Rebel Spy on June 2020
Pages: 368
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon Goodreads
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 opportunity. The body of a young woman 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 finds herself 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.
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 opportunity. The body of a young woman 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 finds herself 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.
Rossi weaves an adventurous tale of a spy’s life and all the ways she helped the American Revolution in this historical fiction YA story.
This is a hard review for me to write because I didn’t finish the book. Now, I normally don’t review books I don’t finish. However, I’m posting this review because, honestly, it wasn’t the book’s fault. I started reading this book during Stay At Home in California. So while I did stop over halfway through the book, I want to be clear that I don’t think it was the book. I think it was me.
The true and mysterious identity of Agent 355 (unknown to this day) is riveting. I liked how Rossi wove this wonderful story of the girl who didn’t belong and how she found meaning in becoming a spy.
The first part of the book centers around Frannie, a poor girl who is living with her gross stepfather. She sees her chance of escape and takes it, becoming Emmeline Coates, a woman of high rank and riches and sails to America where she will be living under this assumed name. Fast forward a few years and Frannie, now Emmeline in disguise, vows never to go back to the life she had, even though she is scared of her step father finding her. Add in the revolution, Frannie’s bravery to help the rebels as she poses as a loyalist will throw her into dangerous situations.
The first half of the book was interesting and moved fast as Frannie’s circumstances become clear and I immediately recognized Frannie’s need to escape. It was exciting to journey with her from her island out to the unknown, the urgency of being caught at the forefront. Once she got to the US and assumed Emmeline’s identity though, things slowed.
In the second part of the book, the characters seemed to blend together, none of them standing out. I also had a hard time believing she had accidentally roped in someone from her household and there were no consequences to this. (There might have been later, but I did get pretty far and never saw anything.) This is where I stopped because I felt like nothing was happening. She was spying and it was obvious this was all leading up to some big reveal. But I couldn’t bring myself to finish it. I think this says more to my state of mind than to the book.
Overall I think Rebel Spy has a lot of potential and is a fun historical novel that many will enjoy. It just wasn’t for me right now.
Kimberly majored in Songwriting and currently works full time in the music industry. When she's not listening to music, knitting or writing, you can find her outside reading her favorite genres: Young Adult, Adult Fiction, Mystery, and Romance.
I appreciate your honest review of this book, including your reasons for not finishing it at this time. It took me a long time to be okay with not finishing a book and now I have gone back to a few and my life situation/mood/mental state allows me to enjoy a second try with some. I’m hoping to buddy read this with a friend this summer. It’s a new historical era and character for me to get to know.
I’ve had a couple students request this novel. Definitely getting it for my classroom library…
Rebel Spy sounds great! Thank you for your review.
It looks like an interesting read.