Letters from Amelia

by Jean L. Backus

Letters from Amelia began with the discovery of four neglected cardboard boxes in an attic in Berkeley, California. Inside were more than 100 revealing letters the legendary pilot wrote to her beloved mother. The first was a four-year-old's thank-you note. The last, three short lines, was written just prior to her final 1937 flight when she vanished into a Pacific mist of conjecture. Fitted together, they portray the evolution to adulthood of a warm, sensible, fun-loving tomboy who would become the first woman to fly the Atlantic solo. Amid these captivating letters, Jean L. Backus skillfully weaves accounts of Earhart and her family's joys and squabbles from an aristocratic mother who was the first woman to scale Pike's Peak to husband George Putnam who made her a media sensation, secured financing for her flights, and led her to reject any "medieval code of faithfulness." Written under all conditions - in school, on trains, at the White House - the engrossing messages show devotion, wisdom, and a hilarious talent for playing with the English language, as well as a rare ability to stand apart from her own legend. Letters from Amelia is an apt testimony to the totality of an extraordinary person.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Biography Memoir

253 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 15, 2016

Reviews

[Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good insight into an historical figure, a very strong and progressive woman, written in mostly her own words. She came across as a devoted daughter and sister, a good citizen and definitely an aviation pioneer. (Also a bit of controlling personality?)
A few photographs would have enhanced this book.

[Cris · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was interesting to have her story told through her own letters sequenced by time and facts.

[John Glenski · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. It is an interesting look at Amelia as the first women of flight

A real look at her thoughts at life in her own words to her mother . She was a women before her time.

[Senna Wilder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read to follow Muriel’s account of her sister’s life in Amelia, My Courageous Sister.

Though it’s clear from the acknowledgments of this book, Muriel provided Backus with Amelia’s letters, Backus paints a quite different portrait of Amelia than Muriel does and in fact points out several times that Muriel and Amelia were rather estranged, Amelia didn’t approve of her sisters domesticity and her staying with her husband Albert, etc.

Reading the two books together seems to give a more accurate portrait of a women who was, as we all are at times, contradictory, imperfect, and sometimes impetuous. Amelia seemed rather controlling of her family and her letters to her mother gave me a laugh at some points in how precise she was with her instructions. Overall a nice read with good commentary and interesting to hear Amelia’s own voice come through in the letters.

[Tim Deaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A shooting star who lived her dream

In 1975 the owner of a house near California's coast died. Decades earlier an older lady named Amy had lived there as a paying guest, perhaps waiting for her daughter to come home. In 1948 she appears to have given up the vigil and moved back east. When the heir came to clean out the house, a treasure trove of Amy's belongings was found in the attic, including over 100 letters and notes from her missing daughter -- Amelia Earhart. Those letters from the intimate heart of this biography of the indomitable lady who was the Queen of the air during the pioneering days of aviation.

[Katee Yorke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written Insights

Amelia was way ahead of her time! Her letters reveal a fiercely determined, detail oriented, energetic woman with strong family ties. Too bad she lost her forward vision when she chose her husband.

[Nancy barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read, gives you a look into her life and the type of person she was. The struggles with family and career. Enjoyed the info about early aviation.

[Mary Vogelsong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amelia's mother saved every letter she got from this famous aviatrix. Bacus fills in life details.

[Lynnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sensational read worthy. Amelia's letters and her gramalot writing was truly astonishing and made her even more close to my heart.
What an astonishing

[Jamie]

An interesting read -- lots of info about what AE sent to her mother, including money, advice, gifts, since most of the letters are to Mrs. Earhart. I learned a lot about the early years if aviation and about Earhart's passion for flying. She also definitely wanted women to have a greater presence in the world. Spoilers? We all know how this ends; even so, I didn't want to read the last part.

[DonnaJo Pallini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting and it seems the author put a lot of research into writing this. I'm intrigued and proud of how independent Amelia was but didn't appear to flaunt it. She did exactly what she wanted to do without running over anyone else.