Review: The Tory Widow

Rating:  4.5/5

New York, 1766.  Anne Peabody suffers the fate of most daughters - married off by her father, to an old prosperous printer for some print type, printer press parts and 10 reams of paper.   The day of her wedding happens to be the day the Stamp Act was repealed and the bells are ringing in the streets and people are rejoicing!  All Anne could do is try to forget the day before it's even ended...and she would have, had it not been for the kiss of a stranger.

Jump ahead seven years and we find Anne a widow, running her late husband's printing shop.   The American Revolution is heating up and pretty soon the British will be invading.  Anne is doing what she can to persevere, staying neutral and quietly carrying on with her business.  One night, the Sons of Liberty destroy her printing press and she is forced to revamp her business into a coffee house.  Anne is quite clever and as the winds of leadership change around her, she and her coffee house must acclimate.  

Anne stays out of politics for the most part, although she is on the side of the Patriots.  All this changes when she meets up again with the stranger who kissed her on her wedding day, Jack Hampton, a member of the Sons of Liberty.  She is soon caught up in his cause for independence, even trying her hand at a little espionage.  Blevins creates some really great characters that you instantly take a liking to - Sally being my favorite!

Oddly enough, for being an American, I don't find American history all that interesting, but The Tory Widow has proved me wrong!  The story has great flow and keeps the readers' attention throughout - there's a little romance, a little fighting, a few prostitutes and some great friendships.  The Tory Widow is definitely a novel that I enthusiastically recommend to all of you!  And here's the good news - the ending suggests the story of The Tory Widow is not quite over yet!

Related Links:

Christine Blevins website.  Christine Blevin's other novel, Midwife of the Blue Ridge.

Click here to read my post about the cool gift I received along with this ARC by Christine Blevins.


14 comments:

  1. I also tend to stay away from American history, which is sad because we are American.... but we did originally come from Europe ;). I will definitely have to look into this one. Thanks for the review.

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  2. I like American history when it's well written. I certainly didn't like it in high school. The text books were all outdated and dry!

    This sounds like a worthwhile book.

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  3. Enjoyed your review on this one!

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  4. I haven't read too much about the American Revolutionary time period. I just added this one to my wish list.

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  5. Well this is different...I too am not particularly drawn to this time and place in history- but the way you reviewed it makes me want to read it:) It seems like the story is well developed in terms of characters and pace. I think I'll look for this one. Thanks Amy for a great review:)

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  6. You are awful for my TBR pile. Great review!

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  7. I really would like to read this book one day!

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  8. Sounds good, and honestly I haven't read that many novels about American history, so would be nice for a change

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  9. This one has definitely piqued my interest! Great review.

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  10. American history is tough...there isn't much of it! Kudos to Blevins for writing this one, though!

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  11. Oh my, this sounds good. I've never read one on American history so this would be interesting for me. The best thing is that my google reader shows that you're having a giveaway too. Yahooooo.

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  12. I'm not that interested in American History either, so I'm glad you enjoyed this one. I'm adding it to my TBR list now!

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  13. I've seen this book around but haven't given it much thought until reading your review. This sounds like a great book!

    --Anna
    Diary of an Eccentric

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  14. I had a definite soft spot for Sally as well. She was just so much fun!

    I enjoyed your review! I've linked to it here.

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