Anne Lindbergh, the daughter of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, has written a wryly humorous and, at times, sorrowful, look at everyday life with a unique perspective. I would recommend this slim volume of poetry with its eclectic mixture of subject matter. My personal favorite is about Noah on the ark, very clever and shrewd. Anne died at age 52, but her unusual take on everyday life is refreshing. I know she wrote many children's fantasy books but this is the first non-children's book I'm aware of. If poetry isn't your cup of tea, this won't make you a fan, but if you enjoy well-written poetry, pick up a copy of Local Vertical.

Lindbergh, a master at fantasy, proves that she is equally skilled at realistic fiction with this funny book. The main character is realistic, funny, and consistant. A definite winner, "Nobody's Orphan" will delight all mid-grade readers.

I'm very much a fan of Saint-Exupéry. To be honest, I've found the Little Prince the least appealing of his works, and Wind, Sand, and Stars very definitely his best. I enjoyed this look behind the scenes, as it were, at his motivations, relations with his friends, and perhaps his less protected writings. He is apparently an inveterate rewriter, but I found his presumably less worked over letters equally appealing, with merits of their own.

I gave this only four stars because you should definitely read other books first, most notably Flight to Arras, written during the period covered by this book. But, and I hate to say this, I really did find his words on war, personal security, and what it means to be human to be very relevant after the terrorist attacks on the US. That part comes out more strongly here than in Flight to Arras.

This book is a wonderful reminder of just how remarkable a woman the long-suffering Anne Morrow Lindbergh was in her own right, and of the difficult time she had emerging from the extremely dark shadows of husband Charles Lindbergh life of accomplishment, aggravation, and pathetic self-absorption. In this literate and quite readable biography by Susan Hertog, a portrait of this singular woman comes soaring to the heights despite of life of incredible personal hardship and sorrow. It is also a sad reminder that into each life rain must fall, regardless of how affluent, famous, or privileged.

It is a common place by this point in our history that Anne Morrow Lindbergh was a victim of colossal proportions, not only in terms of the controversial and shocking kidnapping and death of her infant son in the early 1930s, but also by her domination for decades by "Lucky Lindy", and she was trapped by convention and circumstance into an incredibly difficult life with this brilliant but strangely detached human being she was married to. From the moment they met her life was destined to trail in the shadow of his, both by virtue of tradition and her own desire to have a predominantly private life. Yet, curiously, she ironically married the man most singularly unable to give her all that she wanted and needed. Their life together is a somber and complicated modern American tragedy on the scale of "Death of a Salesman".

Yet Anne Morrow Lindbergh rose above her situation and their personal life of tragedy and disappointment. Lindbergh was a peripatetic traveler, and while she often accompanied him (indeed, he insisted in order to keep her primary focus exclusively on him rather than on their children or anything else), in their later years they came to live increasingly more separate and distinct lives, even while together. To say Lindbergh was a bizarre man and a strange soul is to be kind to a man described in pitiless terms by his widow herself and his adult child. It is easy for younger readers ignorant of how difficult and scandalous divorce or separation would have been for her, it may seem difficult to understand why she stayed with him despite his cruelty, indifference, and prejudices all those years. But for older readers more familiar with the older and more common character virtues people of Mrs. Lindbergh's generation, social background, and time subscribed to, it is a tragic set of circumstances that only she can understand in all its tragic overtones.

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. This is a interesting, well written, and captivating study of a woman and her times, and is one I recommend to people interested in a most fascinating yet offbeat biography. Enjoy!

Anne Morrow Lindbergh was and still is a remarkable woman. This is the third book I have recently read that she was a major part of; firstly it was A. Scott Berg's Pulitzer Prize Winning "Lindbergh", next was "Under A Wing" by the youngest of the Lindbergh children Reeve Lindbergh, and now this volume by Susan Hertog. While unique understandings of parts of this book may be interpreted differently by a woman than a man, you do not have to be female to read this book. Being a Parent is not required nor is being married. Any combination of these may bring a different perspective, but none would be definitive. Anne Morrow Lindbergh is amazing for all her accomplishments as a writer, a pilot, a Mother, and the list goes on. She also is amazing for having had the ability to spend a life with Charles Lindbergh, or having only one relationship with another man. Lindbergh's first crossing of the Atlantic was lucky timing. There were literally other pilots from France that were lost en route as he was preparing to leave. Had he never attempted the flight, and the accomplishment had gone to another man/woman, Anne Morrow may or may not have married, but after reading these books I believe she would have been a great deal happier as would her children. She arguably could have achieved all she did and more. When a Daughter says that when her Father was away she and the Family felt "relief", doesn't say much for the man. When the same word is used to describe her feelings at his death, what kind of "Father" are we talking about? Question the quote? read the book by Reeve Lindbergh. A Wife who states that had he not made the first flight he would probably have "pumped gas at an airport", hardly had stars in her eyes all her life. As Susan Hertog describes in this book, visitors to the Lindbergh's home in England characterized Lindbergh's method of Fathering as "a certain sort of sadism". His first Son was kidnapped. Good Old Looser Lindy constructed an enclosure for the 18 month old, and directed he be placed in it, during the winter, and forbid that he be helped or attended to so he could "fend for himself". A little early for survivalist training? Does not everyone put their next son in a pen with a "butting Ram" and let him learn to defend himself? These digressions are needed to show that in spite of, and not because of, "The Hero Lindbergh" Anne Morrow Lindbergh not only survived him, but also managed to flourish despite him. Charles was a man of science, you bet! As long as he was with his racist buddy Alexis Carrel, creating what the press termed "modern Frankensteins" on their island. Carrel was thrown out of The Rockefeller institute because he was a Doctor only a Nazi could love. I believe the authoress did a good job, but there were inconsistencies with police photographs regarding the trial (the plank of wood in reference to the ladder, Susan Hertog claimed matched "perfectly", was the wrong length and thickness) that tend to undermine what I am confident is a 95% accurate book. There is a huge difference between "pardoning" a convicted murderer, and "commuting" a death sentence to life in prison in exchange for an admission of guilt. Hauptman would not admit his guilt to save his life, only he knows why. The authoress either has information other writers did not have or was careless with her words. There is no footnote for the statement in the book. Mrs. Lindbergh dealt with this man who was an anti-Semite to everyone who was not a member of "America First", it was she who pronounced his award from Hitler "an Albatross", while he was clueless as to the fool's role he was playing, and she had long periods of self doubt and self worth because of how she measured up to him? Lindbergh the "Hero" is narrow to be kind, and blatant revisionist history if accurately described. Anne Morrow was her Father and Mother's Daughter, and had all that was necessary to be her own success. We will never know how great, as she had the misfortune to marry, and the loyalty to stay with this severely flawed, morally impaired individual. There should be a statue to her, in the place of his.

I have read all of AML's books, as well as the recent biographies by F. Scott Berg, Joyce Milton, Dorothy Hermann, and Reeve Lindbergh. Susan Hertog was able to uncover subtleties in AML's character that the other authors missed. She rightly praises AML's gifted, lyrical method of writing, but also very gently exposes her life-long "victim complex" that would have been healthy for a certain amount of time after the kidnapping, but unfortunately lasted for the rest of her life. The best example is a quote by her friend Ernestine Stodelle on page 426.

Susan Hertog's book is the best and most comprehensive analysis of AML that I have read so far. She was also able to print a few photos that were not in any of the previous books, showing AML to be a great beauty throughout her life, particularly directly after her marriage. While Scott Berg's captured the essence of Charles Lindbergh, I think he felt so loyal to AML because she was the one who granted him access to all of the Lindbergh papers, so his portrait of her was through rose colored glasses.

Susan Hertog has done neither a hatchet job nor puff piece. She truly understands this complex woman and after being an admirer of AML for many years I finally had a sense of satisfaction that I really understood her after reading this book.

Although I found this book to be quite informative about the Morrow & Lindbergh families, I couldn't help wondering if Anne Morrow Lindbergh got lost somewhere in the shuffle.

While I know that it is often hard to separate a person from their family, I believe that the author could have concentrated more on Ms. Morrow Lindbergh and less on the dynasty that she was born or married into. Ms. Morrow Linbergh's family did not make her great. Her quiet determination and creativity did.