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A review by ifyouhappentoremember
Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War by Karen Abbott
2.0
2.5
The premise is absolutely fascinating: four women from very different backgrounds who had engaged in espionage during the American Civil War. Their stories deserve to be told and to be known by a modern audience! Unfortunately I did not like the delivery.
I absolutely detest non-fiction works that are written similarly to fiction. In my opinion, sentences like “so-and-so thought this” or “she was feeling terrified during this situation” do not belong in non-fiction works. It’s a lazy way for an author to try and get a reader to connect emotionally to the event and it often ends up putting the author’s own thoughts and feelings into the historical event. Abbot uses this technique frequently and it drove me up the wall.
Additionally, I was very annoyed that despite Abbot’s assertion at the introduction of the book that she would correct any exaggerations or myths surrounding the exploits of these women, SHE NEVER DID IT. I would have loved a candid look and the thin line between the truth and the mythologizing but this book doesn’t deliver.
Overall, it was just so disappointing.
The premise is absolutely fascinating: four women from very different backgrounds who had engaged in espionage during the American Civil War. Their stories deserve to be told and to be known by a modern audience! Unfortunately I did not like the delivery.
I absolutely detest non-fiction works that are written similarly to fiction. In my opinion, sentences like “so-and-so thought this” or “she was feeling terrified during this situation” do not belong in non-fiction works. It’s a lazy way for an author to try and get a reader to connect emotionally to the event and it often ends up putting the author’s own thoughts and feelings into the historical event. Abbot uses this technique frequently and it drove me up the wall.
Additionally, I was very annoyed that despite Abbot’s assertion at the introduction of the book that she would correct any exaggerations or myths surrounding the exploits of these women, SHE NEVER DID IT. I would have loved a candid look and the thin line between the truth and the mythologizing but this book doesn’t deliver.
Overall, it was just so disappointing.