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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
A fast paced, fascinating read about 4 women during the American Civil War who fought, spied, and influenced the war across its years.
A really interesting history of the lives of four women who were spies during the Civil War - two for the Union, two for the Confederacy. One had begun living as a man prior to the war and continued as soldier and a spy during the war until she felt her identity as a woman was about to be exposed. One was a young rebel who risked her life running messages through enemy lines to the Confederacy. Two were jailed as rebel spies but released - only to spy again. One was a key figure in the Richmond underground - saving prisoners of war and sending them back North to the Union and providing information to the Union generals regarding Confederate troops and plans.
challenging
informative
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Slavery, Blood, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Grief, Sexual harassment
This was an amazing read! You could tell the author is passionate about her work and presents the book more as a novel than as straight facts. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and hope others will pick it up and devour it like I have. ^_^
I really liked the stories, but not the way the book was organized. Every time things started getting really interesting, the author switched to follow someone else's life, and instead of the tension being heightened it disappeared as I started getting into the new story, only for the same to happen again. Great subject, poorly executed.
I couldn't make time for it. The shifting between women and the dropping the book between long periods of time kept me from getting the flow of the book
Fascinating read. It sounds almost like historical fiction, as it attempts to describe the thoughts and feelings of the characters, and strings events together with a lot of flair, while also using their original voices by quoting letters and snippets from their memoirs. This book shows it is possible to thoroughly research a topic, as well as present it in an engaging manner. The book switches back and forth between four different characters: Rose Greenhow, Belle Boyd, Elizabeth Van Lew and Emma Edmonds, all of them acting as spies during the American Civil War. There are sometimes cliffhangers when switching characters, and the switches were sometimes a little confusing (who was this now?), but the author makes this narration style work very well.
Regarding the audio book, I was not a big fan of the voice at the beginning - a bit flat and too fast, however, I very much enjoyed it when it slowed down into a Southern accent. Can almost picture Belle when hearing that voice!
Regarding the audio book, I was not a big fan of the voice at the beginning - a bit flat and too fast, however, I very much enjoyed it when it slowed down into a Southern accent. Can almost picture Belle when hearing that voice!
read harder challenge 2017: read a book about war
popsugar challenge 2017: read a book with a subtitle
Three and a half stars. It was a little difficult to follow at times, but overall I really liked this one.
popsugar challenge 2017: read a book with a subtitle
Three and a half stars. It was a little difficult to follow at times, but overall I really liked this one.
A historical narrative that focuses on the lives of four very different women during the Civil War: two supporting the Confederacy and two supporting the Union, three doing so through spying and one through pretending to be a man in order to serve as a Union soldier. This book is not so much about the Civil War as it is about the experiences of these women with snippets of intriguing information embedded in their stories such as "respectable" women didn't go into the post office or talk about pregnancy, the South looked down on Varina Davis, the rumored death of Davis's son at the hands of his brother, etc.
Although 400ish pages, I found it a quick and enjoyable read due to the short chapters that flipped back and forth between the four viewpoints, leaving me on the edge of my seat as to what was going to happen next to Belle, the flashy out-in-the-open Confederate spy, Emma "Frank", the Godly sweet-hearted Union soldier, Elizabeth, the rich spinister supporting the entire "Richmond Underground" spy ring for the Union and Rose, the sought after seductress who put the South above her child and physical safety. The prologue is just as mesmerizing as the book itself, especially Belle's, who, if alive today, would most likely be a guest on Jerry Springer.
Although 400ish pages, I found it a quick and enjoyable read due to the short chapters that flipped back and forth between the four viewpoints, leaving me on the edge of my seat as to what was going to happen next to Belle, the flashy out-in-the-open Confederate spy, Emma "Frank", the Godly sweet-hearted Union soldier, Elizabeth, the rich spinister supporting the entire "Richmond Underground" spy ring for the Union and Rose, the sought after seductress who put the South above her child and physical safety. The prologue is just as mesmerizing as the book itself, especially Belle's, who, if alive today, would most likely be a guest on Jerry Springer.