Katelyn's Reviews > The Wives: A Memoir

This is Simone Gorrindo's stunning memoir about becoming an unlikely army wife. Gorrindo--who had protested against the Iraq War--was living in New York City, working as an editor, when her fiance told her that he was compelled to join the military--specifically a rapid deployment special forces unit. Taken aback and after couples therapy, Gorrindo and her now husband move to an apartment outside Fort Benning, Georgia, where he spends his first years in the military. Gorrdino takes us through her first years as an army wife as she tries to find her identity as a writer, reconcile her love with her husband with what he does in the military, and survive while he is deployed. Before parenthood, during pregnancy and early childhood, 28-year-old Gorrindo connects with a network of other army wives who, despite their many differences (including that many of them are much younger,) must lean on each other to survive. Compelling and fascinating. I could not put this book down. One of the best books I've read this year. You'll stay up way too late reading this memoir. Highly recommended.