A review by mjsteimle
Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War by Karen Abbott
2.0
This was a pretty entertaining book to listen to over the past month as I drove to and from work and on other errands. It tells the story of four women - two with Union sympathies and two with Confederate sympathies, who worked as spies (and in one case passed as a man and enlisted as a soldier) during the Civil War.
A couple of things that struck me. Belle Boyd was a complete piece of work, not in a good way. What she wanted most in her life was attention, specifically attention from men; she was basically the Kim Kardashian of her day. Both of the Confederate women came across as very high-and-mighty. I'm not sure if that is part of the author's bias or what, but I liked both of the Union women much better.
My big issue with this book is that I'm pretty sure it's bad history. I would need to know more about the author's sources and notes to know for sure (in an audiobook you generally don't have access to end material such as bibliographies and notes), but the author continually tells us what various people are thinking and feeling. I tried to give Abbott the benefit of a doubt; maybe these four women kept particularly detailed journals and letters. However, when she described what one of the women was thinking and feeling as she died, the author pretty much lost all credibility in my eyes.
A couple of things that struck me. Belle Boyd was a complete piece of work, not in a good way. What she wanted most in her life was attention, specifically attention from men; she was basically the Kim Kardashian of her day. Both of the Confederate women came across as very high-and-mighty. I'm not sure if that is part of the author's bias or what, but I liked both of the Union women much better.
My big issue with this book is that I'm pretty sure it's bad history. I would need to know more about the author's sources and notes to know for sure (in an audiobook you generally don't have access to end material such as bibliographies and notes), but the author continually tells us what various people are thinking and feeling. I tried to give Abbott the benefit of a doubt; maybe these four women kept particularly detailed journals and letters. However, when she described what one of the women was thinking and feeling as she died, the author pretty much lost all credibility in my eyes.