A USA Today and GLOBE+MAIL BESTSELLER!
Available wherever books are sold
The Engineer’s Wife
She built a monument for all time.
Then she was lost in its shadow.
Emily Warren Roebling refuses to live conventionally―she knows who she is and what she wants, and she’s determined to make change. But then her husband Wash asks the unthinkable: give up her dreams to make his possible.
Emily’s fight for women’s suffrage is put on hold, and her life transformed when Wash, the Chief Engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge, is injured on the job. Untrained for the task, but under his guidance, she assumes his role, despite stern resistance and overwhelming obstacles. Lines blur as Wash’s vision becomes her own, and when he is unable to return to the job, Emily is consumed by it. But as the project takes shape under Emily’s direction, she wonders whose legacy she is building―hers, or her husband’s. As the monument rises, Emily’s marriage, principles, and identity threaten to collapse. When the bridge finally stands finished, will she recognize the woman who built it?
Based on the true story of the Brooklyn Bridge, The Engineer’s Wife delivers an emotional portrait of a woman transformed by a project of unfathomable scale, which takes her into the bowels of the East River, suffragette riots, the halls of Manhattan’s elite, and the heady, freewheeling temptations of P.T. Barnum. It’s the story of a husband and wife determined to build something that lasts―even at the risk of losing each other.
Praise
“Well-researched with great attention to detail, The Engineer’s Wife is based on the true story about the exceptional woman who was tasked to build the Brooklyn Bridge. Though the great bridge would connect a city, it would also cause division and great loss for many. Tracey Enerson Wood delivers an absorbing and poignant tale of struggle, self-sacrifice and the family transformed by the building of the legendary American landmark during the volatile time of women’s suffrage, riots and corruption. A triumphant debut not to be missed!”—Kim Michele Richardson, bestselling author of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
“The Engineer’s Wife is just the sort of novel I love and-I hope-write. Against all odds, a dynamic, historic woman builds a monument and changes history as she and her surrounding cast leap off the page. What a life and what a beautifully written and inspiring story! ” —Karen Harper, New York Times bestselling author of The Queen’s Secret
“Who really built the Brooklyn Bridge? With its spunky, tough-minded heroine and vivid New York setting, The Engineer’s Wife is a triumphant historical novel sure to please readers of the genre. Like Paula McLain, Tracey Enerson Wood spins a colorful and romantic tale of a storied era.” —Stewart O’Nan, author of West of Sunset
“The Engineer’s Wife is historical fiction at its finest. Tracey Enerson Wood crafts the powerful and poignant story of Emily Warren Roebling, the compelling woman who played an instrumental role in the design and construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. This is necessary fiction for our time—paying tribute to women’s overlooked contributions and reminding us of the true foundations of American history.” —Andrea Bobotis, author of The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt
“Tracey Enerson Wood’s immersive debut novel, The Engineer’s Wife, brims with lush period detail, deft plotting, and memorable characterization, bringing to vivid life the story of the incomparable Emily Warren Roebling. Wood tells a tale so poignant, well-researched, and page-turning, it seems to turn back time. She skillfully evokes the Civil War, post-war era, and Old New York with a cast of historical figures, from Reverend Henry Ward Beecher to Ringmaster P.T. Barnum, alongside the heroic John and Washington Roebling. Navigating her way from ingénue to Civil War bride to bridge builder, Emily struggles to find her identity. She sidelines people and causes near and dear—friends, husband, son, and suffragism—to devote herself to rescuing the family enterprise. In this compelling tour de force, Wood raises Emily Roebling from the historical depths, giving her voice in a fully-realized story worthy of the woman who saved the Brooklyn Bridge.” —Anne Lipton, M.D., Ph.D., Putting the Science in Fiction and Harlequin Creator Fund Recipient
“Readers will appreciate the nuanced depiction of Emily’s struggles to overcome male resistance and balance her own needs with her partner’s. Wood’s satisfying historical feels true to its era yet powerfully relevant to women’s lives today.”—Publishers Weekly
“This important work of historical fiction brings to life the strength and resolve of a nineteenth-century woman overshadowed by men and overlooked by history books.”—Melissa Nordstedt, Booklist