The Spy Lover

American Civil War fiction is not a genre I seek out, but when I saw Kiana Davenport's name on this one, I couldn't resist. She always provides fresh angles on old stories. I can count on her to teach me something new, with facts as well as points of view.

I didn't know that Chinese immigrant men had been kidnapped and forced into service as Confederate soldiers. I also didn't know that women in the South grew opium poppies hidden among their other crops, providing opium "bull's-eyes" to their fighting men to fuel their victories in battle. This of course left a nation full of dope-addicted veterans when the war was over.

THE SPY LOVER is smaller in scope and time frame than Davenport's sweeping novels of Hawaii. This one is meant as an show more homage to two of her ancestors who fought in the Civil War, so the focus is more narrow and there is less opportunity to add complex layers to the characters. The story is told almost entirely in the present tense, which is not my favorite, but I was able to adjust to it as the novel progressed.

There are three main characters whose lives are woven together as the novel alternates among their separate experiences of the Civil War.
Johnny Tom is a Chinese immigrant who was taken from his family to fight for the South, but he escaped to fight for the North. As he moves from battle to battle and in and out of prisoner-of-war camps, we learn of his life in China and his peregrinations after arriving in America.

Era Tom is Johnny's teenage daughter. She agreed to spy for the North in exchange for information about her father's whereabouts. Working as a nurse in a Confederate hospital, she meets and falls in love with Warren Petticomb, a Confederate cavalryman who lost an arm at Shiloh.

Era's duties as a spy require her to be duplicitous in her dealings with Warren, but her love is genuine. Can she make him believe in that love when he discovers the truth about her?

Davenport manages to tell the story simply without being simplistic. Her purpose in part is to call attention to those who have not received their due in the historical records. At the same time, she reminds us with brutally precise and unflinching imagery of the tremendous toll we paid as a nation for whatever noble gains may have been achieved by the Civil War. show less

"The Spy Lover" by Kiana Davenport is an extraordinary book. It blew me away with its richness. Johnny Tom is a Chinese immigrant who has an amazing story even before he leaves China. His daughter, Era born from Johnny Tom and her mother, a beautiful Creek Indian, becomes a nurse and a spy during the war. Warren Rowan fights for the South loses his arm and meets nurse and becomes her lover.

Now you have a very short glimpse of the story which was inspired by author Kiana Davenport's search for her roots. She had a Chinese ancestor who fought in the Civil War. The scenes were written so vividly that I kept feeling that I was watching a movie on big screen. There was lots of color, lots of noise, lots of blood and lots of sorrow. This show more writer is a master at developing her characters; they were so easy to believe that I wanted to shout out "Don't do that"!

Historical fiction can pull you in many ways but the most magnetic for me is to learn. There is so much in the one little book that I did not know about the Civil War! None of that is in textbooks or history books that I have read about it. I had not thought of Chinese immigrants either volunteering or being enslaved in the war. I had not heard of the poppy farms in the South much less the dreadful working conditions there. I knew some of the POW prisons then, but this book opens an even wider door. Think of how dangerous it would be a woman spy of Chinese Creek blood during the war. Think of the state of nursing and medicine at that time period. Think of what goes through a young man's mind when he joins the Confederacy and learns the despair, the shock of killing and the numbness in numbers you have killed.

Please read this informing and deeply moving book. I recommend it very highly to anyone with an interest in Civil War History or Historical Fiction.

I received this book from the Amazon Vine Program but that in no way influenced my review. show less

Kiana Davenport’s The Spy Lover is a Civil War novel with a twist. What makes this one different is its focus on the wartime contributions of Johnny Tom, a Chinese immigrant, and Era, his copper-skinned daughter. It is common knowledge that a large number of immigrants participated in the American Civil War, but amateur historians generally think of countries like Ireland, Germany, England, and Scotland as their countries of origin. Few would ever consider China in this context.

Johnny Tom did not have an easy time of it after being snatched from his homeland and forced to work on the construction of America’s first intercontinental railroad. Indeed, he was lucky to survive the experience and make his escape from the railroad work show more gang to start a new life for himself in a tiny Mississippi village. Years later, Johnny’s world is ripped apart again when he is forcibly separated from his wife and daughter and conscripted into the Confederate Army. But, in the confusion of battle – and all the while praying that his family is still alive - Johnny defects to the Union Army in hopes of winning American citizenship.

Despising the Confederacy as much as her father despises it, Era agrees to work as a Confederate camp nurse in order to gather information she can trade to Union generals for word of her father. Although the information is surprisingly easy to get, the process grows complicated when Era falls in love with a one-armed Confederate cavalryman she nurses back to health.

The Spy Lover pulls no punches. War is brutal and ugly, and the American Civil War was most certainly no exception to the rule despite the romantic connotations so often attached to it. Davenport, in one graphic scene after the other, describes the horrors of the surgeon’s tent, recovery wards, battlefields, and life on the Southern home-front. She explores the impact of slavery on not only the slaves, but on the character and psyche of their owners. She recounts the rampant racism that existed in all parts of the United States during a period in which immigrants from around the world often fought each other for a limited number of jobs. The sheer ugliness of the picture she paints is a vivid reminder that the “good old days” are not necessarily good for everyone who lives them.

In the interest of full disclosure, I will point out that, even though I have read Civil War history and fiction for more than four decades, I still tend to see the conflict through Southern eyes. That tendency, however, is only part of the reason I find some of the author’s characterization of Southern culture and soldiers to be more stereotypical than realistic. For example, every slave-owner in the book resembles Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Simon Legree. These men delight in beating even the children of their slaves almost to death at the least slight or offense. Even more surrealistic is the author’s contention that, toward the end of the war, Southern troops - much in the manner of Chinese soldiers of the Korean War – commonly got high on chunks of opium called “bull’s eyes” before marching into battle. But, despite opium and morphine being more available to Union doctors, not once do I recall a similar reference to Union troops using the drug for that purpose.

I point this out because the message of The Spy Lover would have been more effectively delivered via a realistic, and even-handed, approach to the two sides doing battle. As it is, the novel requires a suspension of disbelief from me that somewhat lessens its impact. That said, The Spy Lover will not be soon forgotten by those who read it, and more casual fans of Civil War fiction are likely to enjoy it very much.

Rated at: 3.5 show less

Living in the deep South, usually, when I think “Civil War” I picture white men in either blue or grey uniforms, Abraham Lincoln and Emancipation Proclamation, or the antebellum homes in my area that are still standing. However, Kiana Davenport’s novel “The Spy Lover” has added a whole new dimension to the Civil War for me. Her story follows the journey of Johnny Tom, a Chinese man who is kidnapped into the Confederate army and later defects to the Union side, his daughter, Era, a spy for the Union, and her lover, Warren, a Confederate soldier handicapped by the war. “The Spy Lover” truly offers an untold and unique perspective on the Civil War. Thanks to Davenport I have a new understanding and respect for the minorities show more that served on both sides.

I recommend this book to everyone interested in Civil War history. However, I must say this novel is not for the faint of heart. Davenport doesn’t sugarcoat the Civil War like “Gone With The Wind” does. This novel realistically depicts death and injury on the battlefield and in the makeshift hospitals, as well as violence against women and minorities. Having finished the novel, I feel like I just got out of the war myself! The story is the right mix of action and drama. The characters came off the page for me, and I was moved by each of their longings for peace and something to live for in and after wartime.

I look forward to Davenport’s future novels! show less

A mostly meh historical novel with fairly flat characters. There were some interesting aspects (POV of a Chinese immigrant, opium usage by soldiers, etc) but throughout the vast majority of the novel, I really didn't care about any of the characters. I was also a bit ticked that many civil war details were lifted directly from the Ken Burns civil war documentary series which I watched for the second time a week or so ago. Maybe it's a coincidence but I felt like I was reading a summary of the show in several places...

The prose itself was usually very good and some of the writing is gorgeous. But still not enough for me to read another by the author. Unless a friend with good taste in books specifically recommends one.

The Civil War is one of my favorite times to read about in history, and I thought I would fall in love with this book. Looks like we will just be friends.

We get to see the Civil War through two Chinese-American's eyes: Johnny and his daughter Era. Both are caught in the middle of the war between the North and South, and both are struggling to survive a fight that isn't necessarily theirs. Their perspectives are very different and the war shapes them in very different ways. There are no real winners in a war, and everyone has a less than happy ending. Just like real life.

I have to confess the author almost lost me during a scene full of pit vipers. I. Hate. Snakes. I was listening to the audio and nearly wrecked my car. It was truly show more awful. No thank you. More terrifying than any horror novel, hands down.

Decent historical fiction, and interesting characters. I loved Johnny Tom. 3 stars. show less

I received a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This story begins by telling you of Johnny Tom’s past before he was thrust into the center of the Civil War. We watch him struggle in his youth to merely survive, experience the loss of those he holds dear repeatedly. We also meet his daughter Era, who becomes separated from her father and is desperately searching for any information on him whereabouts and whether he’s dead or alive. In her quest for knowledge, she finds love and experiences emotional turmoil as she has to decide which side she’s on and if she ever be reunited with her father. Kiana Davenport have woven a fantastic tale, complex yet complete. It puts you on an emotional rollercoaster and you will show more fall in love with the richness of these characters. show less