Helpful Score: 1
Tracey Enerson Wood's first published novel represents exactly what I like most and least about historical fiction.
It presents a wide-open window into history, uncovering overlooked women (of which there have been many in recent years - I think of Hidden Figures and the abundance of recent books, both fiction and nonfiction, about female scientists and female WWII spies, for example), shedding light on their importance. (The flyleaf proclaims, "She built a monument for all time. Then she was lost in its shadow.") The central woman here is Emily Warren Roebling, wife of the chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge and a woman whose name I had never heard of. I wonder if those who often use the Brooklyn Bridge know of her? Wood paints her vividly, as a complex figure: bold and passionate about her only son Johnny, the women's suffrage movement, and the bridge construction process, but tremendously nervous when required to give speeches and thoroughly unskilled as a seamstress. The novel also provides a window into American life in the 1860s and the two subsequent decades, especially that in New York along the river.
A reader learns so much about early bridge-building as well - its incredible challenges and the loss of life it involved (of 600+ workers, at least twenty died and many were injured). For much of the book, the Brooklyn Bridge's caissons are under construction. These bridge supports constructed under the water were very dangerous wood and concrete "boxes" to which workers (all men, except Emily) descended to chip and blast and build. Beyond fear of the caissons' collapse, these selfless employees faced fire and explosions and, due to the air pressure changes, "the bends" and "caisson disease," with its debilitating effects such as nausea, blood seepage from the ears, shaking limbs, and paralysis. Once the caissons were built, acrobats were hired to string the wires back and forth from the towers built on the caissons, also facing danger of falling from incredible heights to their death. Beyond the physical challenges, bridge-builders also faced uncertain financial backing, sabotage (involving shoddy wire, in this instance), and public backlash. How much we take for granted when crossing such bridges!
Against this backdrop of wire and wood, Emily, her husband "Wash," and P.T. Barnum play the three central roles. The whirlwind romance between Emily and Captain Washington Roebling cools when Emily's patriotic dreams are supplanted, of necessity, by a main role in the bridge construction after Wash suffers horrid injury on the job. As Wash deals with his physical wounds, the marital relationship suffers. The larger-than-life figure of Barnum and his "greatest show on earth" enters the picture, and Emily is drawn to him and he to her. Ironically, while the bridge's towers come together, they push the Roeblings apart.
The book's narrative, then, is spurred on by two central questions: will the bridge be finished? And will Emily leave Wash for "PT"?
The problem is that in Wood's book, as in so many other works of historical fiction, the facts get twisted up with the fictional events, and I walk away from the book with an impression of Emily that is likely wrong, probably significantly so. Barnum is central to Wood, but she acknowledges in the Afterword that his role in building the bridge and his relationship with Emily are entirely her imagination. Part of the reason for the tension between Emily and Wash is his sexual dysfunction after his accident, which may or may not have been one of his symptoms. Other key aspects of the narrative, such as the significant character of Benjamin Stone and Emily's fear of water due to the childhood loss of her sister Elizabeth to drowning, are not historically accurate.
My conclusion is that I feel like I know Emily, that I would recognize her if she somehow walked into the room more than a century after her death - but that such a person never existed. Certainly, Emily Roebling did - a strong-willed, fast-learning, confused, dedicated heroine did - just not the one I imagine.
It presents a wide-open window into history, uncovering overlooked women (of which there have been many in recent years - I think of Hidden Figures and the abundance of recent books, both fiction and nonfiction, about female scientists and female WWII spies, for example), shedding light on their importance. (The flyleaf proclaims, "She built a monument for all time. Then she was lost in its shadow.") The central woman here is Emily Warren Roebling, wife of the chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge and a woman whose name I had never heard of. I wonder if those who often use the Brooklyn Bridge know of her? Wood paints her vividly, as a complex figure: bold and passionate about her only son Johnny, the women's suffrage movement, and the bridge construction process, but tremendously nervous when required to give speeches and thoroughly unskilled as a seamstress. The novel also provides a window into American life in the 1860s and the two subsequent decades, especially that in New York along the river.
A reader learns so much about early bridge-building as well - its incredible challenges and the loss of life it involved (of 600+ workers, at least twenty died and many were injured). For much of the book, the Brooklyn Bridge's caissons are under construction. These bridge supports constructed under the water were very dangerous wood and concrete "boxes" to which workers (all men, except Emily) descended to chip and blast and build. Beyond fear of the caissons' collapse, these selfless employees faced fire and explosions and, due to the air pressure changes, "the bends" and "caisson disease," with its debilitating effects such as nausea, blood seepage from the ears, shaking limbs, and paralysis. Once the caissons were built, acrobats were hired to string the wires back and forth from the towers built on the caissons, also facing danger of falling from incredible heights to their death. Beyond the physical challenges, bridge-builders also faced uncertain financial backing, sabotage (involving shoddy wire, in this instance), and public backlash. How much we take for granted when crossing such bridges!
Against this backdrop of wire and wood, Emily, her husband "Wash," and P.T. Barnum play the three central roles. The whirlwind romance between Emily and Captain Washington Roebling cools when Emily's patriotic dreams are supplanted, of necessity, by a main role in the bridge construction after Wash suffers horrid injury on the job. As Wash deals with his physical wounds, the marital relationship suffers. The larger-than-life figure of Barnum and his "greatest show on earth" enters the picture, and Emily is drawn to him and he to her. Ironically, while the bridge's towers come together, they push the Roeblings apart.
The book's narrative, then, is spurred on by two central questions: will the bridge be finished? And will Emily leave Wash for "PT"?
The problem is that in Wood's book, as in so many other works of historical fiction, the facts get twisted up with the fictional events, and I walk away from the book with an impression of Emily that is likely wrong, probably significantly so. Barnum is central to Wood, but she acknowledges in the Afterword that his role in building the bridge and his relationship with Emily are entirely her imagination. Part of the reason for the tension between Emily and Wash is his sexual dysfunction after his accident, which may or may not have been one of his symptoms. Other key aspects of the narrative, such as the significant character of Benjamin Stone and Emily's fear of water due to the childhood loss of her sister Elizabeth to drowning, are not historically accurate.
My conclusion is that I feel like I know Emily, that I would recognize her if she somehow walked into the room more than a century after her death - but that such a person never existed. Certainly, Emily Roebling did - a strong-willed, fast-learning, confused, dedicated heroine did - just not the one I imagine.
One of my favorite books by David McCullough is "The Great Bridge," his story of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. I was fascinated by his description of the engineering involved in constructing it. It also caught my interest in that I was born in Brooklyn and traveled across this bridge many times. In addition, McCullough's story of the Robelings---John, Washington and Emily---got me interested in reading more about them. As a Civil War buff, I was surprised to read about Washington's career in that conflict, including a key role in helping to win the Battle of Gettysburg. So you can imagine how lucky I felt when a copy of the 1945 "The Builders of the Bridge : The Story of John Roebling and His Son" by D. B. Steinman passed into my hands at a thrift store where I volunteer. I wasn't even aware this book existed.
I had seen "The Engineer's Wife" listed on the PBS site, but didn't add the novel to my WL as there were so many ahead of me. So I was happy when a copy also came through the thrift store and I immediately pushed it to the top of my books to read. While I did enjoy the story, I felt the author's depiction of a romance between Emily and P.T. Barnum was greatly overdone, as I had read two non-fiction books about the Roeblings. But then the author, Tracy Wood, probably felt it was necessary, as part of her plot, to keep readers interested..This is not the only time she does so. At the end of the book, she states her next book would probably be about Julia Stimson, another woman who is an important historical character. Turns out I had read this book previously and Wood imagined another romance there, which never happened.
If you read this book, I urge you to at least read the Wikipedia pages on these individuals. Not just for the three Roeblings, but also for Julia Stimson. Then you might also find yourself reading the page on John Roebling, Washington and Emily's son. He also had a successful career, and his legacy is the important Archbold Biological Station in Florida. Even better, his own son was the inventor of a vehicle which played an extremely important role in World War II.
My only comment about the historical accuracy of this book regards something the author writes at the opening of Chapter 29. She states the year 1876 had two tragedies: a collapse of a railroad bridge in Ohio and a theater fire in Brooklyn. Americans alive in that year would be surprised at this, as the greatest tragedy occurring that year was the June 25th Battle of the Little Big Horn, where George Custer and the 7th Cavalry met their end and cast a pall over the July 4th celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the United States.
And I'll be posting my copy for the next person who has it WLed.
I had seen "The Engineer's Wife" listed on the PBS site, but didn't add the novel to my WL as there were so many ahead of me. So I was happy when a copy also came through the thrift store and I immediately pushed it to the top of my books to read. While I did enjoy the story, I felt the author's depiction of a romance between Emily and P.T. Barnum was greatly overdone, as I had read two non-fiction books about the Roeblings. But then the author, Tracy Wood, probably felt it was necessary, as part of her plot, to keep readers interested..This is not the only time she does so. At the end of the book, she states her next book would probably be about Julia Stimson, another woman who is an important historical character. Turns out I had read this book previously and Wood imagined another romance there, which never happened.
If you read this book, I urge you to at least read the Wikipedia pages on these individuals. Not just for the three Roeblings, but also for Julia Stimson. Then you might also find yourself reading the page on John Roebling, Washington and Emily's son. He also had a successful career, and his legacy is the important Archbold Biological Station in Florida. Even better, his own son was the inventor of a vehicle which played an extremely important role in World War II.
My only comment about the historical accuracy of this book regards something the author writes at the opening of Chapter 29. She states the year 1876 had two tragedies: a collapse of a railroad bridge in Ohio and a theater fire in Brooklyn. Americans alive in that year would be surprised at this, as the greatest tragedy occurring that year was the June 25th Battle of the Little Big Horn, where George Custer and the 7th Cavalry met their end and cast a pall over the July 4th celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the United States.
And I'll be posting my copy for the next person who has it WLed.
