The Secrets of Mary Bowser: A Novel

I don’t usually read historical fiction, but was intrigued by this having been based on a true story. It is an excellent historical novel, filled with drama and intrigue. Mary Bowser was a freed slave who spied for the Union during the Civil War. She had been educated in the North, but worked as a slave in the home of Confederate president Jefferson Davis where she was able to gain access to important documents. None of the white people she worked for could imagine that a slave would be able to read, so she could memorize the documents, convert them to a code and pass them on to the Union leaders.
Because no records were maintained on activities of spies, I’m not sure that she had as great an effect on the war and its outcome as the author wants me to believe. However, it is a well-written book that held my interest and gave me a greater appreciation for the activities of African-Americans during the Civil War. ( )

Freed by her Virginia mistress while a teen, Mary is taken to Philadelphia to be educated. She later returns to Richmond, posing as a slave, in order to gather vital military secrets which are forwarded to the Union Army. In choosing Richmond as the novel's setting, Lois Leveen provides a refreshing change of perspective from the many Civil War novels set on Deep South plantations.The deliberate pacing of the story allows readers to be drawn into the danger faced by Mary as her espionage become increasingly urgent. ( )

Earlier last year I read [b:Miss Lizzie's War: The Double Life of Southern Belle Spy Elizabeth Van Lew|13092454|Miss Lizzie's War The Double Life of Southern Belle Spy Elizabeth Van Lew|Rosemary Agonito|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344670869s/13092454.jpg|18264296]. Elizabeth was a southern Unionist who spied for the Union. In this story, she arranged for her former slave, Mary Bowser, to serve in the Jefferson Davis household and gather information for the Union. I very much enjoyed that book, so when I saw this one telling the same story, but from Mary's point of view, I knew I wanted to read it. I enjoyed this book just as much! There were differences; the main one being that in the first book, Elizabeth, was the 'mastermind' of the espionage and in this one, Mary was the instigator. As the author explained, there isn't a lot of recorded history regarding former slaves, so the author got creative in telling this story. At times I had to remind myself that this is fiction, particularly at one point when Mary withheld information to manipulate the war. There is a lot of history in the book. There is also some insight into the lives of freed slaves and the difficulties they had even after gaining their freedom. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the Civil War era. ( )

As a child, Mary lives with her mother as slaves to the Van Lew family in Richmond, Virginia. When Bet, the daughter of her mistress, buys all the slaves and frees them, Mary's parents have to make difficult decisions about their future. Her father is still a slave for another master working as a blacksmith, and her mother doesn't want to leave him. Mary has an opportunity to go to school in Philadelphia, but that may mean leaving her parents behind forever.

I received this as an Early Reviewer book far too long ago, and I'm really unsure why I put it off so long. This book reads almost like a memoir of Mary, from the time she was a child through the end of the Civil War. It's really well done historical fiction, including a lot of period details without too many extraneous research details thrown in. Mary and Bet Van Lew were real people, and I was really interested in a lot of the extras included at the end, with photographs from Richmond and references to some of the books Leveen used in her research (I could have used a bibliography instead of footnotes to the historical note, but I'll take what I got to read further). Mary is a great character, and I enjoyed the way in which the varying beliefs about what was necessary to end slavery or to win the war was explored through the characters' motivations. ( )

A fantastic tale of a young slave girl in Civil War era Richmond, who is freed by her mistress. She is sent north for an education.

Mary then becomes a part of the infamous underground railroad, helping to liberate those less fortunate than herself. But when the Civil War breaks out things are going to change for this heroine.

Based on the life of a real person, and upon real events, The Secrets of Mary Bowser brings home the tragedy that slavery was. And brings to light both black and white individuals who assisted in bringing about freedom for those whom it had been denied for far too long.



****DISCLOSURE: This book was provided by Amazon Vine in exchange for an independent and non-biased review. ( )