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The Shenandoah Spy by Francis Hamit

Clark's Eye on Books by Clark Isaacs

"The Shenandoah Spy" commands your attention immediately and does not deviate from intensity until you finish Belle Boyd's episodes. Francis Hamit's captivating style takes you on a journey of fantasy which is embedded with historical facts about the war between the Yankees and the Confederates. Isabella Marie Boyd was a real spy during the Civil war whose name is shortened to Belle.

At seventeen years old, Belle Boyd becomes a heroine of the South by resisting the Northern troops who had come into Virginia. To avenge the death of her long-time friend and hoped-to-be beau, Dick Ashby, she decided to aid and abet the Confederacy in any way she could.

Setting aside traditional roles for women of that era, she had become proficient with a pistol, rode horseback better than any man, and was boldly courageous beyond anyone's expectation. Belle would do anything to assist in the cause! Newspapers of the era proclaimed her an outlandish person, called her a whore, and without proof, dubbed her a spy. At the start of the occupation of Martinsburg, Virginia, the Yankee troops went wild. They got drunk, entered private homes, and one shoved and abused Belle's mother and she shot the drunken Yankee dead. During the early stages of the war, there was little discipline among troops; officers were decent men, but the enlisted men had their problems, mostly with whiskey which was readily available.

Belle's father was concerned about the family remaining in Martinsburg, due to its evacuation by the Southern forces. He persuaded Belle's cousin Alice, his former slave Eliza, and Belle go to Front Royal, Virginia where they took over the operation and management of a hotel owned by Alice's Aunt. She had previously left for her own safety. From this vantage point, Belle was able to gain information, which proved to be invaluable to Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson in his battles with the Union Forces. She was trained by special personnel who were setting up spy networks. Codes, acting lessons, disguises, and many other spy tools were taught to her, including how to lower her horse so she could easily evade problems when she dismounted under duress.

One important element was not taught to her, and that was courage. However, Belle often displayed courage as she used her feminine wiles to wheedle passes from the occupying officers. After she stood trial for shooting the drunken Yankee, she was exonerated for that deed as an act of self-defense. After Belle was cleared, Yankee officers around her began to feel she was just a young girl who was not a threat. This turn of events enabled Belle to gather tactical information which she passed on to emissaries of General Jackson by means of coded messages.

All accounts are based upon actual events which happened during the Civil War. Author Hamit says, "It took me 10 years to do the research". Belle's flirtatious ministrations led her to have more than one affair and all in the name of the cause. This is not a history book which can be given to those too young. There are some explicit scenes which should be handled with discretion, but these are essential to this story. Newspapers of the day printed sordid details about her indiscretions, but the research upon which this book is based, disputes many of them.

Realism is what makes "The Shenandoah Spy" an exciting read. Francis Hamit has been a writer for over 40 years and is a true wordsmith. The use of dialogue as it was spoken in 1861 is used judiciously and when the characters speak, you are not distracted.

Highly Recommended.

The Shenandoah Spy
Author: Francis Hamit
ISBN: 1595959025 Pages: 433, $18.95, Publication Date: May, 2008, Soft-cover, Historical Fiction, Published by Brass Cannon Books

Clark Isaacs is an accomplished book critic who is published in local newspapers and national book review lists. Contact Clark through his website at clarkisaacs.ning.com or through NewsBlaze.