SHS Book Club: The Aviator's Wife

I finished The Aviator's Wife! I absolutely loved, loved, loved this book. I've never read historical fiction before but I'm definitely going to try more of it.

This is the story of Anne Morrow Lindberg and her life and adventures and heartaches. Based on her diary and journal entries along with historical facts, this book creates a great picture of her life.

I found myself Googling all of the various facts as I'd read about them. I wanted to see pictures of Anne and her sister. I would Google images of Anne's baby, Charlie. I was Wikipediaing about Elizabeth, Anne's sister.

That is the beauty of historical fiction, the historical parts are mostly facts built around fiction. So you become interested in the history just by delving into the fiction.

But back to the book itself. I think Anne's life seemed so enviable on the outside but it seems there was so much sadness on the inside. The book takes us through her young adulthood all the way into her late life. You get a true sense of her lonliness and her loss of self at times while she aims to make everyone else in her life happy and content. If you don't know about Anne Morrow Lindberg, she is the mother of baby Charles Lindberg, the child who was kidnapped from his nursery. Anne's husband, Charles Lindberg, was the famous aviator who was the first to fly non-stop to Paris from New York on a single-engine plane. Anne, a pilot in her own right, spent a great deal of her life in her husband's shadow though she was more educated and was the first female to earn a glider pilot's license.

The book goes into great detail about her relationship with Charles. Having read Anne's book before I ever read this book, I found her more intriguing than before. I can't wait to go back and read my copy of Gift from the Sea. I bet her writing will take on a whole new meaning now that I know more about her life.

This book is a must-read. I don't say that often. I loved it. If you have some other historical fiction books to recommend, please let me know! I'll put it on my Goodreads list.

Can't wait to share my next book. Right now I'm reading.....