Against Wind and Tide
(2012)Letters and Journals, 1947-1986
A non fiction book by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
The sixth and concluding volume of selected letters and diary entries of the beloved author of Gift from the Sea.
Although Anne Morrow Lindbergh published five volumes of letters and diary excerpts in her lifetime, when she died in 2001 there was a treasure trove of material left unpublished. This new volume begins in 1947, as Mrs. Lindbergh is agonizing over whether or not to terminate an unwanted pregnancy (which will eventually end in a miscarriage). We observe the genesis of the idea for the book that became Gift from the Sea, and we follow its hugely successful publication. We are privy to her complicated and sometimes difficult relationship with her beloved but largely absent husband, the aviator Charles Lindbergh, who we now know was spending time with secret common-law families in Europe. We watch as she struggles to balance caring for her children and her writing career, and we listen in as she comments on events of the day. She is devastated by the Kennedy assassination (she and her husband spent an evening with the Kennedys at the White House), impressed by the Johnsons when she meets them, and distraught over the Vietnam War and its impact on the life of one of her sons. She writes approvingly about the dramatic changes in women's roles in the 1960s. And she writes about coping with solitude when her children marry and move away, and about the glories of grandchildren. She comes to terms with her love for her husband despite the pain he has caused her, and she alludes to relationships that provided solace outside of her marriage. And after Charles Lindbergh's death in 1974, she establishes a fulfilling and independent life of her own and contemplates the end of life's journey with grace and dignity.
Although Anne Morrow Lindbergh published five volumes of letters and diary excerpts in her lifetime, when she died in 2001 there was a treasure trove of material left unpublished. This new volume begins in 1947, as Mrs. Lindbergh is agonizing over whether or not to terminate an unwanted pregnancy (which will eventually end in a miscarriage). We observe the genesis of the idea for the book that became Gift from the Sea, and we follow its hugely successful publication. We are privy to her complicated and sometimes difficult relationship with her beloved but largely absent husband, the aviator Charles Lindbergh, who we now know was spending time with secret common-law families in Europe. We watch as she struggles to balance caring for her children and her writing career, and we listen in as she comments on events of the day. She is devastated by the Kennedy assassination (she and her husband spent an evening with the Kennedys at the White House), impressed by the Johnsons when she meets them, and distraught over the Vietnam War and its impact on the life of one of her sons. She writes approvingly about the dramatic changes in women's roles in the 1960s. And she writes about coping with solitude when her children marry and move away, and about the glories of grandchildren. She comes to terms with her love for her husband despite the pain he has caused her, and she alludes to relationships that provided solace outside of her marriage. And after Charles Lindbergh's death in 1974, she establishes a fulfilling and independent life of her own and contemplates the end of life's journey with grace and dignity.
Used availability for Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Against Wind and Tide