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Diaries and Letters of Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Bring Me a Unicorn: Diaries and Letters of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1922-1928
The first volume of Lindbergh’s diaries and letters, in which she meets her future husband. Introduction by the Author; Index; photographs. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book
259 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
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About the author
Anne Morrow Lindbergh
82 books966 followersAnne 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.
Not to be confused with her daughter Anne Lindbergh.
Not to be confused with her daughter Anne Lindbergh.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
February 23, 2018
Bring Me a Unicorn: Diaries and Letters of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1922-1928 is a compilation of letters and diary entries written by Anne Morrow Lindbergh between 1921 and 1928, which encompasses the meeting of her future husband, Charles Lindbergh. She is a remarkably observant and eloquent writer, even in personal correspondence and musing meant only for herself at the time they were written. She has been a fascinating individual for me over the years--such a beautiful woman, so elegant and poised, and such a courageous soul in the way she handled the tragedy to come, which was all too personal and yet all too public. This book predates that time, and reveals how little prepared she must have been to have such a fate befall her.
She seemed to recognize how fragile life could be, however, writing in 1927:
A day at Helen’s: a big, summery, chintzy house, empty and still and cool. And Helen playing Brahms and Cesar Franck. A still, perfect moment, framed neither by time nor by space but high apart, above these. Still, caught--the drop of water from the eaves, swelling, about to fall, but now whole, crystalline, perfect. These moments are so rare, so few, for anyone--those moments of perfection.
What a lovely diary entry this is! I probably would have written “had a nice with Helen.” I’m glad she had more imagination than I.
Her first encounter with Lindbergh is so special an entry, since it is not a speculation of what she thought, but her exact thoughts put to paper:
Colonel Lindbergh was there--a very nice boy, very nice, but we hardly took it in, or at least were a little annoyed--all this public-hero stuff breaking into our family party. What did I expect? A regular newspaper hero, the baseball-player type--a nice man, perhaps, but not at all “intellectual” and not of my world at all, so I wouldn’t be interested. I certainly was not going to worship “Lindy” (that odious name, anyway).
Ha! Not the most auspicious of first impressions.
Quite a bit of her pennings are about various encounters with him, the development of their friendship, and her worries that Lindbergh might be interested in her older sister, Elizabeth, or just being nice to her because he felt a duty toward her father, who was an Ambassador to Mexico. Some of her thoughts are so sweet, and so reminiscent of first loves we might all have had, that I could not but smile.
The feeling of exultant joy that there is anyone like that in the world. I shall never see him again, and he did not notice me, or would ever, but there is such a person alive, there is such a life, and I am here on this earth, in this age, to know it!
Of course, he did notice her and they embarked on what might have been a fairytale, but then life never is a fairytale, is it?
I was particularly struck by a portion of her diary and letters that dealt with the suicide death of a close friend at college.
If only I had talked to her after vacation--if only I had gone up to her room--if I could have just caught her in that gust of despair that must have come over her suddenly.
I wondered if this dealing with the loss, the guilt, the “what ifs” that accompany any premature death, might not have helped her when her own terrible tragedy came. She expresses so much of compassion and faith and composure, and yet she asks all those questions that each of us would and do.
Is there anything beautiful, is there anything good, anything lovely in this world, if such things can happen?
And as if an omen to her, the foreshadowing of things to come:
A nightmare of reporters, papers, reports, clues, detectives, questioning.
I could not help wishing I could see her mother’s replies to these heartfelt, questing letters, in which she is reaching out for both comfort and to make some sense of things. What did her mother say? And, how might that have helped her forge the inner strength she was to need so sorely later in life?
I very much enjoyed reading about this remarkable woman. I often think the women behind the famous men are more intriguing than the men themselves. I fell in love with Anne Morrow Lindbergh when I read, A Gift From the Sea, and this collection of her letters reinforced that feeling that she was someone quite special. I shall continue to pry into her life. I have a biography sitting on my physical bookshelf and I understand that there are two other volumes of her letters and diaries.
On an aside note, I cannot help lamenting that we have lost the art of letter writing. I details the thoughts and feelings of a person so much more than any of our more modern technology does. Who writes passages in an email. Where will the blogs be in one hundred years? And, how genuine are they anyway, when they are written for mass consumption. These letters are so personal and heartfelt--meant only for the eyes of the friend or relative to whom they are written; the diary so unassuming and honest, an attempt to record feelings and sort out the soul. I am happy that they have survived for all of us to see, but I am equally happy that they were never meant to be seen at all.
She seemed to recognize how fragile life could be, however, writing in 1927:
A day at Helen’s: a big, summery, chintzy house, empty and still and cool. And Helen playing Brahms and Cesar Franck. A still, perfect moment, framed neither by time nor by space but high apart, above these. Still, caught--the drop of water from the eaves, swelling, about to fall, but now whole, crystalline, perfect. These moments are so rare, so few, for anyone--those moments of perfection.
What a lovely diary entry this is! I probably would have written “had a nice with Helen.” I’m glad she had more imagination than I.
Her first encounter with Lindbergh is so special an entry, since it is not a speculation of what she thought, but her exact thoughts put to paper:
Colonel Lindbergh was there--a very nice boy, very nice, but we hardly took it in, or at least were a little annoyed--all this public-hero stuff breaking into our family party. What did I expect? A regular newspaper hero, the baseball-player type--a nice man, perhaps, but not at all “intellectual” and not of my world at all, so I wouldn’t be interested. I certainly was not going to worship “Lindy” (that odious name, anyway).
Ha! Not the most auspicious of first impressions.
Quite a bit of her pennings are about various encounters with him, the development of their friendship, and her worries that Lindbergh might be interested in her older sister, Elizabeth, or just being nice to her because he felt a duty toward her father, who was an Ambassador to Mexico. Some of her thoughts are so sweet, and so reminiscent of first loves we might all have had, that I could not but smile.
The feeling of exultant joy that there is anyone like that in the world. I shall never see him again, and he did not notice me, or would ever, but there is such a person alive, there is such a life, and I am here on this earth, in this age, to know it!
Of course, he did notice her and they embarked on what might have been a fairytale, but then life never is a fairytale, is it?
I was particularly struck by a portion of her diary and letters that dealt with the suicide death of a close friend at college.
If only I had talked to her after vacation--if only I had gone up to her room--if I could have just caught her in that gust of despair that must have come over her suddenly.
I wondered if this dealing with the loss, the guilt, the “what ifs” that accompany any premature death, might not have helped her when her own terrible tragedy came. She expresses so much of compassion and faith and composure, and yet she asks all those questions that each of us would and do.
Is there anything beautiful, is there anything good, anything lovely in this world, if such things can happen?
And as if an omen to her, the foreshadowing of things to come:
A nightmare of reporters, papers, reports, clues, detectives, questioning.
I could not help wishing I could see her mother’s replies to these heartfelt, questing letters, in which she is reaching out for both comfort and to make some sense of things. What did her mother say? And, how might that have helped her forge the inner strength she was to need so sorely later in life?
I very much enjoyed reading about this remarkable woman. I often think the women behind the famous men are more intriguing than the men themselves. I fell in love with Anne Morrow Lindbergh when I read, A Gift From the Sea, and this collection of her letters reinforced that feeling that she was someone quite special. I shall continue to pry into her life. I have a biography sitting on my physical bookshelf and I understand that there are two other volumes of her letters and diaries.
On an aside note, I cannot help lamenting that we have lost the art of letter writing. I details the thoughts and feelings of a person so much more than any of our more modern technology does. Who writes passages in an email. Where will the blogs be in one hundred years? And, how genuine are they anyway, when they are written for mass consumption. These letters are so personal and heartfelt--meant only for the eyes of the friend or relative to whom they are written; the diary so unassuming and honest, an attempt to record feelings and sort out the soul. I am happy that they have survived for all of us to see, but I am equally happy that they were never meant to be seen at all.
September 2, 2012
Here it is - the beginning of a lifelong obsession with Anne Morrow Lindbergh! I stumbled on this book about 30 years ago and never looked back. I not only read every book in her diaries and letters series, but also every biography I could find as well as a novel she wrote and a book her daughter wrote about her parents. When I was young, I was enchanted by her quiet romantic attributes of being a beautiful poetess who dared to marry the world famous adventurer Charles Lindbergh. I couldn't imagine how this quiet, shy daughter of an intellectual family had the courage and audacity to leave home, marry a relatively lower class man, and learn to fly an airplane!
As I grew older, I fell in love with her heroe's heart. How I envied all of her accomplishments: writing poetry, having six children, creating homes out of countless houses, rising above the heartbreaking loss of her first child, and then continuing to write for the rest of her life.
I loved the details of her simple life raising children and balancing fame with solitude and hard work. Over it all, was the great romance of her life with Charles Lindbergh. In recent years I was profoundly shocked by the discoveries of his bizarre infidelities and of a few affairs that Anne had, also. She was a deeply intelligent and private woman who, luckily for us, loved to write.
As I grew older, I fell in love with her heroe's heart. How I envied all of her accomplishments: writing poetry, having six children, creating homes out of countless houses, rising above the heartbreaking loss of her first child, and then continuing to write for the rest of her life.
I loved the details of her simple life raising children and balancing fame with solitude and hard work. Over it all, was the great romance of her life with Charles Lindbergh. In recent years I was profoundly shocked by the discoveries of his bizarre infidelities and of a few affairs that Anne had, also. She was a deeply intelligent and private woman who, luckily for us, loved to write.
October 20, 2016
I found this book in a laundry room in the middle of Montana without knowing anything about Anne or Charles Lindbergh, and this unlikely combination of time, place and moment in my life somehow made it very important to me. This is a diary of a teenage girl from a very privileged family, so what touched me was not her doubts about which fancy college to attend, but her love for the blooming dogwood and fascination with flying. Reading about her first flight was almost as exhilarating as if I was there, because it was my dream as well. I was as incredulous as her when, after going on many dates with boring college boys, she met this beautiful hero, Charles Lindbergh, who she fell in love with and couldn't believe that he could possibly love her back, because they only had one thing in common - their youth (this took my breath away). Amazingly, he did love her back and asked her to marry him and this girl who wanted to fly so much became an aviation pioneer herself and went to many expeditions with him. The book ends here, like a fairy tale, and I didn't know yet that their first baby would be kidnapped and killed, and that her husband would turn out to be a narcissistic eugenicist who married her for her good genes and would betray her countless times. She kept writing about everything, and I felt so sad for this girl who was in love with blooming dogwoods and wanted to marry a hero.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 5, 2015
If I have another girl, I will likely name her after Anne Morrow Lindbergh. She is extraordinary. I went back to this, the first of her diaries and letters collection (covers adolescence, college, and courtship), and was on the edge of my seat reading about how she (didn't want to but) fell for Charles Lindbergh. She writes in such a descriptive and accessible manner that you feel what she feels, see what she sees...and so the nuances of Charles' unfolding interest in her are breathtaking. I love how honest she is about her insecurities, and learned a great deal about myself through her introspection on figuring out what she can offer the world through writing. I can't wait to savor all of the rest of her books.
My next project is to make a list of every literary reference she gives (there are quite a few) and read those books, poetry, and biographies myself. Her mind is so agile, so capable, and a large part of it is the education she received as an avid reader.
My next project is to make a list of every literary reference she gives (there are quite a few) and read those books, poetry, and biographies myself. Her mind is so agile, so capable, and a large part of it is the education she received as an avid reader.
June 26, 2019
I have always felt a connection to Anne Morrow Lindbergh. As with countless others around the world I just found her relatable. It also helped that she came into my life at the perfect time. I vaguely knew Anne as the wife of Charles Lindbergh didn't know much about him beyond his historic flight in 1927. It wasn't until her death that I saw a documentary about her my interest was piqued. I bought a biography of her as well as a memoir written by her daughter about her mother's final years after a debilitating stroke. Shortly after I moved away from home for the first time and found myself lonely and home sick. I read the biography quickly followed by the memoir and then a biography of Charles shortly after. I was captivated and had to find her diaries and letters. I discovered all five volumes at the library and what I read made me love her even more. I will just focus on book one for now as its been a while since I've read the other books. As pointed out in the introduction diaries are better than autobiography because it shows the real you as you were when things unfolded. No whitewashing or leaving out things that you're embarrassed by.
Volume one covers Anne from her late teens to early twenties. Anne shows herself as a shy young girl who adored reading and writing, dreamed of writing for a living. She adored her family who were quite close knit, but she also had very low self esteem and would put herself down, "I don't deserve to win the Jordan Prize", which I too often do, expect nothing and never be disappointed. She struggled in school something unheard of in a family of intellectuals, she tried to rebel by choosing another college, but ended up going to Smith anyway. Like me she also grew up in the shadow of an older sibling. Me a brother more charming and popular than I could ever hope to be, Anne a sister beautiful intelligent and at the top of her class. Poor Anne almost suffers from middle child syndrome being the second of three girls (and one brother). Things pick up when a dashing aviator arrives in Mexico. Everyone expects it will be older sister Elisabeth who catches his eye. Anne and her younger sister Con even plan their imagined wedding. However it is Anne who catches his eye and we see Anne change from a distant crush she tried to deny (another thing I used to do) to realizing she had more in common with Charles than first thought including love of flying. When I first read this I thought it such a romantic story, now knowing what happened later on in the marriage it feels kind of ruined. But still I felt this was an honest account of the young Anne Morrow just before she was married and swept into a life of fame.
Volume one covers Anne from her late teens to early twenties. Anne shows herself as a shy young girl who adored reading and writing, dreamed of writing for a living. She adored her family who were quite close knit, but she also had very low self esteem and would put herself down, "I don't deserve to win the Jordan Prize", which I too often do, expect nothing and never be disappointed. She struggled in school something unheard of in a family of intellectuals, she tried to rebel by choosing another college, but ended up going to Smith anyway. Like me she also grew up in the shadow of an older sibling. Me a brother more charming and popular than I could ever hope to be, Anne a sister beautiful intelligent and at the top of her class. Poor Anne almost suffers from middle child syndrome being the second of three girls (and one brother). Things pick up when a dashing aviator arrives in Mexico. Everyone expects it will be older sister Elisabeth who catches his eye. Anne and her younger sister Con even plan their imagined wedding. However it is Anne who catches his eye and we see Anne change from a distant crush she tried to deny (another thing I used to do) to realizing she had more in common with Charles than first thought including love of flying. When I first read this I thought it such a romantic story, now knowing what happened later on in the marriage it feels kind of ruined. But still I felt this was an honest account of the young Anne Morrow just before she was married and swept into a life of fame.
April 19, 2014
Read this book when I was just about the age Anne was when she started her writing. I found it oddly thrilling to read about a 'famous person' who had a lot of the same thoughts, fears, and deeply introspective personality that I had. (Or thought I had.) In other words, what a normal person!
Of course now as an older person I can see how sort of silly that was, but I loved the book and read it several times in my early twenties. I never followed up on her other writing, though, which I think I must do.
I will also admit I was never a big fan of her husband, despite his fame, etc. I sometimes wondered why she chose him, but...
Maybe her other writings will shed some light on that.
But, one of my favorites from my young adulthood.
Of course now as an older person I can see how sort of silly that was, but I loved the book and read it several times in my early twenties. I never followed up on her other writing, though, which I think I must do.
I will also admit I was never a big fan of her husband, despite his fame, etc. I sometimes wondered why she chose him, but...
Maybe her other writings will shed some light on that.
But, one of my favorites from my young adulthood.
November 1, 2014
I actually didn't finish the book. I was bored through most of it and I finally realized that I was forcing my self to read, and that takes the enjoyment out of it, so I quit about two thirds through.
May 4, 2020
Thank God that's over. Like looking at an acquaintance's family pictures just to be polite.
April 23, 2019
This was a re-read for me. I read it in college years ago.
This covers her years just before college, college (Smith) and just after. Definitely covers her meeting Lindbergh and the development of their relationship. Although it skips an important step - how she went from "he's really interested in (sister) Elizabeth" to the news that "it seems we are to be married". Maybe it is covered in one of the other books.
These are mostly sections from her diary and letters to her mother and sisters. There may be a letter or so to her father, US Ambassador to Mexico.
This covers her years just before college, college (Smith) and just after. Definitely covers her meeting Lindbergh and the development of their relationship. Although it skips an important step - how she went from "he's really interested in (sister) Elizabeth" to the news that "it seems we are to be married". Maybe it is covered in one of the other books.
These are mostly sections from her diary and letters to her mother and sisters. There may be a letter or so to her father, US Ambassador to Mexico.
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November 26, 2023This book has a copyright of 1972 and my paperback version was printed in 1973. I imagine I acquired this used due to her notariety and that I had read her Gifts From the Sea. It contains her letters and diaries from 1922 - 1928, when she was 16-22 years old and includes her courtship with Charles Lindbergh. She aspired to be a writer when she was in college, and it appears to me that she was practicing her craft in these diary entries and letters. She compiled the book 50 years later, so it was curated from the perspective of a mature woman, but she stated in the introduction that she tried to retain the perspective of a young woman coming of age. Of course the most interesting part was the courtship beginning at Christmas of 1927 and culminated with her engagement at Christmas of 1928. I found them both likable as portrayed in her diary entries and letters, but I had their fascist sympathies, which came out in the thirties, in the back of my mind the entire time I was reading this. I saw no evidence of those tendencies - or even political leanings - in this book. I am recycling my copy of this old-style paperback.
February 17, 2011
This is the first of five volumes of Anne's diaries and letters; this volume begins on the cusp of college and takes the reader through 1928 and her engagement to Charles Lindbergh. Very refreshing to see that, though Anne's introspection was pretty highly developed within her family, she frets over school, confidence (or the lack thereof), boys, etc. like many other young women, and is easy and enjoyable to relate to. We are also shown bursts of her views on life and the world around her in writing that is gorgeous, a glimpse into her future writings.
The entries and letters once Charles appears on the scene are often quite hilarious, and it's great to see this side of her as well!
The entries and letters once Charles appears on the scene are often quite hilarious, and it's great to see this side of her as well!
May 22, 2010
This book got progressively better as Anne Morrow Lindbergh got older . . . it turns out that her 17-year-old self is not appreciably more interesting than any other 17-year-old girl. I also could have done without the lengthy, breathless descriptions of nature throughout the book (sorry, nature-lovers). Still, at the end of the day, I recommend the book for Anne's very honest description of her unlikely relationship Charles Lindbergh, who seems to be her polar opposite in many ways, but with whom she has a very interesting relationship.
May 25, 2020
Wasn’t in the mood to read her droning rich girl worries. This really struck me the wrong way and I had no appreciation for it; which might be said any any book compiled of the diary or letters written by a young college girl without life experience? Likely will not return to this...oddly disappointing since her Gift from the Sea is one on my all-time faves. Not sure I will try any other diaries of hers.
September 13, 2008
A very weird book. I remember reading this when I was 12 or 13, expecting it to be much better. Instead I got weird descriptions of her pre-Charles Lindbergh life. I remember her describing flowers and that in the future, cars will probably go much much faster, like planes. Eh, that didn't happen I guess.
October 25, 2012
I read this book when I was myself a gauche teenager. I rarely read memoirs or autobiography but I was very fascinated with Anne Morrow's life as a teenager, a wife of an American icon, and a mother who would tragically lose her child violently. This was Anne before her child's birth, kidnapping, and death.
January 26, 2016
I think her later volumes will hold my interest more...she does not really meet Charles Lindbergh until halfway through, and you hear they marry just in passing...she writes well but somewhat redundantly....it is interesting to see how the rich and privileged lived in the 1920's....rather extravagantly.
June 26, 2012
Terrific insight into the soul of an extraordinary young woman- I don't think much is edited , her college life highs and lows, difficulties with parents,conflicts with and deep affection for siblings and of course at the end her encounter with C !
October 17, 2014
Amazing view into who Anne was prior to her marriage to Charles Lindbergh. Her desire to write and her struggles for perfection. Fun to see her giddy as a school girl as her relationship with Lindbergh develops.
August 12, 2014
Need to remember these diary entries and letters were edited by Anne and Charles Lindbergh before being published. Not always the insight I had hoped for but still interesting. Plan to read more of these books.
February 12, 2016
Mostly really fine. Quite poetic, etc. Young sheltered educated girl falls for Lindbergh, a man of action ! Sometime a little long-winded. I love her writing. I'm going to read most of her memoirs now (several volumes to go)! Sad to think of the tragedy to come in the next one.
October 7, 2018
I love this early look at a young Anne Morrow just before she became Anne Lindbergh, so full of joy and unaware of the grief and tragedy she'd have to face in the future as well as the adventurous life she'd lead.
August 30, 2007
A very dear friend loaned this book to me. She thought I would enjoy it and I truly did. It inspired me to later read the Lindbergh biography by A. Scott Berg, which I loved as well.
July 24, 2024
December 19, 2000
April 2002
[April/May?:] 2004
April 2002
[April/May?:] 2004
April 24, 2008
Beautifully written, if you enjoy journals
March 17, 2009
I read this as a senior in highschool-revisited it as a Smith student-as she was
October 5, 2009
I enjoyed strolling through the thoughts of young Anne Morrow as she writes about her aspirations and family. She would have been fascinating to know.
October 14, 2010
Really didn't finish this book - not interesting to read her diary - her books are much different than her diaries and I will read another of her books but skip diaries
June 14, 2011
Amazing.
September 19, 2011
Dearly love.
April 25, 2013
I have enjoyed reading her books & admire her. Was fun to read about this early time in her life.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews