Friday, August 2, 2013

Review ~ Ring of Secrets by Roseanna White

Hello Friends! Today I have for you a fantastic Revolutionary War era book by Roseanna White. This is the first book of hers that I have read, and I won it in a giveaway on her blog. (No, that didn't influence my review, but just wanted to let you know to be safe :) )

Ring of Secrets  is the first in her Culper Ring series. and is followed by a free e-novella called Fairchild's Lady, which takes place in France during the French Revolution . The second book in the series, Whisper of Secrets takes place back in the United States during the War of 1812, and was just released yesterday! YAY! I can't wait to get my hands on it! :D

Summary: Ok, so in this book, Winter Reeves is a Colonial girl from Long Island. Her mother was an aristocrat whose family had strong Loyalist ties and her father a poor farmer and a Patriot. After her parents are gone, she is sent to New York City to live with her maternal grandparents, who are Loyalists through and through, and despise her because of her poor father. They see her as their only chance for redemption in society. Winter, on the other hand, has been recruited into the Culper Spy ring by her old friend Robert Townsend, to gather information on the British to send to General Washington, or 711 as he is know to the spies. Forced to conceal her brilliant mind and snappy comebacks, Winter pretends to be a clueless debutante to get information on the British to send to Robert via hidden codes.

Meanwhile, Bennet Lane, a professor at Yale, and the firstborn son of a wealthy land owner in England, has been sent to New York to discover the hidden spy in New York's elite. At the same time, his search for a wife is made excruciatingly more difficult by his inability to speak to women without stuttering - every woman that is, except for Winter Reeves. Together, the two must pursue their secret quests all while trying not to fall in love with each other. Filled with codes, intrigue and a bit of romance, Ring of Secrets will keep you reading and waiting to see what happens next!

A Little History: If you are like me, you had never heard of the Culper Spies before now - or at least not until recently. (I learned about them through an episode of White Collar and thought they were amazing!) If that's the case, I'll give you a brief history of their existence. Basically, the Culper Spy Ring was started during the Revolutionary War in order to gather information on the British and their troops and send the information to General Washington. In 1778, at the request of General Washington, Major Benjamin Tallmadge, also known as Culper Senior drafted Robert Townsend, Culper Jr., and between the two of them a number of other spies to relay information using invisible ink, coded messages, ciphers, and other tricks to let keep the information hidden in plain sight. They created their own language and used it in their conversations and communications. While not all the members of the Culper Ring are known today, many believe that a woman was among the ranks of the spies. Not even Washington knew who they all were. While the Culpers were originally thought to have been disbanded after the Revolutionary War, many believe that the Culper Ring still exists today. This is what Ms. White is basing both this book and the rest in the series on. Fun, right?!

What I loved: I loved the history. I love that Ms. White brought in real people and tried to keep their characters true to life. For example, Robert Townsend is known to have dealt with severe mood swings, and this is touched on in the book. I also learned quite a bit more about Benedict Arnold as well. I knew very little about him before reading this book, and it was quite informative. Other real characters: Major Andre, and Major Tallmadge, and some of the other military men who appear.

I loved the codes and spy stuff too. Ms. White made it very clear that these were just regular people who were asked to help their country in this very special way, and they did it - risking their lives to do so. The main characters were really well written also, as is the plot!

I also enjoyed the challenges that Winter gave to Bennet about his faith and making it real. I'm currently taking a class on American Christianity and we spent a fair bit of time discussing the religious sentiment during this time. It was very heavily split between the "feelers" and the "thinkers" - that is those who made religion about their experience and those who viewed it as an academic ideal (not much different than today, eh? ;) ) and very few people were in the both/and camp. This book was a good reminder that religion isn't just about the head or the heart, but both are needed to better understand and be in a relationship with God.

What I didn't like: I didn't like how fake Winter had to be at times, but I do understand why she did. I also didn't care for her grandfather either, but again, a necessary plot point. I found the term "Holy Ground" as a place for prostitutes to be ironic - and then I looked it up and discovered it was a real place! Right around where the World Trade Center complex is now. I also didn't like how much she used Fairchild and deceived him, but again, plot points that worked, so just my personal opinion.


Overall a fantastic book! I'm looking forward to reading book two Whisper of Secrets and learning more about the War of 1812! If you enjoy history, spies, or a little romance, you will definitely enjoy this book! It reeled me in and didn't let go!

Happy Reading!

Sarah K

2 comments:

  1. I have this book sitting right next to me, but I haven't read it yet! However that is going to have to change because I love history like this too!

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  2. You need to read it! It was fantastic! Hope you enjoy it, Laura!

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