This is a fascinating life story that needed to be told and is a good depiction of the feat of building the Brooklyn Bridge and the plight of women of that era.

I am always wary of historical fiction and concerned that people will take fiction as truth. Understandably, an author must embellish the thoughts, feelings, and personal interactions of a historical character, but, the author explains, she also altered varoius timelines and some of the events/relationships are fictitious. I have a hard time with this…..especially fabricating romantic relationships with real people or tragic events in the protagonist’s life. Do make sure you read the author’s notes to separate fact from fiction

This historical fiction is about Emily Roebling who had a huge part in the building of the Brooklyn bridge.

In this telling, Emily is a suffragette and wants to fight for women’s rights. When she marries her husband, she’s deeply in love with him. She tries to help with his burdens. She knows his time in the war was hard and she wants him to talk about it but he rarely does.
He goes into the family business soon after they marry. He takes on the immense job of engineering the Brooklyn Bridge.
But he is hit with serious health issues and Emily starts helping with his job.
As the years pass, she is pulled deeper and deeper into the job. She is no longer living her own dreams, she is so determined to make her husband’s dreams happen. And at some point he seems to expect it of her.

This was well written and researched.
I struggled a bit with Emily and her husband’s relationship. Sometimes I liked him, he seemed to support her fight for women’s rights and I imagine that was uncommon for a man that long ago. And he felt her to be strong, intelligent and capable. He respected her. But was her loving to her? Not always. My own enjoyment of the book was lessened a bit because of their relationship. It was well written but it was a bit tortured of a scenario and it was a bit hard to read through. Emily wasn’t without fault but your heart breaks for her at times. Does her husband think she’s amazing enough to get this bridge safely up despite having no training? Absolutely. But does he make her feel like he enjoys her company? Rarely.

I got to read an early ebook edition from NetGalley. Thanks!

I adore historical fiction that shines a light on historical figures with more or less untold stories, and this author did such a wonderful job of it! The Engineer’s Wife centers around Emily Warren Roebling, a suffragist who took on the role of her injured husband in the guidance and some design elements for the building of the Brooklyn Bridge.

This was a story that sucked me right in from the beginning and kept my interest piqued until the last page. Not because it was a page turner in its normal sense, some might even find it slow, but because I got so wound up in Emily’s character and the events surrounding what it took to build the bridge. Now I’ll be honest, eventually all of the bridge talk felt like a bit much and did get lost on me, but then it was also that same detail that painted the full picture it did to make me feel as if I was right in the story amidst it all, every single step of the way. So I don’t know, I guess I’m still torn on that aspect. On top of just the Brooklyn Bridge being built, I really did enjoy the honest look at marriage we get here with Emily and Wash’s personal flaws, ups and downs in their day-to-day lives, and then what being a wife, mother, and woman in the late 1800’s was like, a time where women had no voice or place outside the home. Most of all here, I so appreciated Emily’s bravado and strength throughout. She was definitely a character to admire.

I was happy to see the author explain in length at the end which elements of the story were rooted in fact and which she took creative liberty on. Those distinctions are always so helpful to me when processing these books based on true stories.

I’ve never expected to walk away from a book with a whole new appreciation for and fascination with bridges, yet here we are. This was an interesting, fresh take for historical fiction. I’d love to go see the Brooklyn Bridge now!

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the gifted copy.

I love historical fiction that includes a strong pioneering woman facing uphill challenges and doggedly striving for well-deserved respect in what is presumed to be a man’s world. This was a great entry into that genre.

I feel so satisfied when I finish a book having learned something. The well researched details about the design and building of the Brooklyn Bridge are included and make me feel just a little bit smarter.

A great historical novel! I like a lot it was so interesting and you’ll learn a lot of things…

It is inspired by the true story of Emily Roebling who married Washington Roebling at the end of the Civil War.
Washington Father John Roebling worked on several construction projects, like the bridge over Ohio river at Cincinnati.
Washington is an engineer and with is father they have planned to build a bridge between Brooklyn and Manhattan. Sadly is father died at the begining of the project. Washington is fully in charge then until he get the caisson disease while working on the construction.

Emily who has always been interested in the work of her husband is going to supervise the project while her husband is at home recovering and giving her instructions for the workers.
It was not an easy task for a woman because at that time women didn’t have the same rights and would mostly stay at home taking care of their children. But Emily is a good
example that women can have both a career and a familly.
She was a strong woman paving a way us, she fights for women suffrage and for them to have a better education.

“We don’t fight the river we rise above it”

I was absolutely fascinated by this book. More and more frequently I find that there are women behind famous men. These are smart, driven, creative women. That's the case in this book. It's not a male-bashing book but rather a story about what we do for love - and for those who we love. In spite of overwhelming obstacles, the Brooklyn Bridge was built - and stands today. Not only is it an engineering marvel, I learned from reading this book. that is a tribute of love.
I was enthralled with this book. The author does an amazing job of making these characters come back to life. My only regret is that I was never able to meet and talk to them. Excuse me while I go and reread this book now. Yes, it is that good.

All I can say is Wow. This is such an interesting, and barely known history of the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge.
I loved it, and have to admit I was not aware of this history. It is well written, and shows great character development.
It is not a dry accounting of a historic event, but an interesting and thoroughly enjoyable novel about an independent woman, thrown into a make dominated situation.
There are not a lot of stories that give us such an accurate picture of how difficult it was for a woman to show any intelligence or strength in such a difficult time in her life.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I know nothing about the Brooklyn Bridge or New York (I’ve sadly never been there, but I want to), but I’m a sucker for stories about places I’ve never been for that vicarious experience, especially if there are aspects about them forgotten to history, such as is the case with The Engineer’s Wife and its depiction of Emily Warren Roebling’s contribution to the Bridge’s construction.

Emily is a fascinating woman, and it’s a shame not many know about her. She has some recognizable traits of the women of the latter half of the nineteenth century, in particularly her support for women’s suffrage, a cause she had to put aside to support her husband. And I could empathize with the increasing strain in her marriage, due to her having this grand vision for the Brooklyn Bridge, but also having the realization that her invalid husband would receive the notoriety for her work.

Some of the technical aspects were a new and a bit confusing to me such as caissons, but I did enjoy learning about the trade in general. And sometimes the pacing did feel a bit slower and less engaging, but for the most part, I found the story enjoyable, particularly as it charted the contradictions in the progress on the Bridge and the cracks in the Roebling marriage.

This is a great novel about an uncelebrated historical heroine, and I hope this book helps t finally give her her time to shine. If you love historical fiction about little-known historical women involved in major world events, then I think you’ll enjoy this.

This is a completely fascinating story of the woman who stepped up to build the Brooklyn Bridge when her father-in-law was killed and her husband took ill. I cannot remember having heard this story and the extraordinary lengths that Emily Roebling went to in order to see this vision to completion. In a day in time when women did not have jobs and wore huge dresses unsuitable for work, Emily took on an unimaginable challenge. She dealt with the business side of things as well as actual oversight of the job sight. She faced so much ridicule for being a woman, but amazingly prevailed. You'll have to read the story.

There is some fiction added into this story. The author added a story with PT Barnum, one of the richest men in New York at the time, and his emotional affair with Emily. There is no basis for this. Looking at her life, she seemed like such a devoted woman. I wonder if this addition to her story would have been an affront to her character. The rest was a great read. Captivating tale.

I absolutely loved The Engineer's Wife by Tracey Enerson Wood. The novel is a fascinating look into the building of the Brooklyn Bridge by Roebling. Having grown up in southern NJ, I had heard stories of the Roeblings and how they had built the Brooklyn Bridge, but I had only heard about Washington Roebling and his part in building it. I had no idea that the real mastermind behind the bridge was his wife Emily, who took over running the construction of the bridge when he was incapacitated due to "caisson sickness" which we now know as decompression sickness or the bends. It greatly affected him for the rest of his life and made him unable to be on the building site, so Emily took over, first as a messenger, but then making important decision, sourcing materials and doing everything she could to make her husband's dream come true.

Emily Warren Roebling was a remarkable woman and it was wonderful to read her story, even the portions of it that were romanticized for the novel. This is a must read book, you will learn so much!

The Engineer’s Wife
Tracey Enerson Wood
Sourcebooks Landmark, Apr 2020
352 pages
General Fiction, Women’s Stories, Women’s Fiction, Historical Fiction
Provided by NetGalley/Pub
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The cover is totally appropriate for the story, eye-catching, and very attractive. Using the old sepia-toned photograph for the bridge and then adding color to it makes this a wonderful cover for this book about a landmark that was built back when it was indeed before its time and stood the test of time. Putting a female figure front and center in the picture is also representative of what happens in the story as Emily Warren Roebling takes the stage front and center in our story and indeed in the history of this bridge, as our story is based on the actual history of the building of this bridge.

Emily is deeply involved in the fight for women’s rights and the whole women’s suffrage movement. She is totally committed to the cause and she is determined to help make a change.

Wash, Emily’s husband, and his father are engineers. Their company is newly involved in building a bridge that many think can’t be built. Wash’s father is injured beyond working. Wash takes over the project, but he has health issues and his health is further compromised by his own neglect during the construction of the bridge.

Through this and other circumstances, Emily is forced to completely abandon her own commitments and take over his position by proxy as first engineer on the bridge project. Emily’s knowledge of this sort of mathematics is from her own self-teaching of reading some of Wash’s college books and some help from a new friend in the business. Emily is an intelligent woman, to begin with, and learns things quickly. What she doesn’t know, she makes sure she has the right help. As the bridge rises and Wash’s health fades, life goes on. Emily meets some extraordinary people. Life for Emily opens up in a way she could never have imagined. Her marriage suffers as her husband imagines things about her relationships. He moves back to his family home. Eventually, some of his accusations drive her to make some of them true as she seeks support from his emotional battering. All this time, the bridge rises and Brooklyn gets joined to Manhattan. The world goes wild over the achievement and Wash takes all the credit for it, though he hasn’t worked on the project for quite some time. Emily has done all the work and made all the decisions.

The project is done. Her husband is gone. There is nothing more for Emily to do. Will she recognize the woman she has become, the woman that life has forced her to become? What will she do now? Which way will she turn? I think I’ve made this sound like a short book, but this whole project took years to build and the story covers the whole time and with over 350 pages you can bet it does a good job of it! I tried not to give away any of the juicy bits. I totally recommend this excellent book to anyone who likes stories about women who survive what life has to throw at them.

When my children were in first grade and studying women's history, they and I learned about Emily Roebling.  Until then, I had not known abut this woman who followed through on the work that led to the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge.  Both of my children made field trips with their classes and walked over the bridge; one of them continues to walk over the bridge frequently.  It is an iconic site in New York.


So, given this background, I was absolutely thrilled when NetGalley and the publisher offered me this title in exchange for an honest review.  I found this novel to be very engaging  as  Emily was vividly brought to life, from her days in the South to her time in New York.  Emily achieved so much in following through on the bridge but there was more to her life than that as this author ably showed.  Emily's marriage and other relationships in her life are portrayed as her story is told.


During a time when we are re-examining women's contributions in so many areas, this book illuminates someone otherwise slightly lost to history.  I highly recommend this title for those who enjoy historical fiction.

An excellent historical fiction that entertained and made me learn new things.
The historical background is vivid and well researched, the characters are fleshed out and interesting, the plot flows and keeps you hooked.
It was an excellent read, highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Sourcebooks for an advance copy of this novel for an honest review .

This book is a fictional account of the life of Emily Warren Roebling and her role in building of the Brooklyn Bridge

What I liked about this book
- learning about this amazing woman, this was one of those books that made me do some online research to find more about the characters in the book . She is a fascinating woman
- the details of the building of the bridge - although at some points it felt a bit too much - even for the civil engineer in me

What I didn’t like about this book:
- I never really felt connected to the characters

3.5 stars ⭐️

This emotional and compelling historical fiction follows the events surrounding the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. Emily Watson, a woman ahead of her time, meets and marries Captain Washington Roebling during the last years of the Civil War. He is a civil engineer who with his father John undertakes the construction of a bridge connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn. After John dies and Wash falls ill Emily is forced to set aside her own aspirations and take a pivitol roll in the construction of the bridge, and must balance her marriage and family.
Rich in historical details, with well developed characters, this book is a fascinating look at the construction of one of America's iconic structures. If you enjoy books about the late 19th century New York I highly recommend this book.
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Interest

I spotted this title on Net Galley and the first thing that caught my eye was the beautiful cover illustration. I was familiar with the building of the Brooklyn bridge from long-ago school lessons on the Burroughs of New York City and from the discovery of the illness known then as “the bends,” which came about from the building of the bridge. I’d enjoyed the American Experience documentary on the building of the bridge as well. Finally, while in isolation I’ve been re-watching Ken Burn’s great Civil War documentary and was surprised to realize (after reading the blurb on this book) that Washington Roebling was one of the soldiers quoted in that series. I did not, however, know anything about Roebling’s wife.
The Story

During the Civil War, Emily Warren meets a young officer in the Army Corps of Engineers, Washington Roebling. They fall in love and marry. Emily, the brother of a General, has been involved in the very young struggle for women’s suffrage and hopes to return to that work after the war and after her marriage. “Wash” comes from a very traditional German-American family, but is himself taken with more modern ideas about somethings, while also working constantly with his very traditional father. When Emily starts her married life by pointing out an improvement in the Cincinnati-Covington bridge the two men are building, her father-in-law isn’t pleased, but her husband is fine with it.

When the long-awaited chance to build the bridge connecting Brooklyn to Manhattan finally arrives, Emily is asked to deny her own hopes and dreams and work to win approval (and financing) for the project.

Later she becomes the “Edith Boling Wilson” of the engineering world, helping bring her husband’s vision to reality and does a fine job of it, too.


My Thoughts

I wanted to like Emily–she was independent, intelligent, and articulate. But I didn’t. She cared little about her father-in-law’s views and often put her husband in a very bad situation with his father who was also his employer. She struck me as very full of herself.

I did, however, like P.T. Barnum being included in the story as a foil for Emily–he appealed to the “free spirit” within in her, but also forced her to see herself in her own time and place.

As the story progressed, thankfully, Emily grew up to be the best sort of “helpmeet” a man can have. She took a very genuine interest in his work and educated herself as much as possible in the ins and outs of engineering to better help and support her husband. I still wasn't crazy about her. I did not feel Wash was a real person–very cardboard, which was too bad.


My Verdict
3.5

This is a historical novel of an architect of bridges beginning during the civil war. The first half of the book was so very interesting but then it petered out to me. I couldn't finish it. I'm sure other readers will enjoy, however.

Wow, this book blew me away. It covers such a unique, the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, and a woman instrumental in the creation of it: Emily Warren Roebling. Really, I was so interested and invested, it was hard to put down. I love historical fictions that cover a new topic, that I have never heard of or thought of before, and does it in a way that is both educational and entertaining. This book did that perfectly.

I will say, the book falls into one of my niche interests: historical engineering. I love learning and reading about how great feats of engineering were completed in a time before modern tools that are used today. This book covers that so well and does it in such a way that is interesting but not overwhelming, which is why I think people who aren't engineers will also absolutely love the story. It never turned into a textbook, but the building of the bridge and the techniques involved were discussed a lot throughout the story.

Besides just the engineering, the book covers so many other important aspects. It included the safety of the workers, the place of women in society during that time, and a woman working and dealing with family. All of the characters, both fictional ones and ones based on real people, were very well fleshed out. The backstories were so interesting and the beginning of the novel, before the bridge, was well done.

I think Tracey Enerson Wood is one of my new go to authors for historical fictions. I know this is a debut, but I cannot wait for more from her. It is such a unique book that you won't find elsewhere in the historical fiction sphere (at least out of the ones I've read). It was so well done and I highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review.

New York is always a great setting, and this book tells the story of the private and professional life of theBrooklyn Bridge project. The couple, Emily and Wash, felt a bit distant, as I struggled to get to know them, and for me the detail of the technical information was too much. A lot of detail about the surrounding social issues were interesting and added to the story, but I wish the story had focused more on the interesting lives and times.

If you know anything at all about the Brooklyn Bridge, it is probably one of these pieces of trivia: a con man “sold” it numerous times to gullible people, giving rise to the expression, “If you believe that, I’ve got a bridge I wanna sell you.” In 1982 Ken Burns produced a fascinating documentary about the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. After 9/11 manyNew Yorkers fled the city by walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. Obviously there is a great deal more to the story of this remarkable structure, and as the author,Tracey Enerson Wood, recounts in the afterword, there had not been a work of fiction telling this dramatic story before she tried her hand. The title The Engineer’s Wife immediately alerts us to the approach Wood is going to take. Due to dangers encountered supervising the construction, the head engineer, Wash Roebling, is incapacitated and his wife, Emily, becomes first his spokesperson and eventually the unofficial project manager. This promises to be a great story about a resourceful woman who not only excels in science and engineering but also has a part to play in promoting women’s suffrage.
Unfortunately the book did not live up to its promise for a variety of reasons. The author made the decision to let Emily tell the story. Sometimes that gives a story a greater immediacy, but in this case she speaks in the somewhat formal language of the 1880’s which creates some distance from the action. In addition Emily has a certain blindness to her situation and spends entirely too much time bemoaning her fate with little insight into the part she plays in it. Frankly she reminds me of many of those women's romances where the governess has to deal with two handsome men. Which brings me to one aspect of the story with which I take major issue. Because of problems in Emily and Wash’s marriage, Emily develops a friendship with showman P.T. Barnum. He provides admiration and warmth that seems to be lacking in the Roebling marriage. He holds out the promise of something better for Emily. But here’s the thing, this part is totally fiction. Wood admits there is no evidence of any such relationship between Barnum and Emily. To me this is contrived and is a betrayal of the basic principles of good historical fiction.
The major story line running through the book is of course the construction of the bridge itself. This is a fascinating tale with many interesting details but frankly it became too long and I just wanted the project to be over. That’s not a good thing when you are reading a book about the making of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Even the aspect dealing with women’s suffrage is disappointing since we already know that the women’s right to vote becomes reality 30 to 40 years in the future.
All in all this book was not very good. Do yourself a favor and track down Ken Burns’ documentary.