The Wives: A Memoir

In her debut memoir, Gorrindo regales listeners with a candid, self-narrated account of her early married life as she tried to make sense of her husband Andrew’s U.S. Army pursuits. Gorrindo recalls the loneliness of her life as a military newlywed and her relief when she connected with the other army wives in Columbus, GA. Gorrindo quickly learned to put her fears aside whenever the phone, a frequent bearer of bad news, rang; she also learned to band together with other army wives to get answers when their husbands were incommunicado. Throughout her husband’s tours of duty in Afghanistan, Gorrindo finds her feet as Andrew transforms into a gritty soldier (although, as she reveals, what she really wanted was a more attentive partner). Finding out they’re pregnant before his second tour makes the months and miles apart a lesson in sacrifice until their daughter arrives. Ultimately, however, the couple realizes they can chart their course and have much to be thankful for.