About the Book
From the USA Today bestselling author of The Engineer’s Wife comes an incredible historical novel about the First Lady who clandestinely assumed the presidency.
Socialite Edith Bolling has been in no hurry to find a new husband since she was widowed, preferring to fill her days with good friends and travel. But the enchanting courting of President Woodrow Wilson wins Edith over and she becomes the First Lady of the United States. The position is uncomfortable for the fiercely independent Edith, but she’s determined to rise to the challenges of her new marriage—from the bloodthirsty press to the shadows of the first World War.
Warming to her new role, Edith is soon indispensable to her husband’s presidency. She replaces the staff that Woodrow finds distracting, and discusses policy with him daily. Throughout the war, she encrypts top- secret messages and despite lacking formal education becomes an important adviser. When peace talks begin in Europe, she attends at Woodrow’s side. But just as the critical fight to ratify the treaty to end the war and create a League of Nations in order to prevent another, Woodrow’s always-delicate health takes a dramatic turn for the worse. In her determination to preserve both his progress and his reputation, Edith all but assumes the presidency herself.
Now, Edith must contend with the demands of a tumultuous country, the secrets of Woodrow’s true condition, and the potentially devastating consequences of her failure. At once sweeping and intimate, The President’s Wife is an astonishing portrait of a courageous First Lady and the sacrifices she made to protect her husband and her country at all costs.
My Review
While I don’t read historical fiction on the regular, when a book comes across my review request inbox that makes me think “that’s something I want to know more about” I don’t want to pass it up. While I am familiar with former President Woodrow Wilson, I have to say I didn’t know much about his second wife, Edith, and how intertwined she was with the President and his duty to the country. I found myself Googling something about every other chapter, trying to learn a little more about Edith and her marriage. I won’t say the writing was fast-paced or I was always itching to pick up my Kindle again, but I was interested enough in the storyline to keep up with it. I did enjoy the love story between Edith and Woodrow, and I’m always going to root for a strong female, even though I didn’t agree with everything Edith was standing for. While I might have known some facts on Woodrow’s presidency, I learned more on what a passionate partner he was, how his health issues brought in Edith to make decisions on his behalf and a lot of history on the state of the country during that time. Not necessarily a favorite novel, but still an intriguing read that I enjoyed.
3.5 stars
