A review by shelleys_book_nook
The Scandalous Life of Nancy Randolph by Kate Braithwaite

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

 I enjoyed this historical book very much. Braithwaite's writing was so easy to read, considering the dialogue was close to the time (late 18th/early 19th century) and her research was meticulous. It had to be...because this is a retelling of a true story. I was fascinated by these sisters, their bond and relationship. They may have come from wealth but they did not have easy lives, always depending on the men in their family to support them...father, husband, brother. My we ladies have come a long way in the time since.

I loved being in late 18th/early 19th century America while reading this novel, it was such a fascinating time in history especially in the South. It was wonderful getting snippets of thoughts from Nancy's slave, Phebe. It was amazing how close Phebe and Nancy were and how they cared for each other. Phebe knew a lot more than she was letting on but kept her mistress's secrets.

I was impressed with the author's knowledge of the story as very little information is available. This was an amazing historical fiction book about a true life story I had never heard of before. This was an adventurous read with a twist of mystery...What did Nancy really do?

The only reason I am not giving this five stars is the two time hops in the story. I would have loved to have read about what happened during those time frames especially while Nancy was supposibly pregnant. And the other time hop was ten years with nothing really said about what happened during that decade.