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Book Review of Bring me a Unicorn: Diaries and Letters of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1922-1928

Bring me a Unicorn: Diaries and Letters of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1922-1928
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I got this book because I had already read a biography of Lindbergh, and wanted to know what his wife thought of him. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Anne is an interesting person herself, writes well, and provided a very entertaining book. I even read several portions along the way to my husband, who usually doesn't care for literature. Anne becomes obsessed with Linbergh after their first meeting, and can't get him out of her head for the next six months. I loved how he continued to crop up in her thoughts, and how madly she kept protesting that she could never care for this man.

I was frustrated at the end. After waiting the whole book to find out how they finally connected, we're left with a simple letter to a friend saying, "Guess what, I'm engaged, isn't it a stitch?" That's it, that's the end. You need to get the next book to understand the complete lack of explanation of what should have been a very crucial moment in her life. The media had been making life miserable for both of them. When they got engaged, Charles told Anne not to say anything she didn't want shouted from the rooftops, or write anything she didn't want published in the newspaper. So she stopped writing in her diary for a long period, and only wrote superficial things, or things in code, in letters. We never get to read about the proposal because there is no written record of it.

I recommend a general knowledge of Charles Lindbergh at least, or better yet reading his biography, before reading Anne's diaries. It will help understand events Anne does not explain because they were, to her, common knowledge, and also give a look at his character, which Anne describes so well but from a girlish point of view.