Delacorte Press
January 2013
On Sale: January 15, 2013
416 pages ISBN: 0345528670 EAN: 9780345528674 Kindle: B0092EE3K8 Hardcover / e-Book Add to Wish List
In the spirit of Loving Frank and The Paris Wife, acclaimed novelist Melanie Benjamin pulls back the curtain on the marriage of one of Americaβs most extraordinary couples: Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh.
For much of her life, Anne Morrow, the shy daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, has stood in the shadows of those around her, including her millionaire father and vibrant older sister, who often steals the spotlight. Then Anne, a college senior with hidden literary aspirations, travels to Mexico City to spend Christmas with her family. There she meets Colonel Charles Lindbergh, fresh off his celebrated 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic. Enthralled by Charlesβs assurance and fame, Anne is certain the celebrated aviator has scarcely noticed her. But she is wrong.
Charles sees in Anne a kindred spirit, a fellow adventurer, and her world will be changed forever. The two marry in a headline-making wedding. Hounded by adoring crowds and hunted by an insatiable press, Charles shields himself and his new bride from prying eyes, leaving Anne to feel her life falling back into the shadows. In the years that follow, despite her own major achievementsβshe becomes the first licensed female glider pilot in the United StatesβAnne is viewed merely as the aviatorβs wife. The fairy-tale life she once longed for will bring heartbreak and hardships, ultimately pushing her to reconcile her need for love and her desire for independence, and to embrace, at last, lifeβs infinite possibilities for change and happiness.
Drawing on the rich history of the twentieth centuryβfrom the late twenties to the mid-sixtiesβand featuring cameos from such notable characters as Joseph Kennedy and Amelia Earhart, The Aviatorβs Wife is a vividly imagined novel of a complicated marriageβrevealing both its dizzying highs and its devastating lows. With stunning power and grace, Melanie Benjamin provides new insight into what made this remarkable relationship endure.
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