It would be hard to imagine a tougher scenario than the one Taya Kyle has lived through. The widow of “American Sniper” Chris Kyle, she watched him grow and change in his iconic role as a multiple-decorated, highly focused operative for the US Marines, a tender father, an actively devoted marriage partner, and a thoughtful, Christian man. His last moments on earth were spent trying to help a fellow wounded warrior. Taya has had to cherish that moment, live with intolerable grief, provide parenting to two small children, and fashion a life for herself as the spouse of a legend.

"Throughout AMERICAN WIFE, the reader senses [Taya's] grit, determination, hidden talents, and all the ways in which, perhaps without even knowing it, she is a hero in her own right. "

Working with Jim DeFelice, who co-authored her husband’s bestselling autobiography, Taya reveals the inner turmoil of her marriage, the exhilarating ups and the sometimes very depressing downs of being married to a military man who, at times, seemed to love war more than her. His intense sense of duty to protect his fellow Marines as a trained, remarkably effective sniper left Taya on her own to watch the milestones of their two little children. The book underscores the discipline required to be a soldier’s wife, along with the loneliness and distress. Highlighting the physical and emotional distance, Kyle once emailed her about their toddler son: “Next you’re gonna email me saying he was driving my truck.”

After four deployments and slow but definite drains on his physical health that added up to a 90% disability rating, Chris came home, but all problems weren’t magically solved by his return to a role as husband and father. The usual give and take of a relationship was shadowed by the harrowing trauma Chris had experienced. Writing his story didn’t really help; in fact, “it opened old wounds.” But working with other returned vets both personally and through charitable foundations proved a balm for Chris. It was this that led him and a friend to their deaths in 2013, mercilessly executed by a mentally ill veteran who had reached out for comfort and counsel to the world-famous ex-sniper.

Writing her story, though, may offer some catharsis for Taya, along with her outreach through the Patriot Tour and the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation, the latter established to strengthen the marriages of military vets and first responders. Taya opines, “There’s a tendency to look at a stay-at-home mom and conclude that she isn’t ‘interested’ in serious things…it’s hard for people to understand that we’re choosing to stay home…” Coming out of the house and, like Chris, assisting fellow sufferers is helping Taya heal. Throughout AMERICAN WIFE, the reader senses her grit, determination, hidden talents, and all the ways in which, perhaps without even knowing it, she is a hero in her own right.