This book tell the story of Emily Roebling, the wife of the chief engineer Washington Roebling of the Brooklyn Bridge. Her husband falls ill, with what today would be called Pressure sickness and cannot work she wants, and works to complete her husband’s job. Emily is strong and competent, a well drawn character realistically drawn. Her passion for finishing the bridge is infectious. She also gets involved with the fledgling Women’s Suffrage Movement, and this is woven into the story realistically given the responsibilities Emily had.
I found this book interesting but for me it was quite slow, the scenes also chopped and changed quite a lot which I didn’t enjoy. All in all, I would have preferred a ‘deeper’ narrative. Nevertheless I did enjoy this and as a light summer read it was great.

I agree with the author that the purpose of historical fiction is to pass on history in an accessible fashion. This novel is as much about women's rights as it is about the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. Emily is a strong woman, and in fact most of the women in this book seem to be stronger than the men. Set over about 20 years from 1864 onwards, this was a time when opportunities for women were severely limited, but Emily is someone who revels in defying conventions. I loved the mix of actual historical figures and fictional characters. A page-turner of a read.

Thank to NetGalley, Tracey Enerson Wood and Lume Books for my copy of The Engineer's Wife.

In 1865, Emily Warren married Captain Washington Roebling, they met during the American Civil War and Wash was her older brother’s Gouverneur Kemble Warren’s aide. The couple was instantly attracted to each other, their courtship was conducted by mail and they didn’t spend a lot of time together due to the war. Wash returned from the war looking, tired, thinner and much older. He also had funny turns called “soldiers heart” he couldn’t handle loud noises and of course he was suffering from shell shock. Wash and his father John were both engineers, they needed to finish the Covington Cincinnati Bridge construction and it had been delayed due to the Civil War and they had plans to build a much bigger bridge.

John Roebling had a dream to build a bridge called the New York and Brooklyn Bridge or as it’s called today the Brooklyn Bridge. The plan was to build a suspension bridge for Brooklyn residents to use to get to work in Manhattan and not have to catch water ferries. Once funding was sorted out, Wash was to be the chief engineer, guided by his father and they would build a suspension cable stay bridge supported by two huge towers that are built on two caissons. Caissons are watertight retaining structures used to build the foundations of bridges; they are large upside wooden boxes and had false bottoms. The false bottoms were removed so men working inside them could dig away at the mud and bedrock at the bottom of the river and compressed air was pumped into the chambers to keep the river water from running in and drowning the men. It was very dangerous work, Wash didn’t mind getting his hands dirty and he worked alongside his workers while building the bridge. He developed a bad case of Caisson sickness; we now refer to it as the bends and he became too sick to oversee the building of the bridge

Emily stepped up she became her husband’s messenger, despite having no formal education in math, science or engineering. Emily was very smart, soon she was more involved in the building of the bridge and she walked around a construction site wearing a big dress and with her toddler son John pulling at her long skirts. Emily hired a nanny, wore bloomers, people talked about her and some women snubbed her completely. Emily had to deal with grumpy foremen, dodgy suppliers, criticism, questions about if the bridge was strong enough for both pedestrians and traffic to use. It changed her relationship with her son, also her marriage and at times she and her husband lived apart. Emily Roebling was a remarkable woman, she was a wife, a mother and she managed the project of building the world’s longest suspension bridge at the time.

The Engineer’s Wife uses interesting facts about building the Brooklyn Bridge, to create a story about a strong, determined woman and who didn’t follow the traditional roles expected of her. I enjoyed reading The Engineer's Wife, if you like Historical Fiction, want to read something different, I highly recommend reading it and I gave the book five stars.

I received a copy of this book to review from Netgalley. Thank you for the opportunity.
I really enjoyed this book. It had good writing and the main character Emily was extremely likable. I enjoyed the dialogue and imagery of the time. It was interesting to learn more about the bridge being created, of which I hadn't known much about previously. The time period was well crafted and world building was good.
At times the books pace seemed rushed to me as it quickly skipped from one event to another. It was a bit too fast for me but it may vary for different readers.
Howver, on the whole, this book was a great read for anyone wanting to escape modern life.

The Engineer's Wife is a fascinating historical fiction novel based on the true story of Emily Watson Roebling, the wife of Captain Washington Roebling, and their adventures in building the Brooklyn Bridge. When her husband becomes ill from "caisson disease" (the effects of working in pressurized chambers underwater which were not well understood at the time but are now known as "the bends"), she gradually takes over his project. Despite having no formal education in the field and having few rights as a woman in the late 1800s, she amasses an impressive set of skills and achievements throughout her life. I found this to be a long story but an interesting one not only to read but to look up online and discover the scientific and political developments related to the story. The story was entertaining and a great way to learn about history, and it also really made me want to travel to New York to revisit the Brooklyn Bridge.