From the Bookshelf of The Reading Challenge Group…

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War

Karen Abbott

Start date: April 1, 2016

Finish date: April 30, 2016

Discussion: Group Read Archive 2014-16

Why we're reading this: Alternate Group Read (Non Fiction)-April 2016
[close] Alternate Group Read (Non Fiction)-April 2016

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Group Read Archive 2014-16

Genre Group Read (Humour) - December 2016 - You Are Not So Smart
By Allison , Quest Hound · 11 posts · 30 views

last updated Dec 28, 2016 04:05PM

Alternate Group Read (Classics) - December 2016 - Mansfield Park
By Allison , Quest Hound · 5 posts · 18 views

last updated Dec 04, 2016 09:34AM

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What Members Thought

Jan 30, 2016 Wendy rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobooks, non-fiction, memoir-biography, girls-rock-the-boys

I found this to be a highly readable and eye-opening account of the unsung role of four women "spies" in the Civil War. The narrative alternates between Emma and Elizabeth (both Union supporters), and Belle and Rose (Rebel sympathizers), and follows a chronological trajectory through the war and beyond. I recently read one of Karen Abbott's other books, Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul which was teeming with interesting historical characters, ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Apr 07, 2018 Chinook rated it really liked it

Shelves: america, feminism

It took me about a third of the book to really warm to this story of two Union and two Rebel women acting as spies and soldiers. Perhaps my lack of historical knowledge influenced me or perhaps the accent of the narrator during some of the parts did it. But by the end I was very invested in how their lives would end up, at the end of the war and after.

1 like · Like · see review

Jan 06, 2023 Jenn rated it really liked it

Shelves: i-own-it, memoirs-biographies-essays, nonfiction, history, audio, 2023

Finished Liar Temptress Soldier Spy 4 stars. Audible version. Has been on my shelf 8 years. I found the stories of 4 women that were spies during the civil war to be very interesting. The author did an excellent job pulling from research. Every word spoken from the females comes from journals or newspaper. There is no fiction here. The narrator did an excellent job brining the stories to life.

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