Reviews

The Ambassador's Wife by Jennifer Steil

xishangal's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

debbiemanning's review against another edition

5.0

I loved this book! I won an ARC from Goodreads. It was just a really good story with interesting characters in an exotic setting. A free spirited artist marries a subdued British ambassador assigned to an unstable Middle Eastern country. The country's inhabitants become real people, not just text book terrorists. The ending is not happily ever after, but it's a satisfying conclusion.

rlofgren's review

5.0

This book was captivating from the start. As a nursing mom, it especially touched my heart. Characters were lovable and realistic.

nlkdonahue's review against another edition

4.0

Really enjoyed this.

elvenavari's review against another edition

4.0

This was a beautiful piece of writing. Such detail, such passion! There were only spots that I felt it was dragging or rushed, sadly, those where important parts at the beginning and end.

kellynoyes's review against another edition

4.0

This was a five-star book with a four-star ending. It tells the interesting love story and life of an artist who moves to the fictional middle eastern country Mazrooq with her lesbian lover, then falls in love with the British ambassador and marries him. The story tells their meeting and life in flashback, interspersed with first the wife's adaptation to married life, and then her kidnapping. It was a fascinating book with characters that were perhaps a bit too likable to be true, but the ending was disappointing for me, for reasons I can't quite put my finger on. Overall I thought it was a great read that opened my mind to some of the realities of living in a middle eastern country as a non-Muslim.

esquiredtoread's review against another edition

3.0

I have defeated this beast! And early enough to add it to my January book count (yay!).

I thought the author wrote the family life very well, it was very sweet and I was definitely *in* the book for that part.

However, ultimately, there was just way too much going on and not enough time spent really developing the plots. The pacing was slow, and a book that discusses very not boring topics ended up being extremely boring at times. Which is truly a shame.

I enjoyed learning more about diplomat/ambassador politics, and it was fun to be in that world for a while but there were just too many things left open ended or just not developed enough for my liking.

penny_literaryhoarders's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars. Infinitely longer than necessary, it was close to 80% finished before this picked up and focused on Miranda, the Ambassador's Wife, her kidnapping, reason for the kidnapping and harrowing escape. I felt as though we had to listen to every thing from what they ate for breakfast before Miranda met Finn, what they ate for breakfast when they were married and way too much about their pasts before they were married. Finally, finally, as we come into the home stretch does it become glued to the pages (but only a little bit still) to find out what will happen next.

I listened to the first 50% in audio, purchasing it because Euan Morton was reading the part for Finn. He was excellent in [b:The Chalk Man|35356382|The Chalk Man|C.J. Tudor|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1498902366s/35356382.jpg|52592002], but just okay here. I think because there were more female voices to butcher in this book. Orlagh Cassidy narrated for Miranda and she was exceptional as always. But the pages and pages and pages and pages of extra stuffing had me pulling at my hair to move this to the crux of the book. Happily, I had the hardcover on my shelf.

A good story overall, you just have to be exceptionally patient with it.

jessicaesquire's review against another edition

3.0

It's quite apparent that Steil knows what she's writing about. So much of this book feels true and real, especially the location (the fictional Muslim country of Mazrooq, which is similar to several Middle Eastern or African countries) and the inner workings of life as an Ambassador. I also loved that Steil's protagonist, Miranda, had a full life as an artist, a mother, and a bisexual woman. It's rare you get to see so many strong character traits combined.

While it's a fascinating book, it's also too long for the first 3/4's and much too rushed for the last 1/4. I would have preferred a more traditional timeline instead of the jumping back and forth, which did little for the structure and plot. The story of Miranda's abduction gets spread out so thinly that you keep losing your investment in it.

Still, a worthwhile read and nice to see this kind of book published.