Anne Morrow Lindbergh CL

The eventful life of Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906-) is here the subject of a lively, well-written but ultimately disappointing biography. Relying heavily upon her subject's five published volumes of diaries and letters, Herrmann ( S. J. Perelman ) focuses on Anne Morrow's marriage to hero aviator Charles Lindbergh, which took place in 1929--two years after he flew the first successful nonstop flight across the Atlantic. Although they had a strong, loving relationship, their lives were traumatized and forever changed: by the kidnapping and murder of the first of their six children, who was named after his father, in 1932; and later, during WW II, when they were ostracized by friends and criticized nationally for Charles Lindbergh's isolationist and anti-Semitic views. Despite Anne Lindbergh's considerable achievements (she published 13 books including the bestselling Gift from the Sea ), Herrmann postulates that her devotion to her husband--including her support of his fascist sympathies--cost her her own identity. An interesting book, it fails, however, to provide sufficient analysis of or insight into Anne Lindbergh's writing or life. Herrmann gives the years following Lindbergh's husband's death in 1974 only cursory attention. Photos not seen by PW. Author tour. (Nov.)