After Anne Morrow Lindbergh's death in 1986, a group including family and friends gathered her writings from 1947 to the end of her life and put them in book form. There are many of the countless letters she wrote and her diary entries from various periods of her life.
She didn't have an easy life by any means. Both she and Charles were super cautious about being recognized in public, having been traumatized by the media attention when their first child was abducted. They were also quite protective of their five surviving children and Anne gave them unconditional love. In such a large family there were always changes, problems, travel, heartbreak, and joy.
Anne was a writer, well remembered for her GIFT FROM THE SEA, but she was more a thinker. I read this book at a time of crisis in my own life when I struggled to think clearly, so I was amazed at her ability to find a way to think things through with logic and far-seeing connections no matter what was going on in her life.
I came to a desire to know more about Anne Lindbergh because I wanted to learn more about Charles Lindbergh, but reading about her has been much more rewarding to me. I think this can be counted as an important book in women's history in 20th century America.
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It sounds like you found this book at the perfect time in your life.
ReplyDelete"Kidnap: The Shocking Story of the Lindbergh Case" by George Waller is one of the best "true crime" books I've ever read. But it indicated there were many unsolved mysteries in the case. And recently, I happened to see a television special about it indicating that investigators have come to believe that Charles himself was involved. Anne was totally in the dark about it all, however, and by all accounts was a much better person than her husband!
ReplyDeleteKathy, I did read this at a good time. Unfortunately, my review doesn't do it justice. Guess my thinking is still muzzy from hospital air.
ReplyDeleteJill, I haven't read the Waller book, just several articles through the years about the kidnapping. I would find it very hard to believe that Charles had anything to do with it. I know he had some radical beliefs (Nazi's being good people for instance), but this is too much. I agree that Anne was a much better person overall and he neglected her horribly. She lived most of her adult life home raising the children and living her own life with many valued friends, while not knowing half the time where Charles was. She was the one who they all depended on. She's a great writer as well.
Charles was not a good person. He had seven [additional] children from THREE different women over in Europe, all of them a secret of course. (Thirty years after his death all the children met each other.) Also, 2 months before the kidnap-murder, Charles had staged a fake kidnap of the baby as a "prank." He let everyone panic for 30 minutes before taking the baby out of the TRASH CLOSET.
DeleteThere were many unanswered questions about the March 1 ("real") kidnap, and the police were convinced the kidnapper had to have had inside info. When a maid committed suicide, they just assumed she had been the guilty one. But she may have conspired with Charles, who knows? He was not above having liaisons with other women! There were also many problems with evidence that went missing, weird testimony, etc. etc. It's a fascinating case and he was an evil guy; I wouldn't put it past him!
Boy, did I light a fire under Jill/Rhapsody in Books! It's a good thing, though, because now I will search for more information about Charles Lindbergh for myself. In this Anne Morrow Lindbergh book there is a sense that she knew he had been involved with other women; heck, half the time she didn't even know what part of the world he was in, let alone when he would be home or what he was doing. And Anne herself was most likely involved in at least two very long-term love affairs of her own. Fascinating family.
ReplyDeleteDo you read the work of her daughter, Reeve Lindbergh? She is really a wonderful writer. Her latest talks a lot about the new-to-her revelations about her father's other life. I wrote about it here:
ReplyDeletehttp://lettersfromahillfarm.blogspot.com/2008/04/book-reportforward-from-here.html
And more about this book, and the situation here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/17/garden/17lindbergh.html?pagewanted=all
Reeve was the impetus behind this collection. I had never been interested in her until I read the sections about her in Against Wind and Tide. I must look her up.
ReplyDeleteNan, I just read your review of Forward from Here as well as the NY Times piece. Fascinating. She sounds like the best adjusted member of the family, and that's saying something. Now I really do want to look into her writing and perhaps more about her father.
ReplyDeleteShe is really wonderful. Kind, gentle, funny.
ReplyDelete