Culper Ring members such as Robert Townsend and Hercules Mulligan are well known for the part they played in the Revolutionary War, but who was the mysterious 355 that could “outwit them all?” Inspired by many of the same characters featured in AMC’s Turn and the Broadway musical Hamilton, 355: A Novel chronicles the lives of three remarkable women who use daring, skill, and, yes, a bit of … flirtation, to help liberate America.
British sympathizer Margaret (Meg) Moncrieffe expects to find the carefree America she remembers as a youth when she returns from her Irish boarding school. Instead she finds the new country at war, with her father on one side and her new love, Aaron Burr, on the other. When her misguided attempt to end the war results in dire consequences for the Continental Army, Meg switches allegiances in order to amend the damage she caused.
After her husband Jonathan is captured by the British and dies aboard one of the notorious prison ships, a pregnant Elizabeth Burgin realizes she is stronger than she once thought. When a prominent member of the Culper Ring enlists her help on a heist of the prison ships, Elizabeth readily accepts, putting herself and her family in jeopardy in order to save the lives of strangers.
Patriot Sally Townsend wants nothing more than freedom for America. When her family is forced to take in enemy soldiers, Sally seizes the opportunity to garner information from them and pass it on to her brother, Robert, knowing that one false move could result in the noose for both of them. Instead of finding herself in danger when British intelligence officer Major John André shows up at her family’s doorstep, Sally finds herself falling in love. But Major André is playing the same dangerous game as her and Robert, albeit for the other side.
Told from the viewpoints of these three women—including the one operating under the code name 355—355: The Women of Washington’s Spy Ring is an absorbing tale of family, duty, love, and betrayal.
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I could not put this book down. It had me at the very first page. To think that women could have helped the cause of the American Revolution is amazing and how they could have done it.
Can not wait to read other books by this author.
Although we probably will not know exactly what happened, Kit Sergeant has created a scenario that brings history to life. I highly recommend this excellent historical novel.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
355: The Women of Washington’s Spy Ring (Women Spies Book 1) by Kit Sergeant is Historical Fiction, Mystery, Thriller and Adventure. Kit Sergeant was a new author for me and is now a new favorite author. I received a copy of 355 from my local library and could not put it down. Warning causes late night reading. 355 is such exciting historical faction that I immediately purchased it and Underground (Women Spies Book 2). 355 and Underground in the Women Spies Series appealed to me having grown up listening to family history, Revolutionary War Ancestors, American History and the DAR. This is a well written historical and a book to add to your must read list.
The Ladies’ TURN
I am a huge fan of the AMC TV show Turn and streamed each season on Netflix as they were available. So when I saw this book at my favorite book review site, I knew it would be right up my alley. And I was right.
While, of course, every detail in this book cannot be historically accurate, the author has done an excellent job researching the times and the stories of these particular three women. I love the amount of detail that she shared, both of history and of the settings. I’m a very visual reader, and I could visualize each of these women and their surroundings as they lived their lives.
The book is set up with the first scene set in the late 1930s, where an amateur historian is attempting to figure out who the mysterious “355” is, as mentioned in Culper Spy Ring documentation. It’s noted that the person is “a lady,” but no further details are given. This historian posits that it must be one of the three women, and those are the ladies at the heart of this novel.
I like that the author showed the women and the war from both patriot and loyalist perspectives.
We don’t hear often enough about the women who help shape history, so I appreciate this book for that fact as well. Each of these women lived very different lives and yet still made an impact despite the fact that their lives were so constrained by societal expectations and cultural norms. They are certainly women who could empower future generations, if their stories were more widely known.
If you, like me, enjoyed the series Turn, you will see or hear mentioned a few familiar characters. I found that added even more enjoyment of reading the book. If you have any curiosity about female spies, the Revolutionary War, or the Culper Spy Ring, you may very well enjoy this fictionalized account that touches on all those elements.
I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.
I read a well written Revolutionary War series in my teens and looked forward to this book. I was not disappointed. Another great one of female spies In the war. I found the level of interaction between the Whigs and Tories very interesting. In some areas, only in avid battle are they considering the other to be enemies – very unlike common held view today – while in others there seems to be “spying” on each other left and right. Unlike the Civil War where there were mostly clear lines, this must’ve been very confusing as families and neighborhoods would have been split. I really liked how intertwined these characters were. It felt more like one big story rather than being disjointed on different areas of the war- however, His may be simply because the area for this war over is less than the area in the previous ones, be that as it may, I still hold that I like the intertwined factor better. All in all, an amazing book.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Book one in the Women Spies a well written story that takes you from June 1776 until October 1779 and the women Elizabeth Burgin, Meg Moncrieffe, and Sally Townsend who played a part in the American Revolution. Being Canadian I had to think as I read this story. I would recommend it as once I started reading I was not putting this book down until I finished it. What a story! I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I enjoyed this. There was enough detail that I felt transported to revolutionary America but not so much that I felt I was reading a textbook. Both main as well as secondary characters were well drawn. I liked each of the three women and appreciated how each had her own motivations. The way their paths crossed in this novel and the fact that they interacted with some of the same people made this feel like one complete story rather than three separate stories. I also liked that not everything was black and white, that sometimes the women questioned their allegiances and that sometimes they had to face the negative effects of their well intentioned actions. It added to the realism.
I received an e-copy for review, and I’m so happy I did as I wasn’t previously familiar. Now I’ve bought the author’s next book.
355: The Women of Washington’s Spy Ring by Kit Sergeant is a work of historical fiction based on the spies of the Revolutionary War, most notably the members of the Culper Spy Ring.
The book focuses on the lives of three women spies: Margarette Moncrieffe, Elizabeth Burgin, and Sally Townsend. All three become spies for their own personal reasons, and one of them becomes the still enigmatic 355, a number code referring to a lady spy within the Culper Spy Ring.
Margarette, loyal to the British crown and daughter of a British sea captain, hopes to win the affection of Aaron Burr with a quick resolution to the war-in Britain’s favor-by passing on key information to the British she learns of while staying with a Patriot family. The consequences of her actions, along with seeing her father’s and her new husband’s “true colors” cause her to regret what she has done and to switch sides.
Elizabeth Burgin, whose husband is captured and dies in deplorable conditions on a British prisoner ship, masterminds a brilliant scheme to free as many prisoners as possible still aboard the vessel with the help of the Culper Spy Ring.
Sally Townsend, a devoted and beautiful young Patriot, watches in anger as British troops invade her community and home. She soon realizes however, she could use her femininity on her unwanted house guests to gain information to help win the war for independence.
The book is informative, thoughtfully written and interesting. I recommend reading it.
I received this book from e-Disovery. I voluntarily review this book. This is an honest review.
Women warriors in a covert war
Superbly researched and well-written, 355: The Women of Washington’s Spy Ring is a remarkably skillful blend of American Revolutionary War history and modern women’s fiction. Author Kit Sergeant gives readers an overview of the conflict and the roles of major players, but the heart of her story is the incredible courage and the outrage of three colonial women whose lives were forever changed by that war. Sally, from a staunch Quaker family with strong ties to the rebellion; Meg, daughter of a British officer and loyal to the crown; and Eliabeth, pregnant wife of a shopkeeper who fought for freedom and died a British POW, are the three heroines who (as we now know) could have been part of the Colonial Army’s intelligence gathering efforts. The fascinating transformation of these three, from typical women of their time and class to patriots and spies, is a tour de force in how the personal becomes political, and how the world map may change in consequence. Gifted with wit, charm, and keen intelligence, these are the women who made America, and whose legacy of courage still inspires American female patriots. My only issue with the book is the author’s regrettable tendency to sprinkle modern idiom into her characters’ dialogue: “Let’s do this” is NOT a colonial era catchphrase. That anachronistic annoyance aside, 355 is four-star fine reading for history buffs and fiction fans alike. This is a voluntary and independent review of an ARC from eBook Discovery.
Set in the time of the Revolutionary War, this spy story is based on fact and events surrounding the period. It is generally well-written, although a little dry at the time, nevertheless my interest was held all the way through. The women who made up the 355 spy ring were ordinary human beings with the dreams and desires of every woman who has ever lived. However, they were caught up in a war, not of their making, but one that impacted their lives at the deepest level. A couple of things came out of this book, the first being that war brings a chasm between families, friends and business acquaintances, loyalties are divided and survival of the fittest is the order of the day. The second is that woman of the era were considered blind, deaf and incompetent, based solely on their gender. With the result, when they became involved in the war at different levels, their contribution was overlooked, making them the perfect vehicles to carry messages. I found the book informative and may have enjoyed it more if I had been part of the US schooling system and American history had been part of my curriculum. As an outsider, I nevertheless found it interesting. The book ends on a fairly sad note, but with positive results. I received this book for free from eBook Discovery. I voluntarily post this review. This is my honest review.