Em’s Awful Good Fortune

Em’s Awful Good Fortune is a book that will stick with its readers even after the last page is read. The book follows a woman named Em through the years as she goes from being a single working gal to the wife of Gee. Written in the first person, the reader is able to see what Em sees and feel what she feels as she travels around the world being a “tagalong” wife, otherwise known as “trailing spouse” as Gee gets transferred from country to country working on various projects. The first time Gee travels for work, it is to Osaka, Japan. At this point, Em and Gee have a baby girl named Ruby. Gee asks Em to give up her job in Los Angeles working for a local music magazine. Em decides not to go and is automatically thrust into single-motherhood. She works, she does the shopping, she does the cleaning, and on top of that, she takes care of baby Ruby. When Gee walks back in the door eleven months later, Em suspects Gee has cheated on her. From then on, she decides that she will go with him to whatever country he gets transferred to from then on.

I really enjoyed Em’s Awful Good Fortune as I found Em to have many qualities that women have today. Her indecision of what to do in each situation was much like real life and I really enjoyed hearing the book in Em’s voice. From her relationship with her appalling mother-in-law to loving Gee and then hating him the next minute and from a yoga retreat that almost makes her smash into a tree to being poisoned by the toxic air quality in China if you aren’t empathizing with Em, you’re certainly sympathizing with her.

A fact that I found interesting is that Author Marcie Maxfield actually was a tagalong wife. I find this lifestyle fascinating, if not really chaotic at the same time. I think the fact that Marcie experienced life overseas is what really brought Em to life.

The one thing I had a hard time with while reading the book was that it skipped around a lot. It was a bit hard to keep track of the timeline. I decided that I would just go along for the ride and see what happened and if it would all come full circle. And in fact, it did!

With a brilliant cast of colorful characters and specific details of each country lived in, this book is sure to draw in readers who are looking to experience a true traveling adventure with real-life celebrations and letdowns.