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Anne Morrow Lindbergh: Her Life
An illuminating portrait of Anne Morrow Lindbergh--loyal wife, devoted mother, pioneering aviator, and critically acclaimed author of the bestselling Gift from the Sea .
Anne Morrow Lindbergh has been one of the most admired women and most popular writers of our time. Her Gift from the Sea is a perennial favorite. But the woman behind the public person has remained largely unknown. Drawing on five years of exclusive interviews with Anne Morrow Lindbergh as well as countless diaries, letters, and other documents, Susan Hertog now gives us the woman whose triumphs, struggles and elegant perseverance riveted the public for much of the twentieth century.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh has been one of the most admired women and most popular writers of our time. Her Gift from the Sea is a perennial favorite. But the woman behind the public person has remained largely unknown. Drawing on five years of exclusive interviews with Anne Morrow Lindbergh as well as countless diaries, letters, and other documents, Susan Hertog now gives us the woman whose triumphs, struggles and elegant perseverance riveted the public for much of the twentieth century.
606 pages, Paperback
First published October 17, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews
May 5, 2014
I started reading the Aviator's Wife but decided I would rather read an actual biography instead. Part of my dislike of this book lies in my dislike of Anne and Charles. Neither of them were like able people, and I am glad I wasn't one of their children. So kudos to the author for exposing the good with the bad of their lives.
But for me, the author seemed to pick out the most uninteresting parts of her life to discuss the most. Pages and pages dedicated to uninteresting parts of her life, and then one paragraph to describe a pregnancy and birth of a child. The author spends a long time talking about how dedicated she was to Charlie, the baby who was kidnapped, but then just barely brushed over the lives of the 5 children she raised. More than 1/4th of the book is spent discussing the few years leading up to WWII. I had to skim the second half of the book as it was just so tedious.
But for me, the author seemed to pick out the most uninteresting parts of her life to discuss the most. Pages and pages dedicated to uninteresting parts of her life, and then one paragraph to describe a pregnancy and birth of a child. The author spends a long time talking about how dedicated she was to Charlie, the baby who was kidnapped, but then just barely brushed over the lives of the 5 children she raised. More than 1/4th of the book is spent discussing the few years leading up to WWII. I had to skim the second half of the book as it was just so tedious.
April 10, 2016
This book was a huge disappointment. I read it because after reading The Aviator's Wife, I wanted a factual account of Anne Morrow Lindbergh's life.
First of all, the more I read it, the more I grew to dislike both Anne and Charles Lindbergh. Although Anne accomplished many things in her life, she is portrayed as weak, insecure and totally dominated by her husband. Although famous for his trans-Atlantic flight Charles is eventually exposed as a Nazi sympathizer and an anti-Semite, thus tarnishing his reputation, not that he cared. Sadly Anne supports his views publicly. The world always held Anne in such high regard. After reading this book, I have to wonder why.
Now about the author. This is her first book and it reads like a first book, very amateurish. It is ostensibly about Anne but she spends way too much time discussing Charles. A sad commentary about Anne's life. What a disservice to your subject!
Anne out lived Charles by over 20 years but she barely mentions her life after Charles. The last few pages are about the author's relationship with
Anne. Huh? Ms. Hertog, this is not about you! The author also seems to have a strange obsession with quotation marks. She uses them like we would use air quotes in conversation. They are everywhere. They often made no sense and eventually got annoying. The same with the chapter titles. Some were just bizarre. If this is on your TBR list, you might want to see if there is a biography written by a true historian, not by a wanna-be.
First of all, the more I read it, the more I grew to dislike both Anne and Charles Lindbergh. Although Anne accomplished many things in her life, she is portrayed as weak, insecure and totally dominated by her husband. Although famous for his trans-Atlantic flight Charles is eventually exposed as a Nazi sympathizer and an anti-Semite, thus tarnishing his reputation, not that he cared. Sadly Anne supports his views publicly. The world always held Anne in such high regard. After reading this book, I have to wonder why.
Now about the author. This is her first book and it reads like a first book, very amateurish. It is ostensibly about Anne but she spends way too much time discussing Charles. A sad commentary about Anne's life. What a disservice to your subject!
Anne out lived Charles by over 20 years but she barely mentions her life after Charles. The last few pages are about the author's relationship with
Anne. Huh? Ms. Hertog, this is not about you! The author also seems to have a strange obsession with quotation marks. She uses them like we would use air quotes in conversation. They are everywhere. They often made no sense and eventually got annoying. The same with the chapter titles. Some were just bizarre. If this is on your TBR list, you might want to see if there is a biography written by a true historian, not by a wanna-be.
May 16, 2015
I read the fictionalized account of Anne Morrow Lindbergh's life, "The Aviator's Wife". I wanted to read about the real Anne Morrow Lindbergh so I picked this book up. She seemed like an interesting person: an aviator, poet and published author and wife of the famous Charles Lindbergh. Unfortunately, I didn't learn anything more about Mrs. Lindbergh from Susan Hertog's account. There is a lot of information about Charles Lindbergh that makes him seem like a first class jerk. This wasn't a surprise since I already knew about his sympathies toward Hitler and Nazi Germany. I was disappointed to learn that Anne Lindbergh shared or at least went along with her husband's beliefs.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh comes across as spoiled and whiny in this account. She wants to find her center and her artistic self and resents having to care for her own children. The female angst portrayed in this book seems ridiculous when you realize that Mrs. Lindbergh was an extremely wealthy woman with servants and nannies always at her disposal. The Lindberghs changed houses the way the rest of us change shoes.
I am saddened about the suspicious kidnapping and killing of her oldest son. This is the only aspect of Mrs. Lindbergh's life that engenders sympathy in this reading. Susan Hertog portrays her as being shallow and silly.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh comes across as spoiled and whiny in this account. She wants to find her center and her artistic self and resents having to care for her own children. The female angst portrayed in this book seems ridiculous when you realize that Mrs. Lindbergh was an extremely wealthy woman with servants and nannies always at her disposal. The Lindberghs changed houses the way the rest of us change shoes.
I am saddened about the suspicious kidnapping and killing of her oldest son. This is the only aspect of Mrs. Lindbergh's life that engenders sympathy in this reading. Susan Hertog portrays her as being shallow and silly.
August 2, 2013
There's something about the wives or partners of uber-successful men that has long fascinated me, I can now add Anne Morrow Lindbergh to that list. After reading the new novel based on her life 'The Aviator's Wife', I needed to learn more about her and this book satisfied that yen. It was clear, thoughtful, and didn't seem to whitewash or sensationalize the ugly parts of her life. Her life's story was truly an epic one and well worth the many books that have been written about her.
June 10, 2022
This has become one of my favorite biographies. The author told the story as if we hadn’t heard parts of it before. She effortlessly balanced Anne’s lovely traits with her flaws, which ultimately stemmed from the horrible loss of her firstborn son. Highly recommended!
August 21, 2020
I read this book almost 20 years ago. I was young idealistic and adored Anne Morrow Lindbergh and thought her life romantic. After reading her diaries and letters I still admired her, but disliked her husband. After rereading this I despise Charles Lindbergh and I found Anne sympathetic but flawed. She was a woman of her time, following along with her husband even if he was an idiot at best, a racist with horrifying speeches and thoughts about Hitler. He actual felt bad that Hitler's dreams had ended. Granted he was shocked into admitted he was kind of evil after seeing halocaust survivors. Overall the book paints a picture of a turbulent marriage, one that would've ended eventually in divorce had they lived in modern times. He really is the worst. The book was less a biography of Anne than a look at her marriage. It begins with their meeting in Mexico and pretty much ends with Charles's death. Then there's a four page chapter wrapping it up. So the author bought into Anne's old fashioned views that she was nothing without Charles. What about the death of her oldest daughter? The death of Reeve's toddler son, so reminiscent of the loss of her own son? There was so much more this book could've done for it's subject and while enjoyable it should've been more about her and she missed so much. Granted some is explained in detail in other books, like their many survey flights, and the kidnapping, but a lot was skipped over or briefly touched on while other things went on in too much detail. The end of the book following the war is basically a book report on her published works. I know there was no mention of Charles's secret families but an affair was hinted at, and that Anne probably found out about it, and no doubt learned about the others as well. But protective to the end of her husband's reputation even if he isn't worthy of that protection. Also the book was published before Anne's death and the truth didn't come out until all the women involved had died. Not a bad biography but it could've been much more than it was.
May 7, 2015
I'm in the middle of reading this book about one of my favorite authors, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, finding myself really frustrated about the author's distraction over Anne's sister Elizabeth. She makes wildly speculative assumptions about a character who isn't even the focus of the book! Whoever Elizabeth Morrow was, she shouldn't be used as a comparative tool for the author. I have 3 sisters and I would hate to have my life compared with theirs in any way- I'm only at the beginning- hopefully I'll enjoy the rest of the book but really don't enjoy the author's style that much.
Really lost interest so I never got past the death of the Lindberghs' first child.
Really lost interest so I never got past the death of the Lindberghs' first child.
July 11, 2019
Susan Hertog idolized Anne Morrow Lindbergh. This caused her to view Lindbergh through rose-colored glasses. What Hertog attributes to wifely loyalty, the more objective reader will find her motives and actions more offensive.
While I usually write reviews about my personal reaction to books, I found myself needing to remind myelf of the differences of class, upbringing and eras. That was the only reson I rounded up to 3 stars.
While I usually write reviews about my personal reaction to books, I found myself needing to remind myelf of the differences of class, upbringing and eras. That was the only reson I rounded up to 3 stars.
August 12, 2012
It started off really strong and I wanted to give it 4 stars but it seemed to drag on a bit about the pre-WWII politics. But a good read and I found her to be a much more complex person than I'd before imagined. "Gift From the Sea" is still one of my favorite books.
July 25, 2020
Very interesting history! Read along with other books about Ann Morrow Lindbergh. one that she wrote & the historical-fiction "The Navigator's Wife," which I enjoyed!
September 8, 2021
Before reading Anne Morrow Lindbergh: Her Story by Susan Hetrtog, I didn’t know anything about Anne except that she was the wife of famed aviator Charles Lindbergh and an aviator herself as well as an author.
Anne grew up as the daughter of the US ambassador to Mexico and a very ambitious mother. Anne was quiet, sensitive, and introverted. She felt her sister, Elizabeth, was everything she should be and wasn’t.
Charles Lindbergh became famous for making the first solo non-stop flight from New York to Paris. According to Wikipedia, this flight was “widely considered a turning point in world history for the development and advancement of aviation, ushering in a new era of transportation between parts of the globe.” Lindbergh’s feat turned him into an instant American hero and Time Magazine’s first “Man of the Year.”
Anne’s father became the financial advisor to Charles Lindbergh and invited him to their compound in Mexico for Christmas one year. Anne was enamored immediately, but expected Charles would fall for her sister. Charles didn’t seem to fall for anyone, but when he started thinking about marriage, Anne came to mind.
Anne thought long and hard about marriage to Charles before accepting. They’d have to deal with a lot of public attention: Hertog quotes one source as saying public interest in Lindbergh was about like that of the Prince of Wales. Another source said only the Kennedy family was more in the public eye.
Anne thought Charles was “beautiful,” but she was well-read, and he didn’t have much interest in reading (at least the kind of books she liked). She wasn’t sure she could live with someone without sharing this aspect of herself. She was sure that she would have to sacrifice for the relationship. But in the end, she decided she couldn’t live without Charles.
He taught her to fly and to navigate, and she accompanied him on many of his flights.
My biggest impression of Anne, at least from this book, is that she was a conflicted woman most of her life. She loved flying, but she missed her children when she flew. She loved domesticity, but resented how all-consuming it was and longed to have solitude and time to write. She both loved Charles and chafed under his leadership. She didn’t embrace her early Christian upbringing, but wrestled with sin and salvation and what it all meant (yet she said, “I wasn’t searching for God” but to understand herself, p. 427). She mixed in Buddhist and theosophist tenets with Christian ones. She espoused “Christian virtues,” yet seemed to miss its grace and salvation. “She went beyond the stern precepts of her ancestors’ Calvinism; she was searching for the ‘changeless light,’ looking inside herself, trying to make peace with God” (p. 411).
Charles was very domineering and could be incredibly insensitive, wanting Anne to spend days and weeks co-piloting with him and leaving their son with others on the son’s birthday and even one Christmas.
Anne believed in submitting to and supporting her husband, but didn’t seem to realize that submission and support didn’t mean never voicing a differing opinion. Anne had always been one to acquiesce, first to her mother and then to Charles. In fact, Charles and Anne’s mother argued over what should be included in their wedding while Anne sat back and let them decide.
The couple’s firstborn son was kidnapped from their home at the age of twenty months. According to Hertog, the investigation was totally inept, with differing agencies vying to be the one to solve the case. Ransom notes were delivered and Charles even paid a ransom, but the child was never recovered. Later the baby’s body was found buried not far from their home.
The kidnapping was a wound that never healed for Anne. The media frenzy drove the Lindbergh’s to England for several years.
As events were ramping up leading to WWII, Charles took an isolationist stance. He felt the cost of human life in a war against Germany would be too great. He was more concerned about Russian communism than German fascism and felt the former would take over Europe if the latter was defeated. But, to the shock of many, Charles said in radio addresses to the American people that he agreed that white people were a superior race and Americans didn’t need to fight other white nations over an issue that was not their problem.
Anne took her submission to Charles so far that she wrote a book expounding on his views, though it was “against her instincts” and she later regretted it.
Understandably, they fell out of favor. When war did come, Charles felt he should help his country even thought he disagreed with their fighting, but had a hard time finding anyone who would accept his help.
He condemned American cruelty during war, but somehow seemed to overlook Japanese and German cruelty. After the war, “Only a trip to a concentration camp, and a tour through the rubble led by a ‘skeleton’ boy, moved him to condemn the brutality of the Germans” (p. 418). “This kind of human destruction, he wrote in his diary, was not worth the fulfillment of political ends” (p. 419).
Somehow, the Lindberghs seemed to be forgiven after the war. Anne published several books, the most famous and enduring being Gift of the Sea.
Anne’s concern about the press proved true. Their attitude seemed to be “We made you, we have a right to you.” They made up stories when information wasn’t forthcoming. They endangered the Lindberghs—once “reporters stalked Jon (their second son) on his way to school. Sideswiping the Morrows’ car, they pushed it off the road and pulled open the doors to take the boy’s picture” (p. 278). Later, Charles’ ship arrived during a photographers’ ball. “On hearing of Lindbergh’s return, the conductor stopped the music, and the men, cameras in hand, rushed to meet the Aquitania. Stampeding on board, they hammered on Lindbergh’s door. When he refused to open it, one photographer broke into the adjoining cabin, took photos, and fled” (p. 348).
The author has access to the public (edited) letters and diaries and five years of interviews with Anne. She mentions one affair Charles had that was unknown to Anne until after his death. Wikipedia reveals that he had seven children by three different German women–perhaps these were unknown as well at the time of the book’s publication. The Lindbergh’s youngest daughter, Reeve, met with her German half-siblings.
One problem with this book was that it was hard to distinguish the author’s voice from Anne’s. The author spent a lot of time explaining what Anne wrote, but it’s hard to know if this interpretation was Anne’s or the author’s. It did seem the author inserted herself in the book more than was necessary and covered some of the same themes repeatedly.
Plus, I listened to the audiobook, and it wasn’t always clear when the narrative went from the author’s words into a quotation from Anne’s writing. I do have a hardcover copy of the book as well, which includes several photos. In some ways, I probably would have gained more and understood some of the connections better if I had read the book rather than listened to it. But, as it is quite long, I felt I’d get to it sooner via audio.
So, in the end, I know a lot more about the Lindberghs but respect them a lot less. There were traits to admire in each of them. But, like all of us, they were flawed people.
Anne grew up as the daughter of the US ambassador to Mexico and a very ambitious mother. Anne was quiet, sensitive, and introverted. She felt her sister, Elizabeth, was everything she should be and wasn’t.
Charles Lindbergh became famous for making the first solo non-stop flight from New York to Paris. According to Wikipedia, this flight was “widely considered a turning point in world history for the development and advancement of aviation, ushering in a new era of transportation between parts of the globe.” Lindbergh’s feat turned him into an instant American hero and Time Magazine’s first “Man of the Year.”
Anne’s father became the financial advisor to Charles Lindbergh and invited him to their compound in Mexico for Christmas one year. Anne was enamored immediately, but expected Charles would fall for her sister. Charles didn’t seem to fall for anyone, but when he started thinking about marriage, Anne came to mind.
Anne thought long and hard about marriage to Charles before accepting. They’d have to deal with a lot of public attention: Hertog quotes one source as saying public interest in Lindbergh was about like that of the Prince of Wales. Another source said only the Kennedy family was more in the public eye.
Anne thought Charles was “beautiful,” but she was well-read, and he didn’t have much interest in reading (at least the kind of books she liked). She wasn’t sure she could live with someone without sharing this aspect of herself. She was sure that she would have to sacrifice for the relationship. But in the end, she decided she couldn’t live without Charles.
He taught her to fly and to navigate, and she accompanied him on many of his flights.
My biggest impression of Anne, at least from this book, is that she was a conflicted woman most of her life. She loved flying, but she missed her children when she flew. She loved domesticity, but resented how all-consuming it was and longed to have solitude and time to write. She both loved Charles and chafed under his leadership. She didn’t embrace her early Christian upbringing, but wrestled with sin and salvation and what it all meant (yet she said, “I wasn’t searching for God” but to understand herself, p. 427). She mixed in Buddhist and theosophist tenets with Christian ones. She espoused “Christian virtues,” yet seemed to miss its grace and salvation. “She went beyond the stern precepts of her ancestors’ Calvinism; she was searching for the ‘changeless light,’ looking inside herself, trying to make peace with God” (p. 411).
Charles was very domineering and could be incredibly insensitive, wanting Anne to spend days and weeks co-piloting with him and leaving their son with others on the son’s birthday and even one Christmas.
Anne believed in submitting to and supporting her husband, but didn’t seem to realize that submission and support didn’t mean never voicing a differing opinion. Anne had always been one to acquiesce, first to her mother and then to Charles. In fact, Charles and Anne’s mother argued over what should be included in their wedding while Anne sat back and let them decide.
The couple’s firstborn son was kidnapped from their home at the age of twenty months. According to Hertog, the investigation was totally inept, with differing agencies vying to be the one to solve the case. Ransom notes were delivered and Charles even paid a ransom, but the child was never recovered. Later the baby’s body was found buried not far from their home.
The kidnapping was a wound that never healed for Anne. The media frenzy drove the Lindbergh’s to England for several years.
As events were ramping up leading to WWII, Charles took an isolationist stance. He felt the cost of human life in a war against Germany would be too great. He was more concerned about Russian communism than German fascism and felt the former would take over Europe if the latter was defeated. But, to the shock of many, Charles said in radio addresses to the American people that he agreed that white people were a superior race and Americans didn’t need to fight other white nations over an issue that was not their problem.
Anne took her submission to Charles so far that she wrote a book expounding on his views, though it was “against her instincts” and she later regretted it.
Understandably, they fell out of favor. When war did come, Charles felt he should help his country even thought he disagreed with their fighting, but had a hard time finding anyone who would accept his help.
He condemned American cruelty during war, but somehow seemed to overlook Japanese and German cruelty. After the war, “Only a trip to a concentration camp, and a tour through the rubble led by a ‘skeleton’ boy, moved him to condemn the brutality of the Germans” (p. 418). “This kind of human destruction, he wrote in his diary, was not worth the fulfillment of political ends” (p. 419).
Somehow, the Lindberghs seemed to be forgiven after the war. Anne published several books, the most famous and enduring being Gift of the Sea.
Anne’s concern about the press proved true. Their attitude seemed to be “We made you, we have a right to you.” They made up stories when information wasn’t forthcoming. They endangered the Lindberghs—once “reporters stalked Jon (their second son) on his way to school. Sideswiping the Morrows’ car, they pushed it off the road and pulled open the doors to take the boy’s picture” (p. 278). Later, Charles’ ship arrived during a photographers’ ball. “On hearing of Lindbergh’s return, the conductor stopped the music, and the men, cameras in hand, rushed to meet the Aquitania. Stampeding on board, they hammered on Lindbergh’s door. When he refused to open it, one photographer broke into the adjoining cabin, took photos, and fled” (p. 348).
The author has access to the public (edited) letters and diaries and five years of interviews with Anne. She mentions one affair Charles had that was unknown to Anne until after his death. Wikipedia reveals that he had seven children by three different German women–perhaps these were unknown as well at the time of the book’s publication. The Lindbergh’s youngest daughter, Reeve, met with her German half-siblings.
One problem with this book was that it was hard to distinguish the author’s voice from Anne’s. The author spent a lot of time explaining what Anne wrote, but it’s hard to know if this interpretation was Anne’s or the author’s. It did seem the author inserted herself in the book more than was necessary and covered some of the same themes repeatedly.
Plus, I listened to the audiobook, and it wasn’t always clear when the narrative went from the author’s words into a quotation from Anne’s writing. I do have a hardcover copy of the book as well, which includes several photos. In some ways, I probably would have gained more and understood some of the connections better if I had read the book rather than listened to it. But, as it is quite long, I felt I’d get to it sooner via audio.
So, in the end, I know a lot more about the Lindberghs but respect them a lot less. There were traits to admire in each of them. But, like all of us, they were flawed people.
May 29, 2016
Halfway through our book club's selection of "The Aviator's Wife," by Melanie Benjamin, I knew I needed to know much more about Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Ms. Benjamin's author note at the end of her book included a comment about how she hoped her historical fiction would make the reader become more interested in the topic of her books and would urge them to delve more into the characters' mind and life. She certainly accomplished that goal for me. "Anne Morrow Lindbergh: Her Life," by Susan Hertog, might not have been a book I would have chosen to read had it not been for "The Aviator's Wife." Ms. Hertog's research and attention to detail is amazing. Her writing style held my interest and her research filled in many blanks I've had over the years of reading bits and pieces mainly of Charles Lindbergh. Anne was the first woman in so many different areas of flying history, most of which we've never heard of before. Ms. Hertog's description of locations, houses, background, Anne's thoughts retrieved from her many diaries, all brought the real Anne to life even more. Anne struggled with many issues that all women have faced, managing households, raising children, living through the most traumatic experience a mother can imagine in losing a child while dropping everything when her husband told her they were going to map out new postal routes and go on other trips. She was pulled and torn in so many directions but always remained the steadfast wife. Most of us today would not tolerate the many demands made upon them from their husbands as Anne did but this remarkable woman's time has come for further review and then thoughtfulness of our own situations compared with Anne's and the women of her era. Highly recommended but give yourself some time to think about what you're reading. A most interesting book!
May 9, 2015
I read this bio after my book club read "The Aviator's Wife," mostly to see how true the novel was. The bio was a bit too introspective for me; continuously delving into all the "hidden meanings" in her writings and thoughts, but others may enjoy that. The bio did show that the novel was well-researched, but it didn't answer the question of whether Lindbergh really had multiple families, as the novel alleged Anne discovered after his death. The bio mentioned one affair of hers (that was included in the novel), and one of his, but not any other children/families of his. Guess I would need to read a Charles Lindbergh bio to answer that question! The bio does show Anne's own achievements in aviation, which are rarely recognized. It also demonstrates the negative impact of celebrity/fame on an individual and their family.
March 5, 2013
I eagerly started reading this biography of Anne Morrow Lindbergh with the preconceived notion that she was a tragic figure. By book's end I disliked both Anne and Charles Lindbergh. He was a pro-Hitler bully and she was a too timid, selfish woman and mother. I can't quite give it 1 star because the author presented interesting narratives of WWII and 3 stars is one too many.
September 15, 2014
What a disappointment. For me, anyway. I was looking forward to this being a great opporftunity to hear the story of this famous duo from a new perspective. Unfortunately it read more like a soap opera script of Anne Morrow's journal. Too much family drama and laboriously tedious detail of every little movement of her life.
April 26, 2015
Extremely disappointing, as so poorly written. Far too many random quotation marks, and rambling sentences. With so much in the way of great historical facts at her fingertips, I wish the author would try again someday, with a better editor and a fresh perspective on this fascinating woman and her family.
June 20, 2019
Anne led a remarkable life of privilege and survived a marriage to an unlikeable hero. Gifts from the Sea is a book I admire, but I don’t admire Anne Morrow Lindbergh after reading this tedious biography.
November 26, 2015
Such an interesting life, amazing that she kept such good records while doing so much.
December 29, 2025
In 1957, Charles Lindbergh, then 55, met and fell in love with Brigitte Hesshaimer, a 31-year-old hat maker living in Munich, Germany. They began a long-term affair that only ended with his death in 1974.
At the same time, Lindbergh was also involved in secret long-term relationships with Hesshaimer’s sister, Marietta, and a third woman, Valeska, Lindbergh’s German translator and private secretary. Lindbergh had two children with each of these women and again kept the identity of his fatherhood a secret.
Ten days before his death in 1974, Lindbergh wrote letters to his three mistresses, asking them to continue “utmost secrecy. According to the author Rudolf Schröck, whose book ("The Double Life of Charles A. Lindbergh") first revealed the details of the affairs, Charles Lindbergh maintained a double life from 1957 until his death, keeping his multiple relationships and children a complete secret from his wife. Anne Morrow Lindbergh was unaware of Charles Lindbergh's long-term infidelities and the existence of his secret families in Germany until after his death in 1974.
I wonder why the Author Hertog never mention any of this in this book. Instead, it presents a sympathetic view of Charles Lindbergh. It is hard for me to see why the Lindbergh family (I assume this means her children) would have objected to this book. Perhaps because it is so well researched and truthful in presenting dates and photographs of the various trips and appearances the couple made - both together and separately. The book explores her transformation from a shy diplomat's daughter into a record-setting pilot, mother, and writer, navigating immense personal tragedies like the kidnapping of her child. This is a close-up portrait of a woman tragically trapped by fame, marriage, and social convention into a life of limitless advantages but cruelly wasted opportunities. That she was as successful as an author, humanitarian, social activist and early feminist later in her life is a tribute to a remarkable woman, and yet a bittersweet reminder of how much more she might have been had she never met her future husband. I am disappointed this biography could have been better than it was.
At the same time, Lindbergh was also involved in secret long-term relationships with Hesshaimer’s sister, Marietta, and a third woman, Valeska, Lindbergh’s German translator and private secretary. Lindbergh had two children with each of these women and again kept the identity of his fatherhood a secret.
Ten days before his death in 1974, Lindbergh wrote letters to his three mistresses, asking them to continue “utmost secrecy. According to the author Rudolf Schröck, whose book ("The Double Life of Charles A. Lindbergh") first revealed the details of the affairs, Charles Lindbergh maintained a double life from 1957 until his death, keeping his multiple relationships and children a complete secret from his wife. Anne Morrow Lindbergh was unaware of Charles Lindbergh's long-term infidelities and the existence of his secret families in Germany until after his death in 1974.
I wonder why the Author Hertog never mention any of this in this book. Instead, it presents a sympathetic view of Charles Lindbergh. It is hard for me to see why the Lindbergh family (I assume this means her children) would have objected to this book. Perhaps because it is so well researched and truthful in presenting dates and photographs of the various trips and appearances the couple made - both together and separately. The book explores her transformation from a shy diplomat's daughter into a record-setting pilot, mother, and writer, navigating immense personal tragedies like the kidnapping of her child. This is a close-up portrait of a woman tragically trapped by fame, marriage, and social convention into a life of limitless advantages but cruelly wasted opportunities. That she was as successful as an author, humanitarian, social activist and early feminist later in her life is a tribute to a remarkable woman, and yet a bittersweet reminder of how much more she might have been had she never met her future husband. I am disappointed this biography could have been better than it was.
May 25, 2023
This biography caused me to feel sad and yes, disgusted with Anne Morrow Lindbergh due to her inability to stand up to her husband Charles Lindbergh and make a case for her own desires and needs. She lived a peripatetic lifestyle dictated by Charles demands when what she really wanted was a life of domesticity and home.
Being very young and inexperienced when she met him, I think she got in way over her head when she married Charles. She had a gentle artistic nature; he was all action. He expected Anne to be his sidekick at all times regardless of the children's needs or her own wants - and his will always prevailed. He expected her to fly long distances with him while many months pregnant and leave the baby when only a few months old to take to the sky with him again on long trips with many months of absence from her baby/ies.
Charles also had a decidedly mean streak in him. He played cruel, unfunny practical jokes on his companions and was strangely cruel to his firstborn son in odd ways. NOT a likeable man. And of course he was bewitched by the Nazi movement and felt that Germany was building an admirable society. He promoted eugenics and the idea of a master race which should propagate itself freely.
Perhaps that is why, unbeknownst to his wife or his family until twenty-nine years after his death, it came to light that he had seven children with three other women in Germany along with the six he shared with Anne. Ugh. This book was published before this information surfaced and did not include that surprise. Blessedly, Anne died before these facts surfaced - but who knows what she might have known or suspected.
All in all, this was a good biography of Anne. It just leaves me shaking my head in frustration with Anne.
Being very young and inexperienced when she met him, I think she got in way over her head when she married Charles. She had a gentle artistic nature; he was all action. He expected Anne to be his sidekick at all times regardless of the children's needs or her own wants - and his will always prevailed. He expected her to fly long distances with him while many months pregnant and leave the baby when only a few months old to take to the sky with him again on long trips with many months of absence from her baby/ies.
Charles also had a decidedly mean streak in him. He played cruel, unfunny practical jokes on his companions and was strangely cruel to his firstborn son in odd ways. NOT a likeable man. And of course he was bewitched by the Nazi movement and felt that Germany was building an admirable society. He promoted eugenics and the idea of a master race which should propagate itself freely.
Perhaps that is why, unbeknownst to his wife or his family until twenty-nine years after his death, it came to light that he had seven children with three other women in Germany along with the six he shared with Anne. Ugh. This book was published before this information surfaced and did not include that surprise. Blessedly, Anne died before these facts surfaced - but who knows what she might have known or suspected.
All in all, this was a good biography of Anne. It just leaves me shaking my head in frustration with Anne.
July 7, 2021
I really enjoy reading about Morrow Lindbergh ever since Melanie Benjamin's book about her. In fact, I very much want to read some of her own books. This would have been a 4-star book because Hertog did her due diligence and some excellent research. However, she fell prey to telling periphery stories pulling the focus away from Morrow Lindbergh. Her book was rich in history, but as so often happens when writing about a woman married to a famous man it is hard not to tell the story of the man. To be sure there is space for the background of the Morrows and ample discussion of Lindy, but not to the detriment of the book's subject. This book felt very unbalanced, though she did avoid much of Lindbergh's sexual scandal. Maybe it can't be done, it seems I complain about this often. Or maybe the editing leaves the book lacking. I don't know, I just know I needed more of Anne's heart.
I am definitely not saying don't read this, because Hertog really did put forth some excellent history, just be prepared to be left wanting a little more about the main subject.
I am definitely not saying don't read this, because Hertog really did put forth some excellent history, just be prepared to be left wanting a little more about the main subject.
September 15, 2017
I really liked the book The Aviator's Wife and wanted to learn more about Anne and who she was. This book was dull and I felt like it followed her husband more than it did her. After her first baby, it hardly mentioned the birth of her other kids and I felt like so much of the book focused on uninteresting things. She lived so much longer than her husband and yet it basically ended after his death. I would have loved to have known more about her but what was written makes me not care for her at all. Total disappointment. Not worth the time spent to even skim it.
June 19, 2018
An excellent account on Anne, a woman I knew nothing about. She was a pilot, writer, poet, and feminist; but all I knew of her before related to the Lindbergh baby and her (in)famous husband. I was absolutely floored at Charles’s beliefs—they did not seem to match his God-like celebrity status of the 1920s. Really glad I picked this biography up, though it is incredibly dense, and quite detailed.
June 18, 2020
I found this biography a well-thought chronicle of the life of a woman thrown into public life, torn from her security, bruised and damaged by strangers, and struggling with her personal self worth and life purpose. I could relate to so much of what she experienced, not because I'm famous or married someone famous, but wanting to be true to myself, my marriage and my children, all at the same time.
June 13, 2019
I understand the author was granted a series of interviews with Mrs. Lindbergh prior to her death. However, it is regrettable that she was not granted access to the archived writings of Charles and Anne Lindbergh, since so much written about them is based upon rumor. One is left to wonder what parts of this biography are facts and which are re-iterated fiction.
June 2, 2020
An interesting look into the woman behind the famous aviator. She sounds like a lovely person but even though she was an aviator in her own right and went on many adventures, this book was mostly about her domestic life and her privilege and her writing career, and so I found it hard to get engaged. I stopped reading when they started being Nazi sympathizers.
February 3, 2021
What a sorrowful story about Anne. She had such promise and squandered her life by aborting her personal values and dreams in lieu of supporting her spouse's beliefs and life style. Charles L was not a good man and his racial and political beliefs brought turmoil to his family. This book was depressing, yet the author wrote the biography with sensitivity and artistic flare.
October 14, 2023
Fascinating peak into the rich and richer world. I didn’t realize that Anne hated Charles so much. At least that is the impression I got from the writer and how much more she could have been if she didn’t have to always show up for him. I’m sorry they had their baby kidnapped and the paparazzi that hounded them all the time, that would drive me mad.
January 16, 2019
Well written and candid biography of Anne Lindbergh. Although she accomplished many great things in her life, she seems to have always been plagued by insecurity, anxiety and depression. Also, good insights into Charles Lindbergh and his relationship with the Nazis.
January 3, 2022
Dry in some parts as is true of most biographies - not everything in anyone's life is riveting. I read this to get her perspective on her life with Lindbergh and the tragedy with her son. Worth reading.
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