The Wives - by Simone Gorrindo (Hardcover)

About the Book

"A captivating memoir that tells the story of one woman's experience of joining a community of army wives after leaving her New York City job--a profoundly intimate look at marriage, friendship, and today's America. When her new husband joins an elite Army unit, Simone Gorrindo is uprooted from New York City and dropped into Columbus, Georgia--a town so foreign she might as well have landed on the moon. With her husband frequently deployed, Simone is left to find her place in this new world, alone--until she meets the wives. Gorrindo gives us an intimate look into the inner lives of a remarkable group of women and a tender, unflinching portrait of a marriage. A love story, an unforgettable coming-of-age tale, and a bracing tour of the intractable divisions that plague our country today, The Wives offers a rare and powerful gift: a hopeful stitch in the fabric of a torn America."--

Book Synopsis

"[Simone] Gorrindo's prose is inviting and fluid, and her storytelling is intimate and vivid...[an] engaging, evocative memoir." --The New York Times Book Review
"A hopeful, unifying memoir." --People
"A haunting, beautifully written celebration of found sisterhood." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A fearless, engaging, and important memoir." --Library Journal (starred review)
"[A] gorgeously rendered peek behind the curtain of military life." --Booklist (starred review)

A captivating memoir that tells the story of one woman's experience of joining a community of army wives after leaving her New York City job--a profoundly intimate look at marriage, friendship, and the power of human connection.

When her new husband joins an elite Army unit, Simone Gorrindo is uprooted from New York City and dropped into Columbus, Georgia. With her husband frequently deployed, Simone is left to find her place in this new world, alone--until she meets the wives.

Gorrindo gives us an intimate look into the inner lives of a remarkable group of women and a tender, unflinching portrait of a marriage. A love story, an unforgettable coming-of-age tale, and a bracing tour of the intractable divisions that plague our country today, The Wives offers a rare and powerful gift: a hopeful stitch in the fabric of a torn America.

Review Quotes

"An unforgettable memoir...Galvanizing, discomforting and surprisingly celebratory, it's a powerful, candid achievement that should be required reading for all citizens." --Bookreporter

* "Gorgeously rendered...will leave readers thinking long after the final pages." --Booklist, starred review

* "A fearless, engaging, and important memoir." --Library Journal, starred review

"[A] hopeful, unifying memoir." --PEOPLE

"Gorrindo's prose is inviting and fluid, and her storytelling is intimate and vivid...[an] engaging, evocative memoir." --The New York Times

* "A haunting, beautifully written celebration of found sisterhood." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

"The fineness of Gorrindo's insight lends her writing the quality of looking through a prism, the details of the world around her both magnified and blurring, as she invites us into the secret world of army wives and the hidden planet of her own marriage--for what place is more strange and private and beautiful? This is a book about loving people even when you can't understand them, and needing them even when you don't like them, about being betrayed and unexpectedly saved, and ultimately about the power of human connection despite all our limitations. Gorrindo is a major talent." --Rufi Thorpe, author of the PEN/Faulkner Award finalist The Knockout Queen

"A gripping story about how to build community with a group of strangers whose hands you must hold for your own sanity and survival. Gorrindo centers the women who sacrifice their professions, personal preferences, and peace of mind for their husbands' careers and refuses to shy away from the hard questions, both personal and global, at the heart of US military service. The Wives is a completely immersive read and a beautifully written page-turner. A triumph." --Christie Tate, New York Times bestselling author of Group

"In THE WIVES, Simone Gorrindo invites us into one of the largest, most insular clubs in America, exploring the loyalty and ferocity of female friendship under the most pressurized conditions. A memoir of great intimacy and generosity, THE WIVES asks aching questions about loving a person you'll never completely understand, and what it means to build a life around the constancy of war. Simone Gorrindo is a dazzling talent." --Katie Gutierrez, bestselling author of More Than You'll Ever Know

"Lyrical and poignant. An unforgettable memoir of sacrifice and determination." --STEPHANIE LAND, author of the New York Times-bestselling memoir Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive

About the Author

Simone Gorrindo's writing has appeared in The New York Times, New York magazine, Longreads, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Christian Science Monitor, The Best Women's Travel Writing, Self, and others. She holds an MS in journalism from Columbia University, and has received fellowships and grants for her writing and reporting from the International Women's Media Foundation, the Georgia Council for the Arts, and the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences. She lives in Tacoma, Washington, with her husband and two children. The Wives is her first book.