Alex Myers (1)

In Alex Myers’ Revolutionary, a 22-year-old woman smolders under restrictive female gender roles. Deborah Samson fails in her first attempt to enlist in the Continental Army, but is successful in her second, adopting the identity of her dead brother, Robert. With deft historical detail, Myers shows us not simply the unusual adventure of the situation, but also the deeper transformation that takes place as Deborah “transitions” into masculinity as practiced in the 18th century. While we show more might think of critique of gender roles as a 20th century invention, Deborah’s/Robert’s exploration of the differences between male and female roles, expectations and presentations of genders feels natural—which is a good sign that the author is both familiar with the process and can create a character who is both believable and worth reading.

Reviewed on Lit/Rant: www.litrant.tumblr.com show less

This is pretty good overall but suffers in some ways that are perhaps explained by it being the author's first work of long-form fiction. The story didn't really gain any momentum until about the three-quarter mark with all the preceeding chapters feeling very episodic and self-contained. It felt like a series of short stories with each resolved and no ongoing stakes to drive the reader along (other than Robert's gender being an ongoing secret, which rarely felt imperilled). Once Robert and show more James are wounded, however, it suddenly takes on long-term structure that was missing for most of the book.

I kind of hate to make those comments given the multiple editors who are thanked by name in the acknowledgments but it does feel like the editing was uneven and the whole would have been better if the improved writer who finished the book went back and re-wrote the beginning more thoroughly. I will definitely read more by Myers as my feeling was he was a much better writer by the end of it than he began, and the final quarter of the story was strongly compelling. show less

I'm woefully behind on this review -- I inhaled this one back in January, the first full length novel I read after giving birth to Unabridged Baby in November. It was a wonderful return to reading.

I'd been dying to get my hands on this one since it's original release; between the setting -- Revolutionary War -- and the premise -- a woman who passes as a man -- I was immediately intrigued. My eagerness was well placed as this is a wonderfully engrossing read that is impossible to shake.

Set in show more 1782, the novel follows Deborah Samson, an indentured servant who is a weaver in a small Massachusetts town. Frustrated by her present circumstances and impatient with the few opportunities ahead of her, Deborah signs onto the Continental Army as Robert Shurtliff. She finds soldiering immediately fits her personality and years of hard work allows her to blend in with the other recruits. In time, her identity as Robert the soldier blends, bleeds, and trumps that of Deborah, but as she tries to imagine what her future is like, she's forced to decide who she is and how she wants to live.

Booth took the stack of coats the soldier passed him. "Think of the lasses in Massachusetts weaving and sewing these garments for you," he said. The words caught Deborah short; she had been such a lass, weaving cloth at Sproat's, listening to the other girls talk of their brothers and husbands gone to be soldiers. She had woven and envied and wished, and now here she was, on the other side -- on the inside -- of that same fabric. (p72)

Samson is a real historical figure, and her time in the Continental Army is fact. Myers convincingly depicts the life of Deborah/Robert -- the historical details are fabulous, rich without being overwhelming -- and makes believable this fascinating story. (And the end, oh the end! I cried. In a good way.)

My favorite part of this book was Myers' narrative style and the way he articulated the conflicting push-pull of Deborah/Robert. Deborah is Robert and Robert is Deborah, and yet, each struggled to live fully within the social constructs facing them: Robert could live the unencumbered free life that Deborah always yearned for, but love and motherhood seemed something only Deborah could have. In the story, Myers would shift between identifying Sampson as Deborah or Robert, but this isn't a story of two people, or split personalities. It is a bittersweet -- and occasionally just bitter -- look at the complicated dance done when society tries to push people into tight frames, relevant now and compellingly done.

A wonder historical novel of Revolutionary era New England, and a fascinating biographical novel of a forgotten, but intriguing, figure. show less

What is this magic?! Remarkable and only a chapter in. Audiobook reading by James Mac is joyful. Discovered this recording still has multiple takes that haven’t been edited out in ch 2 . A bit. Odd at first then sort of fits the storyteller setup. From chapter three all ok. The narrator is fabulous.
—-
Chapter 4 complete and this is an astonishing book.

—

Complete. A most marvellous story told so well. I learned about myself. This will stay with me. Astonishing.