The president's wife A novel

Following The Engineer's Wife (2020) and The War Nurse (2021), two notable historical novels that offer an inside look at remarkable women whose stories have been overlooked or seldom told, Wood returns with the fascinating story of Edith Bolling Galt Wilson, second wife to President Woodrow Wilson. After a whirlwind courtship, Edith and Woodrow face his reelection to a second term, during which she becomes a valued confidant. When Woodrow suffers a debilitating stroke, Edith shields him from the press and public and runs the presidency from behind the scenes, all against the backdrop of WWI and its aftermath. Edith's desire to continue her husband's work and preserve his legacy comes at great personal cost, and Wood's meticulous research and attention to detail provide the context we need to understand Edith's decisions as she wrestles with an overwhelming workload and her conscience: is she doing the right thing, or doing more harm than good? A great choice for fans of books by Marie Benedict, Fiona Davis, and Patti Callahan, featuring amazing but often unheralded women.

Wood (The Engineer's Wife) shines a light on the turbulent final months of the Woodrow Wilson administration in this contemplative story of Woodrow's second wife, Edith. In June 1915, widow Edith Bolling Galt meets widower Woodrow for tea at the White House, their tête-à-tête arranged by Woodrow's cousin Helen Bones. They marry that December and Edith becomes Woodrow's confidant, acting as his hostess at the White House and joining him on his voyage to France, where he signs the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. After Woodrow's debilitating stroke later that year following his cross-country train tour to promote the League of Nations Covenant, Edith encourages him to stay in office, believing that to step down would hasten his demise. While he rests, she steps in to handle various matters of state, such as buying time with a railroad union to hold off a potential strike. Though the prose is a bit cluttered with period details and exposition, Wood strikes on a potent irony in her telling of the Wilson presidency, by imagining the immense power wrought by a first lady in an era where women could neither vote nor hold office. Fans of revisionist historicals with strong female leads should check this out. Agent: Lucy Cleland, Kneerim & Williams. (Aug.)

In her third fictionalized biography (following The War Nurse), Wood focuses on World War I and the creation of the League of Nations. After socialite widow Edith Bolling Galt marries President Woodrow Wilson in 1915, she realizes that all her personal accomplishments must fade away for her to become "an important man's wife." With this transformative goal, Edith looks after her beloved Woodrow until his death in 1924. Early on, she becomes his trusted partner in the West Wing, helping with correspondence and eventually with weighty decision-making. When he has a paralyzing stroke in 1919, she aggressively comes to his aid, allowing only the most urgent matters and people to disturb his recovery. Wood does not stint on describing the circumspect charms of the Wilsons' romantic relationship. Their private lives play out against a backdrop of women's suffrage, vicious partisan politics, and their racism. Especially vivid are Edith's prickly reactions to the influential Colonel Edward House and the despised Henry Cabot Lodge. VERDICT Wood's book is a stately and dignified account that is beautifully leavened by intimate glimpses of Edith and Woodrow in their happiness, grief, anger, and optimism.--Barbara Conaty