Jennifer Chiaverini

Pledging her loyalty to the North at the risk of her life when her native Virginia secedes, Quaker-educated aristocrat Elizabeth Van Lew uses her innate skills for gathering military intelligence to help construct the Richmond underground and orchestrate escapes from the infamous Confederate Libby Prison. By the best-selling author of Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker.

A Novel

The Spymistress

Lacy W

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tw: racism, sexism, horrors of war, illness, gruesome injury, slavery

I am so disappointed with this book. Here I was, expecting to learn about a spy during the Civil War. I expected to read about the dangers, I thought it was going to be tense and fraught with said dangers. I truly had such high expectations regarding this book. I got none of that and my hopes were dashed. What to know what I got? A whiny MC who was exceptionally lucky she didn’t get arrested because all she did was argue and run her mouth like crazy. 

Also, I got a history lesson about the Civil War which I truly didn’t need and it did nothing to add to the story. A good portion of the book was describing the events that were happening during the War. Sometimes they were pages long. I just didn’t understand why all that information needed to be there. Most of the time, it didn’t pertain to what Lizzie was doing at the time. 

Let's talk about Lizzie because she ruined the book for me. I didn’t put much in my notes but I did put down that she was annoying which is all you need to know about her. All she did was fight with her sister in law and run her mouth. Look, I am anti Trump and will say something about him if someone mentions him. However, I also know when and where I can say these things. If it’s going to put me in danger, of course I’m keeping my mouth shut. If it’s in front of my family (who know my feelings quite well), then yeah I’m going to say something. But Lizzie just said whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. It was just frustrating as heck She wasn’t a spy. She just got other people to do her dirty work like her freed slaves. I couldn’t stand Lizzie in case you couldn’t tell. 

Overall, this was a boring book and it didn’t make me happy at all. The synopsis of the book lied to me. I was promised a cool spy network with a brave heroine. Instead I got an argumentative MC and a boring history lesson about the Civil War.

The Spymistress A Novel

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