Dear Mrs. Lindbergh

by Kathleen Hughes and Kathleen Hughes RSCJ

Book Overview

When two elderly Iowans, Ruth and Henry Gutterson, disappear mysteriously on their way home from Thanksgiving, their adult children find a crate of Ruth's letters written to Anne Morrow Lindbergh. In the letters the children read of the origins of their parents' passion: how they first met in 1924 when Henry crashed his Air Mail plane into Ruth's family's cornfield; how Ruth flew alongside Henry as his navigator; about Ruth's passion for flying; and how the birth of her children kept her on the ground.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393057852
• ISBN13: 9780393057850
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 302 Pages
• Weight: 1.06 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

"Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa..."

This is a very well written story of a young aviator couple in the 1920's. He flies the Air Mail, she is an Iowa farm girl who becomes his navigator, later grounded when they begin a family. The story flips back and forth from the 1980's, when the couple are 80 years old, to their years together during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. Much of the story is told in the form of letters to Mrs. Charles Lindbergh, which are never answered. This is a very good story about the strength of relationships, family ties, and how a common passion, flying in this case, can bond a couple. At times very sad and heartfelt, but I am glad I took the chance to read it. Reminded me of "A Thousand Acres" in some ways, perhaps only because of the Iowa farm setting.

A gripping, tear-jerking first novel. Bravo!

I started reading Dear Mrs. Lindbergh last night and couldn't stop! It is a searching examination of the challenges faced by the heroine, Ruth Gutterson. Through Ruth, Hughes explores how a woman born in the early part of the 20th century attempts to reconcile the fierce love she has for her children and husband with her passion for flying. Hughes's prose is clean and unflinching, her style underscoring her characters' drive to understand themselves and those they love. Early American aviation history enriches the novel, and through her letters to Anne Morrow Lindbergh, the reader is given a vision of Ruth's psyche and deepest desires. Dear Mrs. Lindbergh is a rarity in contemporary fiction--- Hughes builds her characters and story with grace and quiet, the novel's pull on the reader ever increasing until with the powerful conclusion, we are firmly within this gifted novelist's beautifully evoked world. Bravo to this promising author. I eagerly await her next publication!

a heartbreaking work of staggering genuis

I borrowed a line from author Dave Eggers to describe Kathleen Hughes' book "Dear Mrs. Lindbergh." It's an emotional story that only gets better as you read, and such a superb ending, unexpected and perfect. Everyone should read this book!