Imagen del autor

Lois Leveen

Autor de The Secrets of Mary Bowser

2+ Obras 639 Miembros 63 Reseñas

Sobre El Autor

Créditos de la imagen: via author's website

Obras de Lois Leveen

The Secrets of Mary Bowser (2012) 447 copias
Juliet's Nurse (2014) 192 copias

Obras relacionadas

The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Volume 1 (1990) — Editor, algunas ediciones255 copias

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Conocimiento común

Miembros

Reseñas

Esta reseña ha sido escrita por los Primeros Reseñadores de LibraryThing.
I was very impressed with how deftly Leveen told the story of Mary Bowser and Bet Van Lew, given just how little is known about them, particularly Mary. I love history, and I especially love the history of people, things, and events that tend to be marginalized in traditional school classrooms. I had never knew of either of these two women's existence, and I wish they were at least mentioned in my school textbooks because they are amazing.

Leveen focuses on Mary Bowser, who was born a slave to the Van Lew family in Richmond, and is freed by Bet Van Lew following Bet's father's death. Bet sends Mary to be educated in Philadelphia. On the advent of the Civil War, Mary returns to Richmond and takes up spying for the Union, and even secures a position as a house slave in the home of Jefferson Davis.

Leveen does take some artistic license with history, giving Mary a much larger role in the plotting and planning than most historians are wont to do. I found the entire book fascinating, and loved Mary's slow initiation into the abolitionist world, starting at sewing circles to eventually something more dangerous and drastic.

Hopefully this book will inspire more people to learn about the incredible role Mary and Bet played in the Civil War.
… (más)
½
 
Denunciada
wisemetis | 45 reseñas más. | Aug 1, 2022 |
Juliet’s nurse is a pretty interesting character (when you are not jealously listening to the Juliet scenes, that is), and the upcoming novel Juliet’s Nurse by Lois Leveen explores this character’s life. We all know the basic story of Romeo and Juliet, but this retelling focuses on the relationships and loyalties, and explains some of the odder plot devices in wider context of Verona.

Full review contains some spoilers, if it's possible to "spoil" a play from the 1590s.… (más)
 
Denunciada
TheFictionAddiction | 16 reseñas más. | Aug 12, 2020 |
This was a well-written book about a historical figure who spied for the North during the Civil War in the USA. Mary Bowser was born a black slave in Richmond, Virginia who was freed by her owner and moved north to get an education. When the War broke out, she returned home and became a spy in Jefferson Davis' home, passing information on to Lincoln's people.

* I received this book for free from Goodreads First Reads.
 
Denunciada
carliwi | 45 reseñas más. | Sep 23, 2019 |

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Obras
2
También por
1
Miembros
639
Popularidad
#39,445
Valoración
4.0
Reseñas
63
ISBNs
20
Idiomas
1

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