The Engineer's Wife by Tracy Enerson Wood

The Engineer's Wife

Tracy Enerson Wood

Sourcebooks Landmark

April 7, 2020

  The Engineer's Wife was a fascinating tale of a woman who wants to have her own independence in an age where women were looked down upon for wanting more than just a husband, kids, and housekeeping. Emily Warren Roebling was part of a group of women who were ahead of their time. She always felt like an outcast because it wasn't always her dream to have a family, she wanted a career, she wanted to have fun, she marched to a different drum. What she didn't realize until later on in her life is that there were so many in her own family and friend circle that wanted the same thing. 

When Emily marries Wash she has to tamp down her independence a bit to fit into the world he expected although he didn't demand she be the "little woman who cooked" she still needed to blend in more than she wanted to. When Wash and his father finally start on their dream of building a bridge from Manhattan to Brooklyn, also known as the Brooklyn bridge little did Emily know that she would be the one to accomplish what none of her men folks could accomplish- She takes over as the "acting" chief engineer after her father-in-law dies and Wash ends up with the "bends". 

 Emily is helped in this story to paver her own way by her mother, her best friend, and her mother's circle of influence and an unusual friend, Phineas Taylor Barnum of Curiosity Showman, Businessman, and Circus fame.

Tracey Enerson Wood does a fantastic job of writing Emily's story with humor, heartache, strength, and skill. Although, this is a historical fiction story and yes, Emily Roebling did take charge of the engineering of the Brooklyn Bridge my favorite parts of this story weren't exactly part of her real story and that is what makes this book fun! The combination of real people blended into real history and not knowing what is true and what is fiction is part of the appeal. I had to Google so many things to see (without going to the back of the book) if I could find anything on some connections that I really wish was true.  

Ms. Wood does tell you what is what after you read the book, but I am fond of history and mystery and so I went searching without realizing it was all within my two hands already. And, yet, this led me to so many interesting reads that expanded my knowledge of the Roebling and NY history. 

As a NYer by birth, I find the map of the ever-changing Manhattan skyline intriguing, I loved reading about where certain buildings where and where they were rebuilt. For Instance Madison Square Garden so many sites, with so many different reasons for the venue.  

    

 I give The Engineer's Wife 4.5 stars for the romance, the character building, and just a purely great story. 

I was inspired, saddened, and all-around entertained by the largeness of some of the characters. Emily Warren Roebling is one woman who should be talked about more and I am glad that this book was released during the 100-year celebration of the 19th Amendment and A Women's Right to Vote.