Melanie Benjamin's New Novel The Aviator's Wife

Available January 15th

Melanie Benjamin is back!

One of our favorite local authors, Melanie Benjamin is back with her third novel, another fascinating work of historical fiction. This time she brings her heart and talent to the life of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, wife of the celebrity aviator Charles Lindbergh. 

The Aviator's Wife will be released on January 15, 2013. Melanie will be appearing at The Bookstore for a reception, author talk and book signing on Thursday, January 24th, 2013 at 7pm. We hope you and your book can club join us!

We think it's her best work yet. She has already written about the real Alice in Wonderland (Alice I Have Been, 2010, one of The Bookstore's all-time bestsellers) and one of the first famous little persons, Lavinia Warren Bump (The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb, 2011). This time Melanie brings her fiction into the 20th century, with issues that are perfect for today's book clubs. There's nothing like a complicated celebrity marriage to get a book club talking late into the night. I won't be the first early reader to compare it to Loving Frank or The Paris Wife, both huge bestsellers and discussion-makers with our local book clubs.

Beginning in the 1920s, The Aviator's Wife is a beautifully imagined story about one woman's inner growth from a sheltered ambassador's daughter to a young, submissive celebrity wife to a devoted mother and feminist author. The book explores the highs and lows of Anne's life: the excitement that she experienced as Charles taught her how to fly, the frustration of being in a celebrity marriage, and the horror of their young son's kidnapping. 

When I first heard about the subject of Melanie's new book, I was reminded how much I loved Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gift From the Sea. When I first discovered it in the 1980s, I totally underestimated it. I thought it was just another pretty little coffee table book at my mother-in-law's house in Florida. I remember thinking it was a book for older women, women who still remembered the infamous Lindbergh kidnapping. When I finally picked it up, I was stunned. Here was a woman writing with feminist wisdom in 1952, long before the women's movement that I had come of age with in the 1970s. Anne Morrow Lindbergh was clearly ahead of her time. I have often wondered, who was this woman? 

Thanks to Melanie Benjamin's new book The Aviator's Wife, we can finally know her whole story. I think you'll love it as much as I do.

As an extra little bonus for friends of The Bookstore, you won't want to miss the Acknowledgements page of The Aviator's Wife. You just might see some Glen Ellyn names you know well. (Thanks, Melanie, what a thrill!) 

You can pre-order your copy of The Aviator's Wife here. We will call you to remind you on January 15th. In the meantime, you might want to pick up your own copy of Gift from the Sea. They make a great book pairing for the New Year!

I Just Finished Another Great Book: Secret Daughter by Shilpi Gowda

Shilpi Gowda, the author of Secret Daughter, will be coming to The Bookstore this Friday, June 11th for Happy Hour from 5:30 to 7 pm. Please join us for some summer wine (I'm thinking Pinot Grigio myself) and interesting conversation with this talented author.

Because we're a small store and we only have about one author visit a month, I make it a point to read every visiting author's book before their event. I'm sure other event coordinators would laugh at the idea (especially those with five or more events per week!) but I just can't imagine doing it any other way. I love to make a connection with the author based on their ideas, their talent, or their storytelling, and then share that inside knowledge with our customers. At a smaller store, it's possible to get personal.

So just the other day, I moved Secret Daughter to the top of my reading pile. I just finished it a couple of hours ago, and as I was wiping the tears from my eyes, I knew I had to blog about it, no matter how much work I'm trying to juggle right now. It was wonderful.

This book is about two mothers and the daughter they share. One is the biological mother from a small village in India who gives birth to a baby girl in a culture that "does not love all her children equally." She takes her 3-day old infant to an orphanage in Mumbai in a desperate act that saves her daughter from an even worse fate. The other mother is an American doctor, who along with her Indian-born husband, adopts the baby after falling in love with her unusual hazel eyes in a photograph. The biological mother named her "Usha" which means dawn; the adoptive parents name her "Asha" which means hope. They both want what is best for her.

The story itself is wonderful, but the background to the story is fascinating as well. So strong is the prejudice against baby girls that even small villages in India have access to ultrasound clinics for early-stage gender identification and sex-selective abortions. (Just writing that sentence made me feel sick to my stomach, and I'm pro-choice.) The problem is intertwined with the lack of women's rights, population problems and dowry rules. Although Gowda points out that this practice has been outlawed for over a decade, it is still rampant. In the story, the biological mother becomes pregnant again after Usha's birth, and her husband insists that they visit one of these clinics together. It's an emotional scene to say the least.

Despite this insight into a horrible fact of Indian life, the book still manages to celebrate the many other positive things about Indian culture. When Asha grows up, she is awarded a journalistic fellowship to study Mumbai's slums, and she goes to live with her adoptive father's extended family. She discovers Indian warmth, food and family tradition, and learns to appreciate the side of herself and her father that she was never really given the chance to know.

In the meantime, Asha's parents struggle with their multicultural marriage and their daughter's search for her own identity. These passages have great truth and honesty in a post-Obama "post-racial America" where misunderstanding of (and sometimes even discomfort with) other cultures still prevails. The tension is multiplied when the discomfort is right inside your own family. Bi-racial and adopted children fight for the right to know, accept and celebrate all of their identities. In fact, I'd compare Secret Daughter to another one of my favorites this year, The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi Durrow. Durrow's young protagonist is half African-American with bright blue eyes; Gowda's is an Indian-born American with light-brown skin and gold-flecked eyes.

Trust me, this is a great book. I heartily recommend it to all of our book clubs, and I hope you have the chance to stop in on June 11th for a Friday Happy Hour with the author. I can't wait to meet her myself.

Celebrity Reader in the Window: Glen Ellyn Holiday Walk Photos with Charlene Baumbich

Here are some fun photos from the night of the Glen Ellyn Holiday Walk. Local author Charlene Baumbich had a wonderful time reading in the window and surprising passerby! All of our customers are invited to sign up for an hour of Holiday Reader in the Window too! It includes hot chocolate and a $5 gift certificate to The Bookstore! Call (630) 469-2891 to sign up now!

Photo credits: Charlene Baumbich

Local Author's Latest Book, Stray Affections, Is Featured in Bookstore Window

Loyal Bookstore customers know about our annual "Holiday Reader in the Window" program. Customers and friends of The Bookstore sign up for an hour to read in the rocking chair in our window during the holiday season. They get to sit and relax, while they watch all of Glen Ellyn hustling by. Plus, you earn a $5 gift certificate! Children are welcome and encouraged. To sign up, just call (630) 469-2891 or e-mail us at justbook475@yahoo.com.

This year, The Bookstore's Holiday Window features local author Charlene Baumbich and her new Snowglobe Series. The first book in the series, Stray Affections, is available now. It is a Midwest Bookseller's Association Pick, and would make a wonderful holiday gift (for you or someone on your list!) Charlene will be making a special appearance as our Celebrity Holiday Reader in the Window on Friday, November 27th during the Holiday Walk.



The Chamber of Commerce hosts a Village Holiday Window Decorating Contest every year, and this year's theme is "Glen Ellyn Glitters." Jane suggested we feature Charlene's book in the window display, and I voluteered to try to paint the snowglobe scene featured on its cover, complete with three different colors of glitter. (Gold at the base, silver around the edges of the globe, and snow-colored glitter at their feet.)

Working with all that glitter reminded me of all the messy art projects I used to make with my daughter when she was little. Now I also remember how hard it is to clean up glitter from hardwood floors and carpeting. (Sorry, Jane, for the trail of glitter from the back room into the Young Adult section of The Bookstore, but secretly? I kind of enjoy it. What the heck, it's the holidays.)

Jenny did a great job gathering all the snowglobes, glittery fabrics and sparkly ornaments to complete the window display. (More than one customer has inquired whether the snowglobes are for sale! -- sorry but no.) We're really proud of our little window, but we don't have high hopes for the contest. We were pretty proud of our little Polar Express train last year, with it's real headlight and glow-in-the-dark windows, but the judges didn't give us a single ribbon. So Jenny kept saying: "We're not trying to win the contest, right? We're just doing this because we're nutty bookstore people!" You've got that right, Jenny!

So please stop by The Bookstore and do your best to shop local for the holidays. Love your local bookstore, support Glen Ellyn merchants and celebrate our local authors.