The Astronaut Wives Club: A True Story [NOOK Book]

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Overview

WITH 50 EXCLUSIVE BONUS PHOTOS

As America's Mercury Seven astronauts were launched on death-defying missions, television cameras focused on the brave smiles of their young wives. Overnight, these women were transformed from military spouses into American royalty. They had tea with Jackie Kennedy, appeared on the cover of Life magazine, and quickly grew into fashion icons.

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The Astronaut Wives Club: A True Story

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More About This Book

Overview

WITH 50 EXCLUSIVE BONUS PHOTOS

As America's Mercury Seven astronauts were launched on death-defying missions, television cameras focused on the brave smiles of their young wives. Overnight, these women were transformed from military spouses into American royalty. They had tea with Jackie Kennedy, appeared on the cover of Life magazine, and quickly grew into fashion icons.

Annie Glenn, with her picture-perfect marriage, was the envy of the other wives; platinum-blonde Rene Carpenter was proclaimed JFK's favorite; and licensed pilot Trudy Cooper arrived on base with a secret. Together with the other wives they formed the Astronaut Wives Club, meeting regularly to provide support and friendship. Many became next-door neighbors and helped to raise each other's children by day, while going to glam parties at night as the country raced to land a man on the Moon.

As their celebrity rose-and as divorce and tragic death began to touch their lives-they continued to rally together, and the wives have now been friends for more than fifty years. THE ASTRONAUT WIVES CLUB tells the real story of the women who stood beside some of the biggest heroes in American history.
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  • The Astronaut Wives Club
    The Astronaut Wives Club  

Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble

While their spouses were hurdling into spaces, the wives of the Mercury Seven astronauts were strengthening their friendships in their own informal sorority. Lily Koppel's The Astronaut Wives Club carries us back to another time, of Space City and moon walks and VIP White House tours with Jackie, but it also takes us into the lives of real women struggling with sudden celebrity, absentee (and later philandering) husbands, and the fear of losing their husbands in an astronaut disaster. (In the case of astronaut wife Betty Grissom, that fear became a reality.) History, nostalgia, and friendship. Editor's recommendation.

The Washington Post - Curtis Sittenfeld
…[a] breezy and entertaining book, which—like the women themselves—takes pleasure in both playing up and defying the stereotypes of the time…Koppel is chronicling a cultural moment more than any particular person, and in this she excels. The details are superb, from the ham loaves the women cooked to the Virginia Slims they chain-smoked, the fur hot pants and Pucci dresses they wore, the luaus and shrimp-boil parties they threw, and the Mercury-capsule-shaped community swimming pool they shared.
Publishers Weekly
In this entertaining and quirky throwback, journalist Koppel (The Red Leather Diary) revisits the ladies who cheered and bolstered their men to victory in the U.S. space program from the late ’50s through early 1970s, revealing public triumph and rarely private agony. Koppel looks at the history of the race to space, starting with the Mercury Seven of April 1959, and focusing on the wives: e.g., Louise Shepard (wife of Alan), Betty Grissom (Gus) and Annie Glenn (John), young women who wore teased hair, bright lipstick, and cat-eye sunglasses, and towed numerous small children. The wives had to be gracious to the Life magazine reporters who invaded their homes, concealing unpleasant domestic details, such as marital discord, philandering husbands, and unseemly competition with other wives. The wives were invited to live at or near the Langley, Va., Air Force base, where the astronauts trained before relocating to Houston (aka Space City, USA) in 1962; the women socialized with each other, toured the White House with Jackie Kennedy, and watched their husbands’ launches on TV together over champagne and cigarettes. Some missions ended in tragedy, such as when a failed test flight in 1967 resulted in the deaths of Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee. The Gemini and the Apollo missions followed, compelling the wives of legendary astronauts Collins, Aldrin, and Armstrong, among others, to endure seeing their husbands go on dangerous moon missions. This is truly a great snapshot of the times. Agent: Larry Weissman. (June)
Sheila Weller
"The only thing more delicious than the idea for this book is its execution. Come, all you Mad Men lovers, you girl-bonding-opus fans, you amateur historians who've looked under rugs for unlikely heroines...The Astronaut Wives Club rockets us back to the innocence of a unified mid-century America's space race triumphalism and to an unselfconscious sisterhood-is-powerful in the bud-nice things to recall, and maybe take a tiny bit of heed from, in these more sophisticated but much more complicated times."
Craig Nelson
"If you thought the only heroes in the history of NASA were its astronauts; if you thought the all-American family regularly seen in the pages of Life magazine was the full story of those astronauts' private lives; and if you've ever dreamed of supersonic romance, dinners at the Kennedy White House, through-the-roof beehives, a group of friends and neighbors going through this crazy time with you, and a celebrity hero husband who is the most admired man in the nation (yet, could die at any minute) ... then you're ready to sign up for Lily Koppel's thrilling, magical, nostalgic, and eye-opening Atlas rocket of a read, The Astronaut Wives Club."
Karen Abbott
"The Astronaut Wives Club is spectacular, both in its intimacy and its reach. Lily Koppel pulls out delicious behind the scenes details of the stresses, formalities, pleasures and travails of being the women behind the men on the moon."
Entertainment Weekly's "Must List"
"[A] perfect beach read."
Entertainment Weekly (grade: B+)
"This is one of those light, tasty summer reads you'll guzzle down like a milk shake."
Redbook
"[A] true (juicy) story. Gotta love non-fiction that feels like a beach read: Lily Koppel's The Astronaut Wives Club chronicles the wives of 1960s astronauts. . . . Put down that mystery and pick up some history!"
Chicago Tribune
"A fair and accomplished reporter. . . . Lily Koppel offers a grounded, irresistible and sociable social history. . . . Koppel's book deftly delivers The Wife Stuff. . . . Koppel does an excellent job of capturing a group portrait with enough highlights, low points, sunny spots and shadows for individual features to emerge. . . . The Astronaut Wives Club is wholly and consistently in Koppel's voice: smart, evocative, informed and warm-an electric fireside chat with the women who put men on the moon."
People (A "Great Summer Read" selection)
"The men catapulted into space in the 20th century were interesting, sort of. The women they left back on earth were fascinating. . . . A lively account of how the wives coped with fame, fear, [and] loneliness."
Douglas Brinkley
"The Astronaut Wives Club is a fun-loving romp about the devoted women behind NASA's herculean Moon Shot effort. Lily Koppel writes with humor, cunning, and integrity. I found her recounting of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs riveting. Highly recommend!"
Bookslut
"Koppel has launched her talents into another orbit by writing a book about America's space program that is not only smart, but also fun and sexy . . . . The Astronaut Wives Club is a clever and engaging book celebrating a group of women who, today, are often overlooked -- if not forgotten. It is reasonable to claim that these women held the space program together in its early years. Koppel pays tribute to their emotional stamina in a sympathetic yet unburdened manner. The Astronaut Wives Club will most definitely be embraced in the celebrity-thirsty world that we still live in today; its universal appeal is guaranteed to span generations and demographics of readers. Pack this book along on your summer vacation and you are assured to have a good read, as well as a conversation starter, wherever your spacecraft takes you."
BookPage (A "Nonfiction Top Pick")
"Mad Men fans and history buffs alike won't want to miss a new book about . . . the lives of the astronauts' wives. . . . . We meet the Mercury Seven women in the first chapter of The Astronaut Wives Club, and author Lily Koppel does a nice job of staying close to their stories. By the time you see the women's faces in the pictures, you'll feel like you're a member of the gang. . . . It's hard to believe no one has already written their story, and this reader is glad Koppel finally did."
Barnard Magazine
"With an eye for colorful detail, Koppel tells the stories of the women behind the astronauts. . . . The book often reads like a novel, energized by each moon mission."
Curtis Sittenfeld
"Breezy and entertaining. . . [Koppel] deserves credit for recognizing the richness of the subject matter. More than 50 years after its inception, many of us now take the space program for granted, but Koppel reminds readers just how bold and innovative it felt in the Sputnik era, and how mysterious the wilderness of space remains. . . Koppel is chronicling a cultural moment more than any particular person, and in this she excels. The details are superb, from the ham loaves the women cooked to the Virginia Slims they chain-smoked, the fur hot pants and the Pucci dresses they wore, the luaus and shrimp-boil parties they threw, and the Mercury-capsule-shaped community swimming pool they shared."
The Daily Beast (A "Hot Read" selection)
"A remarkable story of perseverance and friendship in a time when women had few rights."
The Dallas Morning News
"[A] fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at the lives of the women married to the astronauts...Impressive."
Columbus Dispatch
"Intriguing, pleasantly gossipy and often-touching. . . . in its light and engaging way, The Astronaut Wives Club is a reflection on the gap between image and reality, and a glimpse of an unstable time when "good wives" were reckoning the cost of that role."
Library Journal
In her newest work, Koppel (The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal) takes up the story of the wives of astronauts from the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo projects (with references to wives of astronauts from Space Shuttle missions as well). Her engaging narrative provides an in-depth look at military wives who became instant celebrities when their husbands were chosen for the space program. Along with the fame came intense media scrutiny; the wives felt pressured to compete for Stepford-wife-like perfection. The inability to publicly admit to concerns or problems made them turn to each other for support. Through death, infidelity, and scandalous divorce, these women have formed a network of strength and friendship. Koppel interviewed many of these women and attended one of their regular reunions. VERDICT The author's aim was to uncover the real lives behind the "perfect" astronaut wives, and she hits the mark, crafting an exceptional story that seriously examines the imperfection and humanity of America's heroic astronauts, their wives, and their families. This work will hold vast appeal for armchair historians, and those interested in feminism, women's history, and 20th-century history.—Crystal Goldman, San Jose State Univ. Lib., CA
Kirkus Reviews
Koppel (The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life through the Pages of a Lost Journal, 2008, etc.) explores the cohesiveness of a group of wives who formed an unofficial support group and their individual development during the early years of the Cold War. With the announcement on April 9, 1959, of the "nation's first astronauts," the women's lives changed, as they became instant celebrities along with their husbands. From Project Mercury to the Apollo program and the moon landings, the author traces how the lives of the wives of the original astronauts were transformed by these developments. Ubiquitous reporters, anxious to cover their most intimate moments, and their new status as American icons, intruded into every aspect of their daily lives. Being impeccably groomed became yet another challenge to their existence as de facto single mothers; their husbands were away training for their missions into space. Although they were familiar with the typical stresses facing the wives of career military officers--their husbands' long absences (sometimes on dangerous missions), poor pay, dismal living quarters, frequent moves and more--this public exposure was a first. They had their own part to play in a less obvious aspect of winning the Cold War: the public-relations offensive. The wives were guests at the White House and joined their husbands on international goodwill tours, showcasing the much-envied American lifestyle. Not only were astronauts judged by their own performance, but their wives and children were also rated. Koppel describes their appearance on the pages of Life magazine, looking like "scoops of ice cream" in their "pressed pastel shirtwaists." The glamor of Jackie Kennedy was a welcome change, and they enjoyed the perks that came with celebrity, including a lucrative contract with Life. Insightful social history with a light touch.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781455503230
  • Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
  • Publication date: 6/11/2013
  • Sold by: Hachette Digital, Inc.
  • Format: eBook
  • Pages: 384
  • Sales rank: 368
  • File size: 8 MB

Meet the Author

Lily Koppel is the bestselling author of The Red Leather Diary. She has written for The New York Times, the New York Times Magazine, Huffington Post, and Glamour.
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 3.5
( 40 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(16)

4 Star

(6)

3 Star

(9)

2 Star

(5)

1 Star

(4)
See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 40 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted Tue Jun 11 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    I Also Recommend:

    Bad Monkey
    Unbecoming Travolta: A Memoir of Mania and Multiple Personalities

    This is a phenomenal book focusing on the wives of famous astron

    This is a phenomenal book focusing on the wives of famous astronauts and their own leakage into the world of fame and high society. I really like Lily Koppel's writing style. She keeps the book moving at a quick pace with well developed characters. It was a sheer joy to read.

    19 out of 20 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Sat Jun 15 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    I Also Recommend:

    The Execution of Noa P. Singleton
    Unbecoming Travolta: A Memoir of Mania and Multiple Personalities
    Crazy Rich Asians

    Once I started it, I couldn't put this book down. It is a real p

    Once I started it, I couldn't put this book down. It is a real page turner. I loved the rich characters and unique plot. Two thumbs up.

    8 out of 10 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Wed Jun 26 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    Does not have the WRITE stuff...

    This book was not what I expected from a book featured on NPR. Not only is it poorly written and edited but the tone is misogynistic--not unlike Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff which, by comparison, at least made these women seem like human beings. Sad to think that a female "writer" would not take the time to develop these women's stories beyond some superficial research. Shameful that any editor or publisher would allow thiis to be published as it is and to waste readers' money.
    I lived at Edwards AFB during the early space program. My father was an Air Force engineer who worked on the program. These families were at times their neighbors. All of them were involved in something pretty amazing. This book glosses over their achievements and makes a mockery of the program, the astronauts and their wives. They may have been flawed and caught up in something out of their control, but like most military wives they did it with grace. The perks they received could never compensate for the risks they took on and the hard work involved.
    Bottom line: very bad book, pretty much a waste of time and money.

    7 out of 11 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted Mon Jun 17 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    Troubling Yet Readable. This is an

    Troubling Yet Readable. This is an entertaining and fast read on a subject that needs to be explored. The women depicted here were--and are--inspiring. Their stories are full of heartbreak, determination, fear, incredible strength, strong friendships, and yes, some humor. What they had to go through in dealing with sudden fame, largely single parenting, dealing with the press, living facades of 'perfect' lives in the public eye, coping with astronaut groupies, infidelity...there is an amazing and important book to be written about these women. Sadly, this is not it. I am really stunned editors let this go the way it is. There are errors in it regarding historical events that should have been checked with a three click Google search; there is no established tone or perspective. The author does not seem able to pin down what tone or view she wants to take so for large chunks in the first half this is written in an almost cheesy way, with 'wink winks' to the reader and vastly annoying reliance on the juvenile exclamation point punctuation that, at times, makes the text read like a student essay. The first half of the book, which concentrates on the original Mercury wives, reads as much lighter (despite their experiences with tragedy and trauma) than the second half that seems to take a different tone: darker, more serious. At one point, the events are related through the perspective of Norman Mailer who had been assigned to interview the wives. There is no transition into this--it just happens. Lack of transitions is another stylistic problem; the text moves between more in depth descriptions and then, suddenly, more anecdotal tidbits. You could get whiplash from the leaping from story to story, tone to perspective. As there are ultimately dozens of people to keep up with, this lack of clear structure becomes a greater problem as our subjects become much harder to keep straight. There is no appendix; there is no documentation of who said what or when. Where did all this come from? The author's notes generally mention she had talked to some of the surviving wives; at least one did not take part--but the others 'shared their memories.' There are pages of quotes but whose memories are we reading? I am very surprised endnotes, internal documentation, footnotes--something--were not used to identify and verify research. Finally, the scope of this is WAY too big for a book under 300 pages. These stories and these women deserve their own 'Right Stuff' and for the first half of the book I thought the Mercury wives were going to get it. It is the most thorough and detailed. But once the author brings in the later generations of astronauts and wives...this either needed to be a much longer text or the scope needed to be narrowed to the original wives. If none of these inconsistencies and questions bothers you--this is a fast, entertaining and very beginning glimpse into these remarkable women's contributions. But the really definitive work has yet to be done, I think.

    6 out of 10 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Tue Jun 25 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    I Also Recommend:

    Unbecoming Travolta: A Memoir of Mania and Multiple Personalities
    The Ocean at the End of the Lane
    Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster---the Creators of Superman

    I loved this book. It tells the story of what goes on behind the

    I loved this book. It tells the story of what goes on behind the picture perfect image of an astronaut's wife. Very interesting to read. The narrative is easy to follow and filled with fun twists.

    4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Thu Jun 20 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    Not sure about this

    I'm still reading this and really want to like it. However, I find myself irritated at the author's emphasis on the wives' appearance or perkiness.

    4 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted Fri Jul 05 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    Outstanding read

    This outstanding book not only tells of the astronauts' wives' lives after fame hit but also how women lived during those time. What did the wives focus on? How did they present themselves to the public? How were they treated by the press? But it also looks at the pressures they lived under--it is hard enough being a military wife without having to be the perfect military wife. The stories are personal, the candid pictures are good, the press release pictures show a life that no one ever lived.

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted Fri Jul 05 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    The Right Stuff 1.1

    If someone were to set out to write an addendum to Tom Wolfe's "The Right Stuff" using his style, language, and sense of humor, Lily Koppel has done exactly that.

    Having grown up admiring the original Mercury astronauts when I was a teenager, I've enjoyed many of the stories written about them and that era of space exploration. The Astronaut Wives Club is the asterisk "*" on many of Tom Wolfe's stories, or even those in books authored by the astronauts themselves through the years. It includes very honest, informative, and often humorous-to-sorrowful insights to what the wives went through as their husbands had the world watching their every move. It answered questions on many things I've wondered through the years, but also left me curious about new topics that are touched on in this book, but not fully addressed.

    One plus, most books on our astronauts end with Apollo crew members. This one also includes those who flew the Space Shuttle.

    While I enjoyed reading it immensely, I am only giving it 4 stars because I would have liked for the author to have made it twice as long with twice the information. I sincerely wanted to know more from the astronauts wives, especially from the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo families. But I support the privacy and respect on certain matters that Lily Koppel gave the families.

    Very well researched, very comfortable reading. If you're a baby boomer, chances are you'll really enjoy this book.

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Thu Jun 13 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    Interedting and fairly quick read

    Really interesting accounts of the space race and surrounding time period from the homefront's perspective. As a military wife of a Navy pilot, there were some things i could relate to. I thought certain narratives or stories could have been better "fleshed out".

    3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Fri Jul 05 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel, is to the Space Program

    The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel, is to the Space Program what Laura Hillenbrand and her book Seabiscuit is to horse racing. This book is a light and easy read. I pass it to all my girlfriends. A welcome change from the male "hero tale."

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Fri Jul 05 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    I'll just say that I loved this book. I remember the race to the

    I'll just say that I loved this book. I remember the race to the Moon growing up - it was such a part of our lives - but I had no idea about the fascinating story of the astronaut wives. The book brings it all to life as a time capsule that really captures how fabulous (and terrifying!) it was to have a husband picked to go up into space. Highly recommended. 

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted Tue Jul 02 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    I very much enjoyed the book, and would recommend it. That said

    I very much enjoyed the book, and would recommend it. That said... she concentrated on the Mercury 7, and a few members of the following groups. I started to feel that it was rushed as I neared the end. I don't know if there wasn't time or information for the later groups.

    There were some stories I would have liked to know more about... but I suppose time, and privacy, were factors. We don't need to know all the details of their personal lives.

    I wondered what happened to some of the widowed women, and the children. And, the families after it all ended. Interestingly, the women are excluded from wikipedia.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Wed Jun 26 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    Astronaut wives club

    Great source if historical information from the wives point of view. Interesting look into the women behind the men...

    2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Wed Jun 26 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    D Burns

    this is probably the most boring, poorly written book I have ever read. Bar none!! The characters cannot be followed, the plot is tedious, and it gives the reader nothing to look forward to. I rarely do not finish a book. Wish I could return it!!

    2 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted Wed Jun 19 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    This is a very interesting book. I was very young during the ea

    This is a very interesting book. I was very young during the early days of the space program, but I remember sitting at the black and white television when John Glenn orbited the Earth. I had no idea how much publicity these women had to endure. There was so much I didn't know about these first astronauts (especially Alan Shepherd). I felt like the book really captured the times....the role of the wives, the clothes, the visits to the White House, the prominence of Life Magazine, etc. Really enyoyed it.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Mon Jun 17 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    The Astrowives had all the Right Stuff

    Loved this book. The story that had not been told about what the Astrowives went through from the Mercury to Apollo missions. These ladies were the unsung heroes of the space race. NASA--not so impressed with the way they treated these women and families & the way they fostered the Astronauts infidelity.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted Sun Jun 16 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    Fly me to the moon! In other words. in others words, I love this

    Fly me to the moon! In other words. in others words, I love this book!
    OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted Mon Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    Highly recommended

    This is a great behind-the-scenes book about the vital role the astronauts' families played in the success of the space program, up through the Apollo missions. Koppel also illustrates the camaderie among the women (though their husbands and sometimes they, themselves, were also competitive!). When I finished the book, I felt that I knew the wives knew their husbands better - and had a more well-rounded knowledge of the space program. I enjoyed the personalized history, and was sorry for the book to end!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Fri Jul 05 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    Disappointed in lack of depth

    I was looking forward to finding out more about a group of women that very little is known about. The book really did not enlighten me any more than I already was. The writing style is breezy and it is a quick, easy read, but the lack of depth was really disappointing.

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Fri Jul 05 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    Not "Chick Lit". As gripping as the Delany Sisters Having Our Say.

    Fantastic insight into how "normal" these women and their families were, just like the rest of us. You feel all of the emotions- pain, sorrow and joy. Lillydoesa great job transcribing the story that nobody really knew. You come away knowing all are accomplished heroins. This is a must read, espically for young women and men.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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