Rebel Spy by Veronica Rossi (Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads)Also by this author: Riders
Published by Random House Children's Books on June 23, 2020
Genres: General, Historical, Young Adult
Pages: 368
Format: ARC
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.
I am a self-admitted, unapologetic history nerd and love reading about the Revolutionary War. Before reading the summary to this book, I hadn’t heard about Agent 355 but I was immediately intrigued as soon as I did and so excited that Rossi decided to explore it!
After falling down the rabbit hole that is a good google search and adding a ton of books that Rossi mentions in the acknowledgments to my TBR pile, I dove into this story and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Admittedly for me, the beginning of this story was a bit slow going, but it was necessary to really understand who Frannie is and why she makes the choices she does to become who she becomes and when the story has a bit of a time jump, I found that’s where I couldn’t put the book down and became more invested in the characters and the story. That’s where we really get to see Frannie/Emmeline come into her own and put herself out there and solidify her beliefs of what she’s seeing and experiencing.
I had known that Washington had a spy ring (thank you Spy Museum in DC) so I knew just a tiny bit about the Culper spy ring, but I really loved how Rossi delved into that world and the danger that these patriots were experiencing every time they shared information or tried to find out things that were being planned. You know from the get-go that Frannie is adventurous and daring and so when her life as Emmeline provides her the opportunity to help she can’t seem to resist.
There are only a few people who know the real Frannie, and one is Asa Lane. She first meets Asa aboard the ship that helps her escape Grand Bahama Island. They have an immediate connection, and Asa himself is a rebel who is on the side of the patriots. Things happen of course that pull them apart, but they eventually find each other again and Frannie isn’t sure what to make of him.
If you’re looking for lots of intrigue and suspense, I don’t think you’re going to find what you want here. I kind of felt this less about the spy ring and more about Frannie coming into her own and really learning who she is underneath this costume she has worn for years and really deciding who she wants to be and what she wants to be remembered for.
Overall, an intriguing concept and character to build a book around and I really enjoyed the characters Rossi created… and I really enjoyed how this book wrap up. (no spoilers!) Grab this one if you are a fan of coming-of-age stories and historical fiction!
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