Simone Gorrindo

Many, if not most, of those who read this book probably have no idea of what it is like to have a military husband who must leave them behind when he is deployed. Simone Gorrindo is suddenly uprooted from her New York City life and finds herself starting an entirely new one at Fort Benning, Georgia when her husband decides to join the Army.

This new life is one of making new friends, learning military protocol, and adjusting to her husband’s frequent absences. It requires the wife to take care of everything from paying the bills to raising children on her own, all while being concerned about the safety of her spouse.

It is an eye-opening view from the perspective of a miliary wife. Her story is well told…and do remember it is her story. Not every reader is going to agree with her point of view. That part does come up from time to time, but it is only important because it helps us know and understand who she is.

Remember that this is Simone Gorrindo’s story and does not reflect the life of every military wife.

Thank you to both Bookish First and Simon & Schuster for providing me with an advance copy of this book without any promise of a positive review. However, I am happy to say that I found The Wives well written and worth reading. Any opinion here is strictly my own.… (mehr)

We accompany the author on her journey into adulthood. She becomes a wife – in particular an army wife, a transplant to Southern US from NY, and finally a mother. This started off as an engaging read, and I found the “army wife culture” interesting. But there could have been much less of the rest. In particular, much of the (long!) book is about her anxiety and her often-troubled marriage, (as she picks fights with her husband seemingly from feeling resentful). Sorry, but I got tired of reading this. Maybe readers who can relate to feeling needy would better appreciate where the author is coming from.
I won a free copy of this book (thanks to the author & publisher!) and am voluntarily providing an honest review.… (mehr)

Gorrindo is the last person in the world you would think could make a successful marriage with a military man. In fact, the only other review of the book is by a "typical" military family member who can't believe how unpatriotic the author is. Gorrindo grew up in liberal Marin County. She considers herself centrist politically, but she's Hillary Clinton centrist as opposed to the current definition of centrist which is Kyrsten Sinema or Joe Manchin. She's a writer. She married an intellectual who decided to become an Army Ranger. I know how I felt when my grandson joined the Air Force. I was horrified. We don't do that sort of thing. That's how she felt, yet she has stuck by him and chronicles the difficulty such an arrangement entails. She lives in her head, he lives at least 75% of the time in his body. As a labor and delivery nurse, I would have bet money that she would have a C-section and be unable to breastfeed. Voila. She is filled with anxiety which can be an impetus to writing but can devastate normal bodily functions. It can also fight against adjusting to the role of supporting a loved one whose career choice involves repeatedly risking his life. She shows a variety of army wives from political liberals to evangelical Christians and how they hold each other up as they support their husbands. It's quite an eye-opener to those of us who would never choose such a path.… (mehr)

Having spent fourteen years of my life as a military dependent, I had high hopes for this novel. "The Wives", by Simone Gorrindo started off with the promise of being a novel that would provide insight to non-military readers, memories to past military members and their dependents, and to provide a positive read to existing military members and their dependents. Unfortunately, in my opinion, this memoir failed miserably. First of all, even though Ms. Gorrindo did not grow up in a military environment, her lack of patriotism is appalling. She did not understand and did not like the fact that her husband and members of his unit hung the US flag at their homes! Seriously?? Second of all, she made the entire novel about herself and her unhappiness of being a military wife. News flash, it's what you signed up for. Military spouses are well aware, that for the mental and physical wellbeing for their soldiers, they need to be supportive. The soldiers would be unable to complete the task at hand, if they are constantly worrying about their spouses and children. The entire novel focuses on their troubled marriage and inability to communicate in a healthy manner. Third of all, the military community, is tightknit group of individuals. We keep each other's conversations in confidence. There was constant gossiping among the spouses in this novel. Finally, in the (literally) last few pages of this novel, the family has a child, moves to Washington state, and all of a sudden, the marriage is perfect and everything in their lives falls into place. Not very realistic. If you are looking for a novel or memoir that depicts actual life in the military, I would keep looking.… (mehr)