What a fascinating memoir. Simone’s husband, Andrew, joins the Army, and they move to small-town Georgia. Simone doesn’t come from a military background, and her husband’s decision was quite a shock to her – maybe to both of them. I enjoyed reading about their day-to-day-life and that of their friends, and I could feel Simone’s tension and fear whenever her husband was deployed. There was a part just past halfway through the book that dragged for me, and in hindsight I think it was because Simone starts complaining and obsessing more, and that grew tiresome. But overall I really enjoyed the book, and I was happy to read the last chapter to find out what the family is doing now. Many thanks to NetGalley, Gallery/Scout Press, and Ms. Gorrindo for the ARC of this title.

I loved this memoir - a raw look into the lives of military spouses. Really enjoyed Simone's writing and would definitely read another book from her in the future. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review this arc.

What a story I feel like there are a lot of stories like this. Being thrust into an army wives situation and truly finding out the power of perseverance. I applaud the author for sharing her story and also being so open with it. I know it must not be an easy road to take but she did it with stride, I liked how the author wrote it so everyone can understand it not just military folks. Bravo.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked this one up. I will admit if I hadn’t received a copy from Goodreads and it hadn’t been a bookish first book I may have passed on it. I have little interest in the military or that style of life. I think I enjoyed this book more because I could see myself sliding into that life like Simone did, against her will and full of doubts. I found myself agreeing with Simone’s assessment of the people she came across which helped me to better relate to her since I don’t know that I could give up my home and career and life to be “a wife”. Her writing was excellent and I am in awe at the level of honesty she shared with the readers. While this may be her first book I do not think it will be her last and while she tends to drift more towards essay and non-fiction I hope she ventures into fiction at some point. I think she has plenty of creativity. This book shows the beginning of Simone’s husband Andrew’s career with the military and what Simone sacrificed and found in becoming an army wife.

As part of a military community, I found this book to be too whiney, political and anti-American. It's hard to read a book that is written in such disregard for the military. Military wives need to support each other and their husbands, not share secrets meant to remain secret. Too much complaining!

I liked this book so much, it’s mainly about a woman who loved her husband so much that she moved with him to pursue his own career in the military. This woman gave up her whole career for him, and it’s not all about the military which I feared it will be boring, but it was motivational, and encouraging, she writes about the women and how they start to get to know each other, and be there for one another. I really enjoyed this one. I don’t like to rate Memoirs but this one deserves them all.

I'm not very versed in re as big mremoirs, but this read like a fiction and I loved it. You became engaged with these people and their lives immediately. Well written.

The Wives is an inside look at the dynamics of the marriage a young woman whose husband serves in the military. Ms. Gorrindo shares her fears and feelings during her husband’s frequent deployments to the war zone, the loneliness and fear for her husband’s safety, the friendship and support she receives from the other wives and the joyous reunions with their men returning from the war.

Having been a military wife during war time, I found Ms. Gorrindo’s story compelling.

Thank you NetGalley and Simone Gorrindo for the chance to read and review this book.
I went into this book totally blind and was happily surprised to find it was about Simone’s life as an Army wife. I can totally relate as I am an Air Force wife (retired) and the mom of 2 sons currently serving in the Army. She speaks my language.
As the story opens we find Simone and husband Andrew in Columbus Ga standing outside their first house together. Andrew is fresh out of basic training and AIT (technical school for his job) starting their new life at Fort Benning. Andrew is part of an elite, rapidly deployable combat unit, and Simone (left her job in New York City as an editor) is currently unemployed. But this is a new adventure for them both.
Quickly Andrew assimilates into his new unit and they are invited to many unit activities including barbecue’s designed to foster the brotherhood. Simone is not welcomed with open arms but start to make
friends with the other wives, slowly. As the first deployment approaches she starts to see a shift in Andrew’s demeanor as he focuses on the mission. Sadly it affects their relationship as well and over time she learns that there are 2 Andrews, the one at home and the one on mission.
Deployment is another adventure. Infrequent communication makes it imperative that Simone leans on her fellow wives as she grows closer to them, they’ve become sisters. Learning this new life and learning to live with uncertainty every day, dreading that phone call or seeing a government vehicle parked in front of your house is always a worry. But these women had lives before they were wives and moms and this is how they all weave together to get through.
This story is a gritty portrayal of one woman’s big life change and how she learned to adapt to it. It’s not all pretty and definitely not easy but she made it her own and at time of printing, was still living it.
Simone was me, (except for the fact that I married a man who was already in the military.) Every unit activity, ball, deployment, home coming, and change of station I lived and relate to. I hope that in reading Simone’s story you’ll get just a glimpse of the military life.
I rate this a 4 star read

Compelling portrait of American life.

I think for many people, the work and worry of war is hidden during these wars that drag on for years and years. I have really appreciated the work of Karl Marlantes and Sebastian Junger, writing about what war is like for soldiers and how we do (or more often, do not) reintegrate them into daily life. Gorrindo references these books, and her memoir would be an excellent companion piece.

Gorrindo's own ambivalence about Army life, combined with her willingness to be "a joiner" and natural curiosity about people, allows for nuance. No one is all good or all bad. I really appreciated that.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy.

I absolutely DEVOURED this book on a single plane ride. As engaging as a Desperate Housewives novel, with the stomach-clenching realities of life in a never-ending country at war, this is one of the best books I have read in 2024, and without a doubt the most honest memoir of someone living as an armed-forces spouse I have EVER read.
Part of me wants to give this to all my friends who are living the military spouse life, but I think this book is so well done that it might induce a rash of breakups and I can't be responsible for that lol.

The Wives: A Memoir
By: Simone Gorrindo
4🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸


I could really relate to this memoir. I was an army brat and army officers wife and some of the things Simone went through was relatable.
🇺🇸
Simone and Andrew meet and he wants to join the military. She is used to NYC and when they go to Georgia, they both have no idea what to expect. He gets deployed quickly and she bonds with one of the wives.
🇺🇸
The wives you meet become family. The military life is one that is not easy, but you realize you are not alone.
🇺🇸
On a personal note:
I remember forming an FRG ( Family Readiness Group) meeting which helps with families with meals, learning how to manage without their husbands and other personal stuff. During Desert Storm I realized how much any wives struggled with bills, children dealing with deployments and loss. I was used to moving every 2-3 years and have been all over the world. I loved the military life and thankful I had strong parents and have friends from all over.

Thank you Galley/Scout Press for this advanced copy. This memoir is out April 9.


Triggers: 9/11, war, depression, drug dependency

This memoir takes the reader into the lives of military wives and their families.

The loneliness, the lack of information,the constant fear, and the uncertainty of what their husbands will be like when they return from deployment is overwhelming.

Gorrindo survives these ordeals with the help of the other wives, but it amazes me that so many marriages lasted.

The Wives, by Simone Gorrindo

Thank you to Gallery/Scout Press and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy of this book.

Simone Gorrindo’s eloquent memoir is an exploration of marriage under difficult circumstances, and the army wives who come to make up her world and broaden and deepen her perspective on others and herself.

Simone was a 28-year-old who had lived and worked in New York City for a decade. A writer and editor, she had her “dream job” when she left New York in 2012 to follow her husband, Andrew, to Columbus, Georgia, because he decided to enlist in the army. They had met in high school, and though they had not reconnected for some years after, their relationship seemed grounded in shared values and beliefs, and especially in communicating their thoughts, ideas, and feelings to each other.

His decision came as a shock to Simone. He had immersed himself in specialized martial arts training, but that seemed as much an intellectual as a physical discipline. Simone’s values and ethics were quite liberal, as her husband’s had been. But Andrew feels called to soldiering, to the extent that he says if he had to choose between Simone and the army, he would choose the army (words that would haunt them both).

Andrew also presents his enlistment in an elite special operations unit as a chance for Simone, too, to have a new start, a writer’s life. She does establish herself as a free-lance editor and writer, but at the cost of loneliness and anxiety. Andrew is deployed to Afghanistan for months at a time, and sent to lengthy trainings when not on deployment. Perhaps most difficult is the secrecy that surrounds his work. He can tell her very little of what he does, and learns to hold in his feelings and thoughts about it. This feels to her as a betrayal of their marriage.

Simone, college-educated and middle-class, has more in common with the officers’ wives, but because of the army’s rigid hierarchy, can not socialize with them. Instead she spends time with other enlisted men’s wives, most of whom are much younger than she, have no more than a high school education, and are raising young children in their husbands’ absences.

The book covers her experiences between 2012 and 2016. It involves much anxiety and depression, recovery from serious injuries in a car accident and finally, the happy end to a difficult pregnancy. Through it all she learns to admire, love, and depend on a group of women with whom she would never have spent time in other situations – among them evangelical Christians and right wing loyalists. Perhaps most of all, she learns to live with paradoxes in her ideas, feelings, and relationships, including her marriage.
This unusual look into the lives of military wives would make an excellent book club choice.

This is a story about military wives (Army to be precise). It was a fascinating read for me and brought back memories of my time as a military wife. I enjoyed reading a very different perspective of the experience. It really made me think about how our personal lens reminds me we can all be in the same room but still see everything differently.

A fantastic memoir from Simone Gorrindo that explores love, loss, and community amidst the challenges of military life. Set in Columbus, Georgia, we follow Simone as she navigates the complexities of her husband's frequent deployments, finding solace and strength in the bonds formed with other military wives. Gorrindo's writing captures the intimacy of these relationships with authenticity and tenderness, offering readers a glimpse into the power of friendship in times of uncertainty.

At its heart, "The Wives" is a love story, depicting the enduring bond between Simone and her husband amidst separation and adversity. Gorrindo's portrayal of their relationship is so heartfelt and she explores the complexities of marriage with honesty and depth. Through Simone's journey, the novel also serves as a commentary on the divisions that mark contemporary America. She highlights the challenges of navigating unfamiliar terrain in a country defined by deep-seated differences.

This unforgettable tale explores themes of love, loss, and the transformative power of connection, leaving a lasting impression on those who seek a deeper understanding of the ties that bind us together. Rich in emotion and beautifully written, "The Wives" is a compelling read that resonates long after the final page. Huge thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

There are many stories written about wars and military men and their experiences but this is not one of them. Simone Gorrindo had a career in New York City that did not prepare her for being married to Andrew whose dream is to be part of a Special Ops unit of the military. Simone shares her personal experiences of coping with the lifestyle changes, isolation from the outside world and friendships formed with other women in a community that their only common thread is being the spouse of a military service member. Lengthy deployments, little to no information and the challenges associated with being alone for long stretches of time, place multiple pressures on a marriage. These women are stronger than they ever imagined keeping it all together as they grow their families and fear the worst possible fate for the men they love. This ARC was provided by the Gallery/Scout Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley, Scout Press, and Simon and Schuster for this ARC. As an Army wife, it was interesting to see the life through the authors eyes. She spoke from the heart and I could feel her emotions coming through. Is don't typically read memoirs, this one was well done.

The Wives: A Memoir. I've read some accounts of men serving in Afghanistan. Those who served in WWII. But never anything that really expresses what "the wives" feel and go through being the backbone of the family left behind to take care of the family and home. Wow. This book provides a huge appreciation for the wives of military men who serve and are deployed.

It really seems like there must be a better process to communicate information to the wives than the "code red" messages. The women are under a lot of stress and pressure already; then they find out that ... basically ... something bad happened, but you'll have to use your network to find out what.

Simone had a NY career and fell in love with Andrew who wanted to serve in Special Operations. So she uprooted and moved to Georgia at 28 years old.

My husband is retired military, but I met him after he retired from the military.

Simone Gorrindo did a fantastic job writing The Wives! Many thanks to NetGalley (for yet once again) introducing me to a new-to-me author. Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Inc for approving my request to read the Advance Read Copy of The Wives in exchange for an honest review. Approx 416 pages. Release date is March 2024.

Thank you to NetGalley for this advance reader copy
"The Wives" is a memoir that delves into the author's journey as she navigates the challenges of being an army wife in a foreign town after leaving her New York City life behind. With her husband frequently deployed, Simone finds solace and camaraderie among a group of fellow army wives, offering readers an intimate portrayal of friendship, and marriage.