North to the Orient by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

North to the Orient is the first published book of Anne Morrow Lindbergh and details the trip she and aviator husband Charles Lindbergh made in 1931 to map and assess the feasibility of possible routes for the new airplane industry (for Pan American Airlines) to travel more quickly between New York and Tokyo and Nanking. In her preface, Anne tells the reader that her book is “an attempt to capture some of the magic” of her experience and this she clearly does in this amazing account of what is basically 20th century exploration.

Just 25 years old, newly credentialed radio operator, novice pilot, navigator, and recent mother, Anne embarks on this extraordinary adventure that takes her and Charles, through various time zones, climates, and cultures, totally dependent on weather and hopefully awaiting gasoline supplies at various points along their proposed path.

Every aspect of their journey was carefully calculated. Everything to go on board their pontoon plane, Sirius, had to be essential and accurately weighed, and everything meticulously packed into the storage area. (Charles’ job, done so carefully after each stop that he easily spotted a stowaway when they were preparing to leave Osaka, Japan because 2 canteens were out of place.). The route was well thought out, stopping points arranged, supplies ordered, yet when they arrived in Ottawa (their first stop outside of the U.S.) and faced a reception of experts on northern Canada, their plans were challenged and the experts tried to dissuade Charles from the routes as if he were an inexperienced, irresponsible boy but he stuck to his guns. Next day, the adventure truly began.

Along the route, the Lindberghs encountered people on isolated outposts of the north who hadn’t been “out” for decades, were unable to grow vegetables, and got their newspapers a year late. They met shy Inuit (at the time called Eskimos) who gathered to greet them and share with them what little they had. In Nome, Alaska, the community put on a sports festival for them and were extremely hospitable. The pair were entertained in a Russian village by ordinary people they had much in common with. Anne shared photos of her young baby Charles (who she had to leave in the care of her mother to go off on this adventure) and exchanged stories of motherhood. Anne marvels at the reality of these people, places, and cultures as she compares them to her preconceived notions in a world so foreign to us today, a world where communication and travel was much more limited and isolating.

The Lindberghs experienced threatening weather conditions, faced a fire in Japan, and arrived in China to find devastating flooding conditions. They used their plane to provide humanitarian aid: to map the areas and establish the needs and to fly doctors and medicine to the areas where they would do the most good. They were almost swamped by desperate people in sampans and finally had to return home by ship when the Sirius was damaged while being winched back into the water for one final aid effort. (It had been raised out the night before by the British ship Hermes for fear of the raging Yangtze and being swamped by refugees in junks and sampans).

A.M. L.

The story is exhilarating and you feel Anne’s excitement and fascination in the eloquence and humour of her words. The trip is described to a lesser degree in her book of diary entries and letters, Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead, this, of course, being the Hour of Gold. Her book creates a wonderful snapshot of a bygone era facing the emergence of air travel and all the shrinking of world relationships that implies. Anne’s descriptions are captivating and incisive as she and Charles explore not only air routes but various cultures not usually available to the rest of us. A thrilling read. *****