The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel

The Astronaut Wives Club

Ever wonder what it would be like to stand in the shoes of an astronaut’s wife?  If you grew up in the 60s and 70s, I can almost guarantee that you did!  The book goes through the years of lift-offs, landings and explosions with an emphasis on the wives’ friendship and support of one another.  Through the years, the book offers a glimpse into their lives by showing cheating husbands, widows, colorful personalities among the astronauts and their wives, the first divorce, the women’s liberation movement and political mayhem.  The book doesn’t go into that much depth —  it’s more of an overview of their lives and of the times.

What I didn’t like was that the book jumped around often, so it was confusing to remember which wife was married to which astronaut as the book went on.  There were a few pictures in the book of some of the wives, but since Koppel frequently referred to them by their first names, it became confusing as more astronauts were added to the program.  It would have been very helpful to have a chart showing the husband’s name and the wife’s name … like a family tree.  Overall, I enjoyed the book since I was a child of the 60s and could relate to those times.

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