and starts the rocky road to find a real person behing the myth.

This book had me from the first word, it is well written, the characters are defined in such a way I felt I knew them. Ms Benjamin writes from the perspective of how Anne, Charles and the family were as real, emotional people. The story is based on their true lives but using historical fiction as her method of writing allows her to bring out all the emotions of their lives. We watch as Anne gains strength to be her own person at the same time she supports and makes excuses for her husband, who diminishes in his own life as a national hero as well as a personal hero and his inability to have any true interaction with her or his children. The kidnapping does not overpower the story but you do feel the anguish of having such a terrible event happen. It is a part of their story but far from the entire story.

This is an excellent book that is destined to be one of the best of 2013.
Book clubs will find a lot of challenging discussions about the Lindberghs

From the first page, I was hooked and prepared to take flight with Anne Lindbergh on her incredible life journey. That she took that journey with America's hero, Charles Lindbergh, a man she loved at first sight, made the story historic and thrilling. It is a tale of commitment - to spouse, children and country. The kidnapping and murder of her first-born son, Charlie, is, of course, well-known, but as Ms. Benjamin recounts the events up to and following the death, so much more is revealed. It is gripping, to hear in the mother's words, her anguish over of the loss of the baby. The decades the Lindberghs spent dealing with national and international attention —which turned from admiration to hateful criticism — make the paparazzi of today seem mild-mannered! Mrs. Lindbergh managed to live a full and interesting life and to achieve literary success on her own, but she remained, always, the Aviator's Wife.

I highly recommend this fictionalized story of the Lindberghs (based on the author's deep research). It is astonishing because although everyone knows of the famous couple--Charles, an aviation pioneer, and Anne, writer of Gift from the Sea--and, of course, of the terrible kidnapping of their firstborn child--the whole story of their relationship is not widely known. It is a sad, rich story, told from Anne's point of view, beautifully written in words both accessible and poetic. A brief example: After Anne, age 19, meets Charles for the first time and he singles her out, asking her to fly with him, Anne "...slept lightly. As if...I had a dream beneath my pillow that I did not wish to crush." Anne was a remarkable woman and this is a remarkable book.