The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin is another novelized "autobiography". This time we are in Anne Morrow Lindbergh's head as she tells of her meeting the great American hero Charles Lindbergh and of her life as his wife.
Anne, the shy daughter of the United States ambassador to Mexico, is a college student who is very much in the shadow of the rest of her family. When the celebrated Charles Lindbergh visits the embassy in Mexico City, it is assumed that his interest would be captured by Anne's vibrant sister Elizabeth. Instead Charles and Anne are married and spend their lives flying around the world always surrounded by the crush of publicity seekers.
This is a genre of literature that seems to have become very popular recently. And, it is one that I personally do not enjoy. In the case of The Aviator's Wife, instead of getting caught up in the characters and the story line, I kept wondering how accurate the scene was. Did he or she really act that way or say that!
This would have been an intriquing plot for a novel. The bright,charming young woman who lives under the influence of a demanding, selfish man and has to fight to grow into being herself is a good story line. We love seeing strong women take charge of their own lives.
Something did not ring true in this book. I understand that Charles Lindbergh was not a particularly kind man, but the author portrrayed him as being so self centered that he was cruel ...maybe more naive than uncaring when it came to other people's feelings. The author did explain this on his childhood and the constant scrutinity of the media.
I should have felt more sympathy for Anne. Instead, I wanted to shake her. Here was a woman who in real life had achieved some great honors on her own, but the book had her as always seing herself as reflected through the eyes of those around her...the Ambassador's daughter, Elizabeth's quiet sister, the mother of the murdered baby and, of course, the aviator's wife. It was a relief when she finally published Gift from the Sea and started to have a better understanding of her own worth.
Two good things came out of The Aviator's Wife for me. I want to check on what I think I know about Charles and Anne Lindbergh and I want to read Gift From the Sea. In the meantime, I will try to stay away from "Fictionalized Books About Famous People and How They Really Are Just Like the Rest of Us, Only Richer".
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Book Review: THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS
THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS by M. L, Stedman was highly recommended to me as a book that had everything that I loved to find in my reading. They were right.
In December of 1918, Tom Sherbourne takes the job as light keeper on Janus Island, a small island off the coast of western Australia. It is the perfect job for Tom. Fresh back from the trenches in Europe, he wants, and needs, time alone. The lighthouse keeper spends six months alone; his only contact is a a supply boat that visits four times a year.
According to his contract, Tom will get a month's leave after each three-year stay. On one of his visits to Point Partageuse on the mainland he meets Isabel and they quickly marry. Despite their isolated life, Tom and Isabel are happy. Tragedy enters when a boat containing a dead man and a crying infant washes up on their shore. Isabel has had three miscarriages and knows that God has sent her this baby.
THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS is a character driven story. While we share in Isabel's joy, we watch Tom's guilt build. He knows that somewhere somebody is mourning the loss of a husband and child. Back in Port Partageuse, we meet a young woman slowly going out of her mind over not knowing what became of her family.
This is a beautiful book. The terrors of war and how those horrors never leave anyone who has fought is a big part of the story. The unease of a community around a man who is seen as the "enemy" also adds to the plot. The part that tore me up was the simple decision between right and wrong. Tom's honor tears him between what he knows is right and his love for his wife and the child that has been theirs for four years.
The characters in this book are so well drawn that I felt so much sympathy for the main characters that I did not know how I wanted the story to be resolved. It becomes a question of which is right, the law or love, especially when it comes to the welfare of a young child.
M. L. Stedman is also an author who knows how to use the English language. Ms Stedman was born in Australia, but has spent most of her life in London, but she has not lost her feel for the ocean or the small towns along the coast. I loved her descriptions of the sound of the waves and the beauty of living on a peaceful island. The contrast that Tom feels between the horrors of war and the serenity of Janus Island is beautiful.
So far, it seems that THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS is Stedman's only book. It is the best novel that I have read for awhile and I will be watching for more.
Thanks ladies. THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS lived up to your recommendation.
In December of 1918, Tom Sherbourne takes the job as light keeper on Janus Island, a small island off the coast of western Australia. It is the perfect job for Tom. Fresh back from the trenches in Europe, he wants, and needs, time alone. The lighthouse keeper spends six months alone; his only contact is a a supply boat that visits four times a year.
According to his contract, Tom will get a month's leave after each three-year stay. On one of his visits to Point Partageuse on the mainland he meets Isabel and they quickly marry. Despite their isolated life, Tom and Isabel are happy. Tragedy enters when a boat containing a dead man and a crying infant washes up on their shore. Isabel has had three miscarriages and knows that God has sent her this baby.
THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS is a character driven story. While we share in Isabel's joy, we watch Tom's guilt build. He knows that somewhere somebody is mourning the loss of a husband and child. Back in Port Partageuse, we meet a young woman slowly going out of her mind over not knowing what became of her family.
This is a beautiful book. The terrors of war and how those horrors never leave anyone who has fought is a big part of the story. The unease of a community around a man who is seen as the "enemy" also adds to the plot. The part that tore me up was the simple decision between right and wrong. Tom's honor tears him between what he knows is right and his love for his wife and the child that has been theirs for four years.
The characters in this book are so well drawn that I felt so much sympathy for the main characters that I did not know how I wanted the story to be resolved. It becomes a question of which is right, the law or love, especially when it comes to the welfare of a young child.
M. L. Stedman is also an author who knows how to use the English language. Ms Stedman was born in Australia, but has spent most of her life in London, but she has not lost her feel for the ocean or the small towns along the coast. I loved her descriptions of the sound of the waves and the beauty of living on a peaceful island. The contrast that Tom feels between the horrors of war and the serenity of Janus Island is beautiful.
So far, it seems that THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS is Stedman's only book. It is the best novel that I have read for awhile and I will be watching for more.
Thanks ladies. THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS lived up to your recommendation.
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Book Review: AFTER YOU
If you have not read Jojo Moyes' Me Before You, you should not read her After You. In fact, you might not want to read this review. I would never want to include any spoilers, but it could happen accidentally.
After You continues the story of Louisa Clark after her six months with Will Traynor. She no longer lives an ordinary life with her parents in her small town. She is living in London, but her life has not taken the leap of faith that Will had made her promise to do. She is working a dead end job and her social life seems to be the people that she meets in a grief counselling group.
When a nearly fatal accident sends her back to her parent's home, she knows that she can not go back to how she was before Will and so she decides that it is time to make some changes. The changes do not come about so much through her choices, but more through the people who show up in her life... some from the past and some that might be in her future
This is a book that you must read if you have read Me Before You, and I strongly suggest that you read the first one. Moyes can throw some neat plot surprises your way, but her strength is in the strength of her characters. Louisa is well developed. She does make changes in her life but never at the cost of who she is.
It was fun to meet old friends from the first book and to see how they have coped with life. The people that she meets along the way are also stand outs. Again author Moyes gives us some lessons about life through them. Not only do the members of the grief group become three dimensional, but we learn how grief can be devastating, but a way of growing.
Probably the reason that I will look for other books by Jojo Moyes is that I like to read of strong people facing life with bravery and a slightly twisted viewpoint. Louisa Clark is such a character and the ending of After You could lead to a third book involving her.
After You continues the story of Louisa Clark after her six months with Will Traynor. She no longer lives an ordinary life with her parents in her small town. She is living in London, but her life has not taken the leap of faith that Will had made her promise to do. She is working a dead end job and her social life seems to be the people that she meets in a grief counselling group.
When a nearly fatal accident sends her back to her parent's home, she knows that she can not go back to how she was before Will and so she decides that it is time to make some changes. The changes do not come about so much through her choices, but more through the people who show up in her life... some from the past and some that might be in her future
This is a book that you must read if you have read Me Before You, and I strongly suggest that you read the first one. Moyes can throw some neat plot surprises your way, but her strength is in the strength of her characters. Louisa is well developed. She does make changes in her life but never at the cost of who she is.
It was fun to meet old friends from the first book and to see how they have coped with life. The people that she meets along the way are also stand outs. Again author Moyes gives us some lessons about life through them. Not only do the members of the grief group become three dimensional, but we learn how grief can be devastating, but a way of growing.
Probably the reason that I will look for other books by Jojo Moyes is that I like to read of strong people facing life with bravery and a slightly twisted viewpoint. Louisa Clark is such a character and the ending of After You could lead to a third book involving her.
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