The Sound of Wings

November 1, 1989
In this biography of Amelia Earhart, Lovell ( Straight on Till Morning ) explores the controversial relationship between the celebrated aviatrix and her publicist husband George P. Putnam, a brilliant and aggressive businessman who recognized opportunity in the growing clamor for record-breaking flights. Contrary to the view in Doris L. Rich's Amelia Earhart (Nonfiction Forecasts, Sept. 15) that he disregarded his wife's safety by promoting increasingly dangerous flights, Lovell concludes that Earhart initiated and took responsibility for her own risks, and that their marriage was more substantial than a convenient arrangement of mutual self-interest. While Rich concentrates on Earhart herself, Lovell examines the promotional machinery which publicized her feats when she was alive and gave rise to years of fantastic speculation and false hope about her fate after her disappearance in 1937. The book offers a colorful dimension to the Earhart story by focusing on the flamboyant Putnam who, at least as presented here, is more interesting than the aviatrix herself. Photos not seen by PW . Literary Guild main selection, Doubleday Book Club alternate.

Starred review from August 1, 2009
What makes this biography different from every other book about aviator Amelia Earhart, who disappeared in the Pacific in 1937 during her historic flight around the world? After conducting fresh research and interviews, Lovell, a prolific, no-nonsense biographer, critically assesses the enormous cache of Earhart materials, debunks theories about her fate, and presents a fully dimensional portrait without hagiography or speculation. For all her moxie, pioneering Earhart was not a natural pilot and struggled through numerous sloppy take-offs and crash landings. Earharts manager husband, George P. Putnam of the publishing family, is fascinating in his own right. Lovell refutes accusations that he pushed Earhart to take risks and backs up her assertion that theirs was a genuinely loving bond, not a business arrangement. The same cant be said for Kansas-born Earharts relationships with her fractured family, whom she supported before and after she took to the skies. Lovell avidly chronicles Earharts fitful training and every suspenseful Earhart flight, reveals the unscrupulous side of Putnam and Earharts promotional tactics, and charts Earharts advocacy for women pilots. So vivid and dramatic is Lovells biography, it helped shape a forthcoming Earhart movie directed by Mira Nair and starring Hilary Swank and Richard Gere.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)