Thank you to NetGalley and DreamscapeMedia for the chance to listen to the audiobook of Katie Crouch's Embassy Wife and share my review. In the past week I read a review in the NYtimes abut this book and a trusted reviewer also raved about this delightful under the radar book (she too listened to this audiobook). This book was a welcome addition to my commute and then a late night with my infant (thank you!).

I loved the narration and it complemented Katie Crouch's writing style well and also matched the setting of the book, which really mattered to my appreciation for the listening experience. I enjoy books that focus on women's lives, their complex approach to self-understanding through understanding their relationships and decision making; in this story we have a focus on how the actions of an ambassador husband, which are not always truthful, lead to this story and I always find it interesting to think about paths taken/not taken in books like this. What benefits and self growth happened because of this decision and thus how can the reader/listener grow from the decisions and actions portrayed?

I found the satirical but humorous take on being a "trailing" wife, wife to an ambassador and related social pressures/expectations for how to enact this role. For me the comical adventures nailed the author's goals of woven in commentary on racism and colonialism, that the goals of white people's actions to "help" are counter to what would be actual welcome, respectful, and culturally astute help (if help is even needed). This approach worked well as I think it better highlighted the problematic behavior in a way that allowed for introspection on the part of the reader/listener without becoming preachy.

I will share this review on my instagram account and will recommend this as a good book for discussion in book clubs as well. thank you again for access to this audiobook.

When I saw the New York Times write about Embassy Wife, calling it “Katie Crouch’s sharply observed satire of the white-savior complex and the poisonous legacy of colonialism.” I knew I wanted to read this one and I was lucky enough to get the audio eARC from @netgalley and @dreamscapemedia and it was a crazy antics filled wild ride - such a fun audio ! It’s got everything, a rhino-saving insta-business, suspected CIA agents, glamping in the Namib desert, poachers, 9 year old spies, jewel dealers ….

Two „Embassy Wives” or “Trailers” in Windhoek, Namibia search for the truth about their husbands—and their country, reluctantly aided by and a native Namibian politician’s wife who needs to face her own truths.

Embassy Wife achieves to be both funny to the point of zaniness in parts and touch on colonialism, racism and imperialism. Propulsive, provocative and compulsively readable Embassy Wife asks what it means to be a human in this world, a book that I have not seen sufficiently highlighted on Instagram.
Released on July 13th, out everywhere !

A sometimes funny, sometimes serious look at the lives of State Department spouses living in Namibia. Though fiction, it includes some very interesting observations on perceptions of Americans in an African nation, of cultural differences, and even current day politics. I found it a fascinating listen. The characters were finely crafted by the author and portrayed artfully by the narrator. There are several subplots that keep one's interest, and the past is inserted in a way that's not confusing to the present story line. I look forward to more works by this author!

First off, what a gorgeous book cover! The Embassy Wife is a somewhat entertaining read about expat life as a "trailing spouse" in the world of ambassadors and beauracrats.

This book takes place in Namibia and shines a light on some serious white privilege and way too much drama. There's sex, lies, CIA spied, couples fighting and various schemes to keep people busy who have too much time on their hands.

The audiobook was narrated by Marni Penning and she nailed the various accents. Unfortunately, the story just didn't do much for me as the plot involved too many characters without enough connection to tie everything together.

Special thanks to Dreamscape Media for the advanced listener copy via the NetGalley app. This is my honest review.

This book is a fun read, as long as you don't mind that the plot is completely absurd and far-fetched. I definitely had to suspend disbelief to enjoy this one. But I did find it entertaining, and I liked reading about Namibia and the diplomat culture. I think I would have liked this book a lot better if I hadn't listened to it on audio. The narrator's accents were cringeworthy, especially for Amanda who is supposed to be from Charleston but sounded like a caricature of an old-fashioned Southern lady that's like, "I do decla-uh!" and occasionally veers off into British and Australian territory. Persephone, allegedly from Charlottesville, is not much better. I can't speak to the various African accents, but the German is laughable, and I don't know what she was trying to do with the ambassador. Were we supposed to suspect that she was a Russian agent? On top of the accents, the narration itself felt very over-acted, and there were a few text conversations and emails that would have worked better to read in print.

The privileged are in Africa doing what? Sending their children to international schools in Namibia Africa and staying bored. These embassy wives followed their husbands and have nothing really to do. I mean why would someone end up there? Is there an agenda? Obsession? Love? Regret? I think all of these things were in this story and not necessarily in that order. This was ok. Nothing memorable. Light entrainment. A bag of mental potato chips.
This was narrated by Marni Penning and she did a great job. I easily followed the story and would recommend listening to this novel.
Thanks Dreamscape Media via Netgalley.

This is women’s fiction set in the world of the wives of embassy workers and politicians in Namibia. The ex-pat wives are referred to as trailers, because they trail behind their husbands from post to post. Mila is the only Namibian of the group. She is married to a corrupt government minister and she is breathtakingly beautiful, as we are told on every other page.

While there are serious issues touched upon in the book, including genocide, corruption, racism, poaching and infidelity, they are all treated so superficially that they have no more impact on these women than a broken fingernail. In the end, if women are just plucky enough everything will turn out splendidly. The book does contain a few interesting details about Namibia, but most of the characters (even the Namibians) had primarily negative things to say about the country. The “comedy-of-manners” aspect of the book was somewhat entertaining. 3.5 stars

I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publisher.

Mark. Oh, Mark. Quite possibly the single most abhorrent character I’ve come across in the last few years. He’s self-entitled, spineless, floating in his own world and relying upon his wife to do anything and everything that is difficult for him in his life. A minor spoiler, but I wasn’t happy with how his story turns out, nor his wife, nor their relationship. With that said, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and thought it was masterfully written, leaving breadcrumbs to connect plot lines throughout. The story slowly picks up steam and you’re left theorizing what might happen at the end of each chapter. I caught the audiobook for this release and it was beautifully narrated. Perfect summer read!!