I picked this up randomly because I am drawn to books with wife in the title. It’s a wild and well-crafted romp of a story, if an uncomfortable one. About midway through I found I could not put it down. I don’t know how I feel about white Americans writing about Africa and Africans anymore. This didn’t seem to be obviously problematic, the tone seemed ok, but what would I know? I was definitely entertained. I also learned things about Namibia and its history I had not known before that I intend to explore further, so that seems like a good thing. ( )

What a fun , funny, clever , insightful read this was. Plus a commentary of Americanism ( big orange Oompa Loompa) and interference in Africa. It is written with love to the African country of Namibia and its vast desert, poverty, animals and customs. It pokes fun at American diplomatic efforts even involving two nine yr old girls! To me the best part , however , is our three distinct but equally enjoyable characters ; Amanda, Persephone, and Mila ( Ester) . Great characters so different yet similar as trailing wives but with a hell of a lot more to them then they useless spouses who are removed to 2nd tier in this novel and not quite villains also .
Crouch writes an excellent novel where the reader does not get slammed in the face but realizes in the end the lessons of colonization, race, bigotry ,power and privilege in Africa. ( )

A Rhino, Ex-pats in Africa and Nazi Memorabilia make for wicked fun in “Embassy Wife”

If your spouse asked you to move to the remote African desert, would you? In “Embassy Wife,” by Katie Crouch (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), Amanda Evans concedes in order to mend her troubled marriage. Then, her life hits the fan in this hilarious political satire.
Amanda is a bigwig in a Silicon Valley tech firm, and her husband, Mark, is a long languishing assistant professor in Santa Clara. When Mark receives a Fulbright scholarship to study the Namibian Holocaust and becomes an advisor to the U.S. Embassy, Amanda resentfully packs their nine-year-old daughter, Meg, and their household possessions, and moves to the desert.
At the international school Meg attends, Amanda meets fellow American ex-pat Persephone Wilder, a career State Department wife, whose husband Adam is on track for an ambassadorship. Persephone views herself as the perfect “Embassy Wife,” who will follow her husband wherever he’s posted to climb the ambassadorial ladder, so long as she can self-medicate with booze.
After previous dull assignments, Persephone truly loves Africa. In this tiny, incestuous U.S. outpost in the Kalahari, Persephone is the queen of gossip. She barters it to keep her title as the queen bee of the Embassy families and to bolster her husband’s success. She makes pity on homesick Amanda, making Amanda her latest project-instructing Amanda about the culture, the country and the sticky politics of Namibia. But Amanda doesn’t give a hoot. She simply wants to return to the U.S.
Also attending the school is Taimi, the nine-year-old daughter of Mila and Josephat Shilongo, the Minister of Transportation. Persephone can’t stand the striking Amazonian Mila because her husband has the hots for Mila. Conversely, Mila fascinates Amanda. Amanda embraces their mismatched friendship and their daughters’ bond excites her.
As time passes, Amanda’s husband becomes more secretive and withdrawn. Unbeknownst to her, Mark’s true motive in relocating to Namibia wasn’t the Fulbright. Twenty years ago, he served in the Peace Corps and was involved in a tragic a bus accident. The government deported him to the states against his will, and he never knew the fate of his African girlfriend. Mark has returned to Namibia to find her and make amends. This secret is just the tip of the iceberg.
The hysteria begins as the love-hate triangular relationship between Amanda, Persephone and Mila develops, shifting like the sand dunes in the hot winds. Each woman is talented in their own right, yet the embassy system has subordinated them to men who border on incompetence; Mark is a lazy professor, Adam is a lousy lawyer and Josephat is a corrupt politician. Despite their cultural differences, these women bond, and jointly rebel against the patriarchal system and their husbands. With the turn of each page, readers will relish in their complicated adventures as the fireworks begin.
Buried within the light-hearted story of the ups-and-downs of friendship, parenthood and marriage, is a wry exposé on foreign politics under the former president’s regime. In the afterward, Crouch mentions she lived in Namibia and drew upon her experiences to create this contemporary comedy of political errors. She takes a clear shot at “the orange president’s” inability to pronounce the name of the country (“Nambia”) and referring to the county as a “s***hole.” These demeaning remarks figure prominently in the climax of this wacky insider examination of the Foreign Service.
During the sweltering days of summer, “Embassy Wife” will transport readers to an exotic location that few will ever visit. Readers will hear the lion’s roar, feel the heat radiating off the sun-parched earth, and see the purple and gold sunsets. Sadly, like the Embassy families, readers will never truly understand the political and cultural tensions existing in this former apartheid country, but Crouch’s novel is the best thing.
Where do the Rhino and Nazi memorabilia come in? There are no spoilers here. You’ll have to read this entertaining book. You won’t be able to put it down. ( )

It’s just…no. The detail about Namibia and local culture are interesting but the description of embassy life is so far off that it has me wondering if the Namibia description is accurate/true. Absurd and dark, yes, but not in a comical or interesting way, and the reader should also be given reason to care about the characters, not one of which has a single redemptive quality. Cannot recommend. ( )

Almost quit this a number of times but then realized that it really was written in a satirical mode. The characters are too over the top and the plot is so far -fetched. However, the author has obviously lived in Namibia and it was those details of the country that I enjoyed the most. Yet, it is a fun, summer read if you just suspend belief.

Amanda arrives in Namibia with her "academic" husband and her daughter. Here she meets the ultimate "embassy wife" in Persephone Wilder whose husband is higher in the pecking order. At times this read a bit like "The Help" as the wives of the embassy workers reminded me of the white ladies of the deep south dealing with what they felt were frustrations. There is a stunning beautiful Black wife of a local corrupt leader, children selling Nazi relics on the Internet, a rhino attack, crazy children's performances, gem dealing, and affairs abounding. The characters are cynical and unlikeable. ( )