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Rig Wives
We live our lives one hitch at a time. Along with that come tears of anxiety and stress when trying to hold it all together. But then there is the laughter and comfort when surrounded by the right people, the ones we have grown close to, who have become our family and friends, our rocks some days: our fellow rig wives. The offshore is not for the faint of heart. The ocean can be a dark and lonely place. Our husbands risk their lives every time they go to work. While some people’s relationships dissolve, others stand tall. Only the strong survive.
Kelly Earle’s husband, who works offshore in the oil industry, inspired her to write Rig Wives. Interviews with other rig wives tell the stories of the women who wait. Their tales of determination, perseverance, and camaraderie, while their husbands engage in one of the most dangerous occupations in the world, are an inspiration to all.
Kelly Earle’s husband, who works offshore in the oil industry, inspired her to write Rig Wives. Interviews with other rig wives tell the stories of the women who wait. Their tales of determination, perseverance, and camaraderie, while their husbands engage in one of the most dangerous occupations in the world, are an inspiration to all.
171 pages, Paperback
Published June 3, 2022
189 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 27, 2025
I was looking forward to reading this after I won this book from goodreads because I always found this industry to be interesting but unfortunately I found this book just to repeat the same things over and over again.
Overall some parts were interesting and I knew nothing about… anything to all the men and women who risk their lives to work on rigs!
Overall some parts were interesting and I knew nothing about… anything to all the men and women who risk their lives to work on rigs!
February 20, 2023
Really well written book that hits home for many families here in Newfoundland. Definitely recommended reading, for not only people already working in the offshore industry but also people to what to start a career offshore and see what challenges await. Also recommend anyone with family or friends working offshore to read this to have an appreciation of what the struggles of rig life really are.
July 4, 2022
Women, home alone, fanning the hearth fires and rearing the youngsters. It has been the case ever since Caveman Carl picked up a pointed stick and headed north towards the glaciers to hunt wooly mammoths, leaving behind Mrs. Carl, a covey of kids, and perhaps a pair of pet wolves…
…leaving Mrs. Carl to manage the household. To ride herd on the kids. To juggle worry and anxiety about what harm might befall Carl. What if an enraged mammoth stomped him, squished him into the primordial ooze?
Or, on the other hand, what if some catastrophe befell Mrs. Herself ? What if a sabretooth puss pounced on her noggin and left her cave-kids motherless (and fatherless if Poppy Carl was trod into the muck)?
Hold the ponies. I’m babbling.
The situations described in Rig Wives [Flanker Press] are not a bit like that old foolishness I’ve been raving on about.
Or are they?
Rig wife Kelly Earle and her peers, wives whose husbands work on oil rigs offshore Newfoundland and elsewhere, are left on their own, tending those home fires to the point of exhaustion. Overwhelmed. Frustrated.
In the ominous shadows of close-to-home rig-related tragedies ( Ocean Ranger, Cougar Flight 491) at the top of the list of the rig wife’s worries is this great anxiety-breeding What If.
Of course, watching Marky Mark in the movie Deepwater Horizon — as one wife mentions having done — does nothing to lessen What If anxiety, eh b’ys?
Off on a tangent?
Included in this book is a section in which rig kids are questioned about their relationships with their almost-strangers fathers — Where does daddy work? and the like...
…and, perhaps, What do you like most about daddy coming home?
Here’s the tangent.
When I was a wee bay-boy my father often went on a hitch in the lumber woods, as did many fathers. The women left behind were lumber woods wives, I suppose — and I was a lumber woods kid.
When my father came home after being absent for months, he was an exciting, kind of stranger.
What did I like most about my father coming home?
He always brought me comic books.
Slap me on the head, knock my hat off if I’m being too cavalier.
Kelly Earle speaks of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives of rig wives and workers.
I recently hear a story from Alberta’s oilpatch.
Some oil sands workers decide not to come home to The Rock during their off time for fear of, not only bringing Covid home to their families, but also of contracting Covid while at home and having to stay home extra time without pay.
I understand — attack my hat again if I’m stump stund and wrong — workers remain on the payroll if they come down with Covid while still in camp but on down time.
Of course, the money matters. Many — most? — rig wives have given up their own careers to stay home and, as Harry Belafonte sang in a previous century, “mind the babies.”
Listen, rig wives deserve compounded acclamations.
So, hats off to them.
Likely mine’s already off.
Thank you for reading.
…leaving Mrs. Carl to manage the household. To ride herd on the kids. To juggle worry and anxiety about what harm might befall Carl. What if an enraged mammoth stomped him, squished him into the primordial ooze?
Or, on the other hand, what if some catastrophe befell Mrs. Herself ? What if a sabretooth puss pounced on her noggin and left her cave-kids motherless (and fatherless if Poppy Carl was trod into the muck)?
Hold the ponies. I’m babbling.
The situations described in Rig Wives [Flanker Press] are not a bit like that old foolishness I’ve been raving on about.
Or are they?
Rig wife Kelly Earle and her peers, wives whose husbands work on oil rigs offshore Newfoundland and elsewhere, are left on their own, tending those home fires to the point of exhaustion. Overwhelmed. Frustrated.
In the ominous shadows of close-to-home rig-related tragedies ( Ocean Ranger, Cougar Flight 491) at the top of the list of the rig wife’s worries is this great anxiety-breeding What If.
Of course, watching Marky Mark in the movie Deepwater Horizon — as one wife mentions having done — does nothing to lessen What If anxiety, eh b’ys?
Off on a tangent?
Included in this book is a section in which rig kids are questioned about their relationships with their almost-strangers fathers — Where does daddy work? and the like...
…and, perhaps, What do you like most about daddy coming home?
Here’s the tangent.
When I was a wee bay-boy my father often went on a hitch in the lumber woods, as did many fathers. The women left behind were lumber woods wives, I suppose — and I was a lumber woods kid.
When my father came home after being absent for months, he was an exciting, kind of stranger.
What did I like most about my father coming home?
He always brought me comic books.
Slap me on the head, knock my hat off if I’m being too cavalier.
Kelly Earle speaks of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives of rig wives and workers.
I recently hear a story from Alberta’s oilpatch.
Some oil sands workers decide not to come home to The Rock during their off time for fear of, not only bringing Covid home to their families, but also of contracting Covid while at home and having to stay home extra time without pay.
I understand — attack my hat again if I’m stump stund and wrong — workers remain on the payroll if they come down with Covid while still in camp but on down time.
Of course, the money matters. Many — most? — rig wives have given up their own careers to stay home and, as Harry Belafonte sang in a previous century, “mind the babies.”
Listen, rig wives deserve compounded acclamations.
So, hats off to them.
Likely mine’s already off.
Thank you for reading.
June 23, 2022
“Rig Wives” offers incredible insight into the lives of women whose partners work on offshore oil rigs and is a very open and very honest look at what this lifestyle entails.
Earle writes candidly of both the positives and negatives of being a “rig wife” and even offers perspectives from other women and their experiences in this field. Each one is similar in many ways but we also see how differently these families cope with the issues that come with rotation work. Their respective challenges are unique but their fear; the stress and burden of often being a “part time single parent” – it’s something that they share and it creates a bond like no other. It’s very eye-opening. We even get some insight from the “rig kids” themselves. It is very sweet but heartbreaking when they talk about dad missing special occasions, important holidays like Christmas or even their birthday. As a mother, I know how difficult this must be for all involved.
The author has done an excellent job of making the material relatable and I appreciate that she’d doesn’t sugar-coat things. She touches on the tragedies and the triumphs and a little bit of everything in between. It is, at times, quite emotional.
The writing flows easily, which is what makes this an absolute pleasure to read and I cannot think of anyone who would not enjoy this book. 10/10.
Earle writes candidly of both the positives and negatives of being a “rig wife” and even offers perspectives from other women and their experiences in this field. Each one is similar in many ways but we also see how differently these families cope with the issues that come with rotation work. Their respective challenges are unique but their fear; the stress and burden of often being a “part time single parent” – it’s something that they share and it creates a bond like no other. It’s very eye-opening. We even get some insight from the “rig kids” themselves. It is very sweet but heartbreaking when they talk about dad missing special occasions, important holidays like Christmas or even their birthday. As a mother, I know how difficult this must be for all involved.
The author has done an excellent job of making the material relatable and I appreciate that she’d doesn’t sugar-coat things. She touches on the tragedies and the triumphs and a little bit of everything in between. It is, at times, quite emotional.
The writing flows easily, which is what makes this an absolute pleasure to read and I cannot think of anyone who would not enjoy this book. 10/10.
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July 15, 2022A real life look into the day to day feelings, worries, and realities of a rig wife.
Enjoyed Gary Wall’s story or his Ocean Ranger experience.
Enjoyed Gary Wall’s story or his Ocean Ranger experience.
September 13, 2022
Told with honesty and gratitude, Rig Wives by Kelly Earle is the biographical/autobiographical tale of partners and wives of rotational oil rig workers. Check out my review here https://firesidecollections.blogspot....
April 17, 2023
Nice book for those who are what she calls rig wives, however many of their stories are no different than those who have spouses who work away from home or are single parents. The stories of offshore tragedies were touching.
January 29, 2024
A really touching homage to both the workers on the rigs and the spouses at home. Rig Wives doesn't shy away from the darker aspects of rotational worker relationships and stories of infidelity and loss, but it also tells stories of love and hope. A quick and worthwhile read.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews