A reimagining of the story behind Agent 355–a New York society girl and spy for George Washington during the Revolutionary War–perfect for fans of Tatiana de Rosnay’s Sarah’s Key and the novels of Julie Berry.Rebellious Frannie Tasker knows little about the war between England and its thirteen colonies in 1776, until a shipwreck off her home in Grand Bahama Island presents an unthinkable … presents an unthinkable opportunity. The body of a young woman body floating in the sea gives Frannie the chance to escape her brutal stepfather–and she takes it.
Assuming the identity of the drowned Emmeline Coates, Frannie is rescued by a British merchant ship and sails with the crew to New York. For the next three years, Frannie lives a lie as Miss Coates, swept up in a courtship by a dashing British lieutenant. But after witnessing the darker side of the war, she realizes that her position gives her power. Soon she’s eavesdropping on British officers, risking everything to pass information on to George Washington’s Culper spy ring as agent 355. Frannie believes in the fight for American liberty–but what will it cost her? Inspired by the true “355” and rich in historical detail and intrigue, this is the story of an unlikely New York society girl turned an even unlikelier spy.
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This young adult historical fiction spy story with romantic elements glided right up to real historical events and turned creative to deal with the lack of information in the historical record of spy 355 (Washington’s spy ring). I *believe* the ending has a HEA, but I think each reader can define that how they will.
** spoiler alert **
I received Rebel Spy in my Once Upon a Book Club June 2020 Young Adult Box. Rebel Spy is a historical fiction book set during the American Revolution. It gives a creative backstory to a high society lady spy known as “355” who truly existed as part of Washington’s spy ring, but who we know almost nothing about even to this day.
In this novel, 355 is Frannie Tasker, an immigrant who lives on Grand Bahama and assumes the identity of the wealthy Emmeline Coates, who dies in a tragic boat accident, in order to escape her abusive stepfather. Frannie learns the ways of high class life from an American Rebel as she makes her way to New York to begin her new life. As Emmeline, she is eventually courted by a British soldier and finds herself in a powerful position to spy for the fight for liberty.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The romantic plot lines (more on this later) and the main character’s development were great for me. I loved seeing Frannie struggle to reconcile her true identity and that of the woman she was pretending to be while growing as both. However, I do wish there was more to the spying. I can understand though how hard it can be to develop something without any background and trying not to alter any of the recorded history (which I think the author does a great job of).
I enjoyed the writing style and for the most part found it seamless to grasp despite the fact that the language is that of a different time period (a usual difficulty for me with historical fiction). It was challenging in the beginning because I’m unfamiliar with a lot of the terminology and way of speech, but I easily adjusted and recognize this as my own lack of knowledge with the time period and to no fault of the author’s.
This book had me feeling so many different emotions, and I was upset with the ending until it took me for surprise at the last possible moment (in a good way)! Literally, I had decided I didn’t like the book because of the direction of the ending and in the last 2-3 pages it changed my entire view. I do wish that I could have gotten more of a concrete ending and it seemed rushed in a sense that there could have literally been 1-2 more pages of closure but I didn’t hate it.
The more I think about it, I also don’t understand how or why Sewel was reintroduced (no explanation how he found her, especially after all those years) or Hackett for that matter (except I guess to protect her in the prison?). She alleges to no longer want to lie, but then tells a series of lies aboard the prison boat (literally, she no longer wants to live as someone else, but then pretends to be a boy). And if she really wanted to do what her mother wanted, why not take Duncan’s offer? At the least it would have been easier to escape from his side (if she had no intention of staying with him) than the prison boat…
Now, I did love the story that was told, which is why I gave this book a high rating. However, I decided fairly early on that I did not like this story for 355. Again, I loved and appreciated the creative story the author told without altering history and with the bare minimum we know about who 355 really is. I just wish that 355 was imagined as a strong woman of the upper class who aided a cause she believed in, instead of someone that is morally gray and masquerading as someone else to begin with. Perhaps it’s easier to see someone who is already living a lie to become a spy, but why not just a strong, intelligent upper class woman who did actually decide to do those things and be completely unsuspected by all, without anyone after her from a past life. That’s at least what I think of for 355.
Regardless, I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical fiction (especially the American Revolution time period), soft romance, and strong female leads.
Rebel Spy by Veronica Rossi is a heart-wrenching monument to all women who refuse to conform to oppression but rather sacrifice everything to help change their world.
Veronica Rossi stumbled across a scant reference to an American Revolution rebel spy named 355 which was code for Lady. Since there is no documentation of who this brave woman was or what sort of information she gleaned, the author decided to write a novel using historical people and events to honor the unknown woman and her unsung heroism.
The antagonist, Franny, is introduced as young, uneducated, desperate, and full of dreams. In the process of escaping an intolerable situation, she meets a young patriot who helps expose her to the concepts of liberty, life, and the pursuit of happiness and the true meaning of loyalty and love. Every decision she makes leads her closer to becoming a spy for the patriots.
A fast paced action packed book which will cause one to read long into the night, the reader will experience book hangover at the climactic end. It makes one think, and reassess ones priorities and tolerances. This book is heart breaking and thought provoking. It wouldn’t be a surprise at all if this becomes an award winning book.
I really have to applaud Rossi’s ability to realistically capture the feel of a story set in the late 18th century.
While reading, it’s evident how much research she must have done for her story. Many of the characters were real historical figures, her use of language was spot on, and she delves into actual events and situations.
This was a marvellously told story and I devoured every single page. This was top-notch storytelling.
My first thought on how to describe this book is just, wow. It was so good. The history in it reminds me of the Seeds of America series by Laurie Halse Anderson. It brings to mind a time that we don’t always learn about as much as we think we did in school. At least I know there are things about the Revolutionary War that I never thought about, even though I’m sure it was pretty obvious. But like the Anderson series, this reminded me about how slavery was still something going on in this time, it didn’t just revolve around the Civil War like we get so much about in school. Not to mention how much we talk about the United States starting in 1776, but that wasn’t the end of the Revolutionary War, it really was right around the beginning!
This book is about a female spy that actually we don’t know for sure who she was, but Veronica Rossi has woven an imaginative tale that invites the reader in to where you can just see the type of woman who might have volunteered for this type of duty. But not just that, we got a peek into so many different lifestyles of people at that time. From those living on islands like the Grand Bahamas, to those privateering or pirating, and clear up to the well-to-do members of society. In this story we really get only the society of those who were Loyalists, siding with the British. Our glimpses into the lives and fight of those who were fighting for American’s freedom are mainly through shopkeepers, prisoners on horrible ships and other prisons, and those smuggling to safety those that they can from the area of New York and the other British holdings.
We got to hear the names of several historical figures as players mostly in the background of the story, George Washington and Benedict Arnold to name a few.
A wonderful story, fitting for the times we are in, bringing up how the slaves were treated at that time. Yes, the British may have “freed them”, but it was only the slaves of Loyalists, not those of the Patriots. And it wasn’t just that this was such a good story, the writing really kept me reading, barely able to put down this over 350 page book. It’s one I’ll be highly recommending, as well as purchasing for the students at the high school library where I work.