No More Words : A Journal of My Mother, Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Rating:
Summary: A Lovely Tribute...
Review: I had the opportunity to meet Reeve Lindbergh last week at an author event at our local bookstore - she read excerpts of this book and spoke with great joy and humor about her relationship with her mother (and father) despite the difficult few years before her mother's death. This book is a MUST READ for anyone who felt a personal connection with Anne Morrow Lindbergh through her published diaries and letters, or other books.

This is NOT a bedpans, nurses, feeding tubes story filled with morose details about the decline of an aging parent, rather a tender, bittersweet, and often humorous recollection of a much-loved mother and the impact of her life and death upon her daughter and those who surrounded her in her final months and days.

Having adored Anne Morrow Lindbergh's writing, and felt a deep personal connection with her through that writing, this book helped to bring a sort of closure to me. Thank you, Reeve, for sharing your deeply personal reflections of the final chapter of your mother's life.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Tribute
Review: I have read Reeve Lindbergh's work before in her memoir, "Under A Wing". I was surprised at her candor regarding her father, and what was equally clear was her fondness for her mother. "No More Words", which records the last 17 trying and rewarding months of her mother's life, is a tender tribute that is notable for what it includes and for what it omits.

The only photograph of Mrs. Lindbergh is the one that appears on the cover. The photograph depicts a young woman at the start of what would prove to be a life as fascinating as it was lengthy. The closing months of this woman's life are chronicled above all else with a great deal of respect. This is a most private family event, and just as the book is devoid of any pictures for the voyeur, the narrative too is informative without taking away any of the dignity of her mother. This would seem to be an obvious manner to write of one's parent, but a person does not have to look far to find books written with sales as the first goal, and exploitation of the subject left unconsidered.

Reeve Lindbergh is a poet, she is reflective, and these aspects of her personality provide a narrative that is unique. This book is not simply a diary; it is not a chronological description of the systematic health decline of her mother. It is more of a story that is driven by the limited interactions she was able to have with her mother, and the memories that were either hers or recollections of her mother's life. This is not a sugarcoated story of what was a very trying time. The book is a balanced memoir about how difficult it is to deal with not only the death of a parent, but also the very real difficulties and frustrations that caring for an elderly, ill parent involves. Mrs. Lindbergh had the best care available which took much of the moment-to-moment care off of the family. It did not remove many of the difficulties, and the reader can easily imagine what it would entail to care for a parent with little, or no outside help.

This is a very contemplative book that moves at an associated pace.

Rating:
Summary: Her mother's daughter...
Review: I led the discussion on GIFT FROM THE SEA at our book club this fall and became engrossed in the diaries of Anne Morrow Lindbergh. What a pleasant experience to discover and read NO MORE WORDS by Reeve Lindbergh. She writes with the same sensitivity and personal insight as her mother. Reeve's relationship with her mother during the final days of Anne's life, reveals the frustrations and the joys of a family caregiver. Her book is a "gift" to all who are or may find themselves in a similar situation.

Rating:
Summary: Reeve is most definitely her mother's daughter!
Review: I was enchanted by "Gifts from the Sea," by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. While reading "No More Words," I could not tell the difference between mother and daughter's writing. Each has the gift of attentive observation, along with the ability to put these observations into words that had me shaking my head with their frankness. Reeve's observations about her mother's deteriorating health were imbued with such love and devotion. She spoke truthfully and without guile of her wish that her mother meet her end soon, not just for her mother but for her, and her family. Yes, Anne Morrow was indeed fortunate, as Reeve pointed out, to be able to afford excellent, around the clock care in her own home. It made me wonder why this level of care isn't available to anyone who would need it, regardless of their income. It gave Anne Morrow's last years a sense of dignity that most of our elderly will never experience. I wondered what the point of this book really was - and then realized that it didn't need one, to be enjoyed.

Rating:
Summary: No More Words
Review: Throughout my teens, I devoured each installment of Anne Morrow Lindbergh's journals. Then I read Charles Lindbergh's memoirs. A few years ago, the Notable Trials Library published the trial transcripts from Bruno Richard Hauptmann's kidnapping and murder proceedings. Now, Reeve Lindbergh, Charles and Anne's youngest daughter, has published a memoir concerning her aging mother's final months. These works have left a lasting impression upon me -- No More Words included.

This accomplished, literary family has shared so much of their private lives in so many ways. It is fitting that Reeve Lindbergh (who has her mother's rare gift of perception and expression) shared these final months of Anne Morrow Lindbergh's life with us. As was true of nearly all of the Lindbergh diaries (Bring Me a Unicorn was the upbeat exception), reading No More Words left me emotionally-drained at times. Ms. Lindbergh weaves memories of her strong, wise mother into the story of her mother's frail final years. Each chapter begins with an excerpt from Anne Morrow Lindbergh's works which somehow puts the upcoming chapter into perspective. This book falls within the "couldn't put it down" category -- it is easily finished in a couple of sittings.