Why, as an eager and talented writer, has Anne Morrow Lindbergh published so relatively little in forty years of marriage?” asked reviewer John Barkham in 1970. “After a promising start with those first books on flying, she tapered off into long silences broken by an infrequent volume of verse or prose.” Many years later, Lindbergh replied with a quote from Harriet Beecher Stowe, who claimed that writing, for a wife and mother, is “rowing against wind and tide.”
In this sixth and final collection of Lindbergh’s diaries and letters, taking us from 1947 to 1986, we mark her progress as she navigated a remarkable life and a remarkable century with enthusiasm and delight, humor and wit, sorrow and bewilderment, but above all devoted to finding the essential truth in life’s experiences through a hard-won spirituality and a passion for literature.
Between the inevitable squalls of life with her beloved but elusive husband, the aviator Charles A. Lindbergh, she shepherded their five children through whooping cough, horned toads, fiancés, the Vietnam War, and their own personal tragedies. She researched and wrote many books and articles on issues ranging from the condition of Europe after World War II to the meaning of marriage to the launch of Apollo 8. She published one of the most beloved books of inspiration of all time, Gift from the Sea. She left penetrating accounts of meetings with such luminaries as John and Jacqueline Kennedy, Thornton Wilder, Enrico Fermi, Leland and Slim Hayward, and the Frank Lloyd Wrights. And she found time to compose extraordinarily insightful and moving letters of consolation to friends and to others whose losses touched her deeply.
More than any previous books by or about Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Against Wind and Tide makes us privy to the demons that plagued this fairy-tale bride, and introduces us to some of the people—men as well as women—who provided solace as she braved the tides of time and aging, war and politics, birth and death. Here is an eloquent and often startling collection of writings from one of the most admired women of our time.
Against Wind and Tide: Letters and Journals, 1947-1986
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“Ultimately, Lindbergh made art from her life; this posthumous collection joins five earlier volumes that explore her experiences with the subtlety and drama of a good novel. It brings to a poignant close a six-volume odyssey that sensitively traces the arc of one woman’s life, and with which Lindbergh did in fact create the great ‘body of work’ she feared she would never produce.”
—Los Angeles Times
“Those already familiar with Lindbergh will get to know her more deeply, and those who don’t will be introduced to an intelligent, sensitive woman trying to deal with enormous changes through four decades of a sometimes-ordinary and sometimes-extraordinary life.”
—Columbus Dispatch
“A rich and inviting book . . . full of introspective, beautifully crafted accounts of joys and conflicts; a recurring theme is Lindbergh’s frustration at the confines of prescribed gender roles. An enticing publication.”
—Library Journal (starred)
“These letters, coupled with Lindbergh’s diaries, provide searing insight into the inner life of her brilliant and sensitive mind. Equally fascinating are the tidbits she drops about her unconventional, yet essentially interdependent, relationship with “Lucky Lindy.” A witness to and active participant in almost an entire century of progress, Lindbergh certainly had a lot to muse about.”
—Booklist
“A perceptive, intimate, and spirited journey of a woman as artist, wife, and mother.”
—Publishers Weekly
—Los Angeles Times
“Those already familiar with Lindbergh will get to know her more deeply, and those who don’t will be introduced to an intelligent, sensitive woman trying to deal with enormous changes through four decades of a sometimes-ordinary and sometimes-extraordinary life.”
—Columbus Dispatch
“A rich and inviting book . . . full of introspective, beautifully crafted accounts of joys and conflicts; a recurring theme is Lindbergh’s frustration at the confines of prescribed gender roles. An enticing publication.”
—Library Journal (starred)
“These letters, coupled with Lindbergh’s diaries, provide searing insight into the inner life of her brilliant and sensitive mind. Equally fascinating are the tidbits she drops about her unconventional, yet essentially interdependent, relationship with “Lucky Lindy.” A witness to and active participant in almost an entire century of progress, Lindbergh certainly had a lot to muse about.”
—Booklist
“A perceptive, intimate, and spirited journey of a woman as artist, wife, and mother.”
—Publishers Weekly
About the Author
Anne Morrow Lindbergh was born in 1906. She married Charles Lindbergh in 1929 and became a noted aviator in her own right, eventually publishing several books on the subject and receiving several aviation awards. Gift from the Sea, published in 1955, earned her international acclaim. She was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame, the National Women’s Hall of Fame, and the Aviation Hall of Fame of New Jersey. War Within and Without, the penultimate installment of her published diaries, received the Christopher Award in 1980. Mrs. Lindbergh died in 2001 at the age of ninety-four.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
This book is definitely a keeper with pages and paragraphs marked and highlighted to be read again and again. The letters and journals of Anne Lindbergh from 1947 - 1986 are important in many ways. These were pivotol years for the world, for women and for Anne.
It starts with her describing the desolation of Germany after the war. She was young and raised to want to please everyone and always afraid of not being "good" for her difficult husband with whom she was deeply in love.
There's a space missing from 2 years in the early 50's when she underwent analysis and when the journals pick up again, she starts developing into the strong and independent woman she became. So much so that during one of his frequent absences he writes and tells her that they must go to the Phillippines to visit the Marcoes, she writes back that he can't expect her to be alone at home and make no plans for herself and then be at his beck and call. She doesn't back down either!
I also like the part where she told him if he didn't like the way things were going at home, he should come and help make some decisions and stay around to "keep an eye on things".
There were mindboggling parts also. She had to turn down an invitation to the White House because she didn't know where Charles was. But she calmly wrote the letter declining and life went on.
Reeve Lindbergh wrote the introduction and is very honest about her father, his life and the effect on the family. But Anne loved him, accepted her situation and learned to have a beautiful and productive life. The journals show how to take enjoyment in the small every day things. I think she would be amazed at how effective her writing is because she was always very insecure about it.
I read her previous journals a long time ago and was very happy to see this book be published. I highly recommend it to anyone of any age!
It starts with her describing the desolation of Germany after the war. She was young and raised to want to please everyone and always afraid of not being "good" for her difficult husband with whom she was deeply in love.
There's a space missing from 2 years in the early 50's when she underwent analysis and when the journals pick up again, she starts developing into the strong and independent woman she became. So much so that during one of his frequent absences he writes and tells her that they must go to the Phillippines to visit the Marcoes, she writes back that he can't expect her to be alone at home and make no plans for herself and then be at his beck and call. She doesn't back down either!
I also like the part where she told him if he didn't like the way things were going at home, he should come and help make some decisions and stay around to "keep an eye on things".
There were mindboggling parts also. She had to turn down an invitation to the White House because she didn't know where Charles was. But she calmly wrote the letter declining and life went on.
Reeve Lindbergh wrote the introduction and is very honest about her father, his life and the effect on the family. But Anne loved him, accepted her situation and learned to have a beautiful and productive life. The journals show how to take enjoyment in the small every day things. I think she would be amazed at how effective her writing is because she was always very insecure about it.
I read her previous journals a long time ago and was very happy to see this book be published. I highly recommend it to anyone of any age!
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Nothing was real to Anne Morrow Lindbergh until she wrote about it. Most of her adult life she made detailed journal entries and wrote copious letters exploring and explaining her thoughts in order to sharpen her powers of observation and reflection. After five earlier volumes published between the early 1970s and 1980, this collection of letters and journal entries covers the years from 1947 to 1986, as her five surviving children grow up, get married and have children and even grandchildren of their own, but before a series of strokes starts to diminish her ability to communicate.
It's very interesting to get a glimpse inside the later years of her marriage to trailblazing aviator Charles Lindbergh, a brilliant but difficult man who could be demanding and controlling. Anne describes him in one entry as a determined seeker of a black and white truth. He seemed to spend as much time away from the family as with it, and once Anne had to turn down an invitation to dine at the White House because she didn't know where he was or when he'd be back. It has since been revealed that he had children with at least three other women, but that's not covered in this book. Anne does write about relationships she had with other men that may or may not have involved having an affair, emotional or otherwise. In 1949 she updated her thoughts about matrimony in an insightful and thought provoking three page entry in her journal titled "Marriage Vows Annotated After Twenty Years."
Anne also writes about the difficulty of balancing creative work and family life, her struggle with whether or not to terminate a pregnancy that eventually ended in miscarriage, the discovery that her mother's death has as much to teach her about love as her children's births, her uneasy blend of happiness and resentment when her husband's book becomes popular since writing is her thing not his, and her mixed feeling about the public admiration for Gift From the Sea, a book she worked on and mused about for several years. Like any collection, some parts are more compelling than others but overall this is an affecting and fascinating book.
It's very interesting to get a glimpse inside the later years of her marriage to trailblazing aviator Charles Lindbergh, a brilliant but difficult man who could be demanding and controlling. Anne describes him in one entry as a determined seeker of a black and white truth. He seemed to spend as much time away from the family as with it, and once Anne had to turn down an invitation to dine at the White House because she didn't know where he was or when he'd be back. It has since been revealed that he had children with at least three other women, but that's not covered in this book. Anne does write about relationships she had with other men that may or may not have involved having an affair, emotional or otherwise. In 1949 she updated her thoughts about matrimony in an insightful and thought provoking three page entry in her journal titled "Marriage Vows Annotated After Twenty Years."
Anne also writes about the difficulty of balancing creative work and family life, her struggle with whether or not to terminate a pregnancy that eventually ended in miscarriage, the discovery that her mother's death has as much to teach her about love as her children's births, her uneasy blend of happiness and resentment when her husband's book becomes popular since writing is her thing not his, and her mixed feeling about the public admiration for Gift From the Sea, a book she worked on and mused about for several years. Like any collection, some parts are more compelling than others but overall this is an affecting and fascinating book.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
There will never be another writer like Anne Morrow Lindbergh--at lest not in my opinion. What glorious phrases she can pen, what thoughtful observations, what expressive ways she can put words together. We have waited so long to hear from her again after Gift from the Sea. Finally her daughter has collected and published her last writings encompassing the period from 1947 to 1986. Anne doesn't just keep a diary, she bares her soul and in so doing, enables us to reach inside ourselves and relate to many of her situations. And one reading is not sufficient for a writer of this talent. All of her books, though personal yet universal, can be picked up and enjoyed over and over again. Anne Morrow Lindbergh lived almost all of the 20th century, dying at age 90, and we are blessed she took the time to record thoughts that we can enjoy for our lifetime. If you have read any of her works, you are sure to enjoy continuing the journey with her in this latest publication. Get it and enjoy.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
From the author's thoughts . . . to ours
There was a lot of interesting background shared that I had not known previously. One reviewer said to read this before reading Aviator's wife . . . I'm not so sure.
Published 14 days ago by Gayla Moilanen
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mrs. Anne Morrow Lindbergh's last diary as well as her letters edited...
I have very much enjoyed the journal's entries as well as moving letters of a woman that I have admired since I first read her first diary "Bring me a Unicorn" ,many years... Read more
Published 25 days ago by G. G. de Alfaro
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not for me, too day to day
I thought this would be an interesting book. I enjoyed the forward by Anne Morrow Lindbergh's daughter. Read more
Published 1 month ago by atmj
3.0 out of 5 stars
not for me
a little too touchy feely for me but great if you are in to sentimentality and women who do not know what they want
Published 2 months ago by Sara Harding
5.0 out of 5 stars
Powerful stuff
This remarkable book conveys a strong insight into how women feel and react to the world around them. The writer's honesty is compelling. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Thomas J. Tucker
3.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointed
I have read just about every book out there about Anne Morrow Lindbergh. This book did not provide me with anything new or exciting. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Christine R. Williams
4.0 out of 5 stars
Anne was a fascinating woman
Enjoy reading almost anything about Anne Morrow Lindberg. She certainly lived her life based on her husband's wants and needs, but she was able to finally salvage some of her own... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Sharon L Ulsenheimer
1.0 out of 5 stars
Did not like
I bought this book because I really liked "Gift of the Sea". This book is not what I thought it would be and I don't recommend it at all.
Published 3 months ago by Cat in Texas
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hooray -- FINALLY!
I started reading this series of diaries and letters of Anne Morrow Lindbergh 41 years ago. It's about time this last one came out! Read more
Published 4 months ago by Alabaman
5.0 out of 5 stars
An exquisite collection
I'm quite new to the writings of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, but my mother assured me this is one of the finest collections of her work she has seen. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Emily J. Morris
