The Engineer's Wife

I love the Historical Fiction genre because I get to learn about different people and eras while enjoying a compelling story. I'm often enticed by books featuring strong female characters and The Engineer's Wife sounded like it fit the bill on both counts.

Emily Roebling isn't a name many people will recognize but she is a woman who became increasingly vital to the building of the iconic Brooklyn Bridge back in the late 19th century. This story revolves around her personal and professional lives as the wife of the chief architect of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Unfortunately, this book fell flat for me. I tried to connect with Emily and her husband Wash but they were a hard couple to like and didn't have enough depth. But my main issue was the detailed technical information about the building of the bridge that took over the story. These facts were unnecessary and too technical for the average reader who wants a good story but not necessarily comprehensive engineering info.

I liked that Enerson Wood included historical aspects including the suffrage movement, the human toll and working conditions the workers endured during the bridge construction and the limitations faced by women. Those additions give readers a good view of the era but with the weak characterizations and unnecessary clinical text, this became a tedious read for me. Roebling was an interesting historical character and her story, and the history of the Brooklyn Bridge are stories that should be shared, but I didn't enjoy how these stories were told within this book.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to the publisher for providing me with a complimentary digital copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.

My Rating: 2 stars

Author: Tracey Enerson Wood

Genre: Historical Fiction (US)

Type: eBook

Source: NetGalley

Publisher: SourceBooks Landmark

First Published: April 7, 2020

Opening Lines: The light, sweet honey scent of burning candles 

did not quite mask the odor of blood and sweat in the makeshift ballroom.

Book Description from GoodReads: She built a monument for all time. Then she was lost in its shadow.

Emily Warren Roebling refuses to live conventionally—she knows who she is and what she wants, and she's determined to make change. But then her husband Wash asks the unthinkable: give up her dreams to make his possible.

Emily's fight for women's suffrage is put on hold, and her life transformed when Wash, the Chief Engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge, is injured on the job. Untrained for the task, but under his guidance, she assumes his role, despite stern resistance and overwhelming obstacles. Lines blur as Wash's vision becomes her own, and when he is unable to return to the job, Emily is consumed by it. But as the project takes shape under Emily's direction, she wonders whose legacy she is building—hers, or her husband's. As the monument rises, Emily's marriage, principles, and identity threaten to collapse. When the bridge finally stands finished, will she recognize the woman who built it?

Based on the true story of the Brooklyn Bridge, The Engineer's Wife delivers an emotional portrait of a woman transformed by a project of unfathomable scale, which takes her into the bowels of the East River, suffragette riots, the halls of Manhattan's elite, and the heady, freewheeling temptations of P.T. Barnum. It's the story of a husband and wife determined to build something that lasts—even at the risk of losing each other.