Title: Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy
Author: Karen Abbott
Genre: Nonfiction
Synopsis: The unique stories of Belle Boyd, Emma Edmundson, Rose Greenhow, and Elizbeth Van Lew and how each played important roles to support their causes during the American Civil War.
My Thoughts
When I received this book as a gift I thought it was historical fiction. In the note at the beginning of the book, however, Abbott makes it clear that this is a work of nonfiction, stating, "Anything that appears between quotation marks comes from a book, diary, letter, or transcript[...]" and when I read that I started to worry that this might be more technical than I had bargained for. What I found was a well researched and wonderfully written work of nonfiction highlighting the risks that these four women took to support their cause during the war.
The book is written in 5 parts, one for each year of the war and an epilogue. Each chapter follows one of the women through the events that she participated in throughout that year, often leaving little cliffhangers at the end of the chapter. Both the Union and Confederate causes are represented, two of the women supporting one side, two on the other. Photographs of each woman and other prominent figures of the Civil War are scattered throughout as well. In addition, the 13-page bibliography gave some inspiration for other works I might like to read in the future!
I have read a work of historical fiction about Elizabeth Van Lew, The Spymistress by Jennifer Chiaverini (a seriously awesome book), but I had never heard of the other three women. Abbott uses her research to turn facts about little-known participants in the Civil War into an engrossing story of women who wanted to do more than knit and darn for their cause.
Comment below if you have read this book or have suggestions for others like it!
To buy this book from Amazon now, click on the image at the top of the post.
To see more from the author, visit the website linked above
When I received this book as a gift I thought it was historical fiction. In the note at the beginning of the book, however, Abbott makes it clear that this is a work of nonfiction, stating, "Anything that appears between quotation marks comes from a book, diary, letter, or transcript[...]" and when I read that I started to worry that this might be more technical than I had bargained for. What I found was a well researched and wonderfully written work of nonfiction highlighting the risks that these four women took to support their cause during the war.
The book is written in 5 parts, one for each year of the war and an epilogue. Each chapter follows one of the women through the events that she participated in throughout that year, often leaving little cliffhangers at the end of the chapter. Both the Union and Confederate causes are represented, two of the women supporting one side, two on the other. Photographs of each woman and other prominent figures of the Civil War are scattered throughout as well. In addition, the 13-page bibliography gave some inspiration for other works I might like to read in the future!
I have read a work of historical fiction about Elizabeth Van Lew, The Spymistress by Jennifer Chiaverini (a seriously awesome book), but I had never heard of the other three women. Abbott uses her research to turn facts about little-known participants in the Civil War into an engrossing story of women who wanted to do more than knit and darn for their cause.
Comment below if you have read this book or have suggestions for others like it!
To buy this book from Amazon now, click on the image at the top of the post.
To see more from the author, visit the website linked above
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