Revolutionary

I was afraid after my recent experience with An Unnecessary Woman that Revolutionary (#374) would turn out to be similarly disappointing, with the critical buzz based more on author Alex Myers' transgendered status than a good story told well.  Be reassured.  It is definitely worth reading for the insight it provides on a largely forgotten episode of American history.

I do think that there is somewhat of a twenty first century century sensibility worked into this story of Deborah Samson,  a real American heroine of the Revolution, but it certainly doesn't detract from the page turning quality of the story telling.  Deborah runs away from an intolerable situation in her small Massachusetts town and enrolls in the ranks of the Continental Army to find a place for herself and serve her country.  The everyday life of a common soldier at the time is depicted in this novel as Deborah learns to adapt to male comradery, camp discipline and the alarums of a war winding down in New York state along the Hudson River while the British still occupy New York City and its environs.  It's a fascinating story.

Deborah Samson served in the American Revolution, dressed as a man.  This novel, written by her descendant Alex Myers, explores her motivation to join the ranks of the soldiers towards the end of the war, and how well she succeeded in that role.  Although she mustered out at the end of the war as Robert Shurtliff, when her true identity was later revealed, she was denied the pension, back pay and benefits she had earned because of her gender.  Is it any wonder that it was a difficult choice for her to make to return to a society as a subservient female with no legal rights, or to continue to live as a man with its attendant freedom?  I'm not sure I would have made the decision to do as Deborah did.  If this is a topic of interest to you, I highly recommend the non-fiction work They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers of the Civil War  (See my post of 12/3/12.) which explores the same theme based on records for the Civil War.