Review: Under a Wing: A Memoir

Under a Wing: A Memoir by Reeve Lindbergh
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I just finished reading breathless recollection of the pioneering cross-Atlantic flight of "Lucky Lindy" in The Start 1904-30 and so it felt right to read about the family privacy so jealously guarded after the aviation breakthrough and the murder of Charles Lindbergh III. Reeve recalls a self-described "non-benevolent dictator" running the children and household like a martinet. Reeve recalls the long train of false Charles Lindbergh III's at the door and writing and her understandably appalled feelings about humorous references to this horrific crime. There is also much about her literate, sensitive, and creative mother Anne Morrow Lindbergh, including dealing with her senility and sharing the painful night of the sudden death of Reeve's son. The Morrow branch back in Detroit also makes for interesting reading. I was very surprised not to see any extensive recollection of the motivation to step away from privacy to contribute to the invention of the perfusion pump, but I guess that makes sense as the high point of activity on that was 10 years before Reeve's birth.

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