The Shenandoah Spy (Paperback)

by Francis Hamit (Author) "Dick Ashby is dead, and the war has come to Martinsburg, Belle thought..." (more)
Key Phrases: mountain rangers, Front Royal, Francis Hamit, Miss Belle (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Historical fact-based fiction about the famous spy who played a key role in Stonewall Jacksons Valley Campaign.  This narrative take place between July 1861 and July 1862 and is the first in a series about the Confederate Secret Service and the women who were its most effective agents.  Belle Boyd was the first woman in American History to be formally commissioned an army officer.   

About the Author
Born NYC 1944, currently resides in California.  Graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, novelist, playwright, and journalist.  Served in Military Intelligence in Vietnam and Germany.

Product Details

• Paperback: 433 pages
• Publisher: Brass Cannon Books (May 9, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595959025
• ISBN-13: 978-1595959027
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,403,237 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A riveting and recommended tale, September 2, 2008

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Although Women were not formally allowed to become soldiers until the late twentieth century, this doesn't mean they did not participate. "The Shenandoah Spy" is the story of Isabelle Boyd and her time as a confederate spy. Disguising her acts in public by appearing as a Union sympathizer, she uses many deceptive tactics to keep her identity under wraps as she does everything she can in order to give the Confederacy a leg up in the American Civil War. Hamit has done his research, and it shows in "The Shenandoah Spy", a riveting and recommended tale of women in the war where the most American lives were lost.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Account ..., July 10, 2008

By	Carol A. Buchanan (Montana, United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

...of a fascinating woman.

Belle Boyd was an active spy for the Confederates during the Civil War. Motivated by love for her homeland and a fierce indignation at, not to say hatred of, the invaders (the Union Army), Belle at 17 became a spy and devoted herself to driving the invaders from the South. Most young women of her day and age devoted themselves to enhancing their looks in order to catch husbands, even with the War on. Most young women of that era practiced the alluring arts they learned at finishing schools to attract men.

Belle did, too, but in a greater cause -- freedom as she saw it.

In creating this character, author Francis Hamit has broken relatively new ground. First he has written about a nineteenth-century Southern woman, whom most writers dismiss as confined to the parlor and the bedchamber. Second, he has dared to present the Confederate side of the Civil War, when most writers dismiss the Confederacy as an evil conspiracy to prolong slavery. It may have been determined to prolong slavery, but many Southerners also viewed the Union Army as an illegal invader of their territory. In presenting Belle's opinions and feelings sympathetically, Hamit has shown the courage of a committed writer.

"Shenandoah Spy" is a book worth reading.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One notch above..., September 19, 2008

By	Richard Mandrachio (San Francisco) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Shenandoah Spy stands one notch above other Civil War novels of recent years. It is especially remarkable that a male author is responsible for such a credible portrayal of the unequivocally feminine character of Belle Boyd. Furthermore, Francis Hamit has delivered a sympathetic heroine while withholding any such approval of the Confederate cause or Southern lifestyle. Given society's normally patriarchal perspective, this is no easy feat. Through historical verisimilitude and some fascinating relationship dynamics, the scenes of this novel were magnificently envisioned. The inclusion of alternate viewpoints such as those of David Strother (Belle's cousin who served as a Union army officer) was a clever way to define the tension of conflict-ridden communities as well as the divisive loyalties within each family during this tumultuous period. It would be interesting to read additional accounts of Antonia Ford or other female scouts and secret agents mentioned in the narrative. All of this leads one to wonder how the few recorded documents of these people and their deeds will continue to spark the imagination of Francis Hamit and inspire other future writers.