Paper
Woman
American Revolution Mystery, No 1
by Suzanne Adair
Suzanne Adair is a Revolutionary War Re-enactor
in her off time, so she has written a wonderful book about the Revolutionary
War for every facet of our society to learn from in this day and age.
I have already put in my bid for her next work, which is a follow-up
to this story, which tells you how great a book I think this is. Adair
paints a colorful, engaging story about how our forefathers started
in the gaining of our freedom in this country from its roots in the
Revolutionary War. When America first came into being, there were
many places that were not connected to each other except through long,
treacherous distances traveled on foot or horseback. There was little
communication between towns and villages throughout the Eastern seaboard
and those people who could communicate were thrown into the fray by
the very act of getting their words out to the people. Such was the
role of Sophie Barton.
Her father and family printed and ran the only paper in the outskirts of Alton, Georgia, and were unwittingly
thrown into the forefront of the uprisings that were to take place all over the countryside to gain our
independence from England. The Creek Indians, the slaves who were run-a-ways, and the tradesmen from many
different nations were all involved in this uprising. The outcome for all of them was vastly important, both personally
and to the fledgling government that was to come into being.
Paper Woman is the story of a planned death hoax to take the attention away from some of the
revolutionaries and give several groups time and monies to plot and plan and instigate their next moves, so that
the war would not fail. Sophie Barton stepped into the mixture by being curious about her father’s actions while
at a dance, and by being in the company of and partially involved with some of the British Redcoats who were
monitoring and doing their best to stop any uprising that had potential. She was the bookkeeper of the family
business and went to the dance only to be spirited away and arrested and taken into confidence by the Revolutionary
activists. She had a very long journey to make through uncivilized territory between Alton, Georgia and Havana,
Cuba, which at that time in our history was fraught with peril and disease... as well as the marching Redcoats who
were hell-bent upon the destruction of her mission. She talks about the birthing of a slave baby while on the
journey and the battles between her group and the Redcoats and the trials and tribulations of life in the town
and on the journey. Can you imagine the hardships? Read this book and you will get a historical glimpse that
is not so filled with pretty clothing and fancy homes such as most authors would have you believe was the South at the
time.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book; it was telling, and full of tension,
intrigue, some mystery and a timeless romance that guided this Paper
Woman through her journey.
American
Revolution Series
Paper
Woman, 1
The
Blacksmith’s Daughter, 2
Camp
Follower, 3 |
The
Book |
Whittler’s
Bench Press/A Dream Tree Books Imprint |
Sept.
18, 2006 |
Trade
Paperback |
0978526511
978-0978526511 |
Historical
Suspense 1780 Georgia |
More
at Amazon.com |
NOTE:
Winner of the Patrick D Smith Literature Award |
The Reviewer |
Claudia
Turner VanLydegraf |
Reviewed
2007 |
|