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Sign up todayThe Spy Lover
Narrator
Todd Haberkorn
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Length
9 hours 56 minutes
Language
English
Thrust into the savagery of the Civil War, a Chinese immigrant serving in the Union Army, a nurse doubling as a spy for the North, and a one-armed Confederate cavalryman find their lives inextricably entwined.
Fleeing drought and famine in China, Johnny Tom arrives in America with dreams of becoming a citizen. Having survived vigilantes hunting “yellow dogs” and slave auction-blocks, Johnny is kidnapped from his Mississippi village by Confederate soldiers, taken from his wife and daughter, and forced to fight for the South. Eventually defecting to the Union side, he is promised American citizenship in exchange for his loyal services. But first Johnny must survive the butchery of battles and the cruelties inflicted on non-white soldiers.
Desperate to find Johnny, his daughter, Era, is enlisted as a spy. She agrees to work as a nurse at Confederate camps while scouting for the North. Amidst the unspeakable carnage of wounded soldiers, she finds solace in Warren Petticomb, a cavalryman who lost an arm at Shiloh. As devastation mounts in both armies, Era must choose where her loyalties lie—with her beloved father in the North, or with the man who passionately sustains her in the South.
A novel of extraordinary scope that will stand as a defining work on the Chinese immigrant experience, The Spy Lover is a paean to the transcendence of love and the resilience of the human spirit.
Kiana Davenport is the author of the best-selling novels House of Many Gods, Song of the Exile, and Shark Dialogues, and two story collections, House of Skin and Cannibal Nights. A Native Hawaiian, her novels and stories have won numerous awards and have been translated into twenty languages.
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Reviews
“A great story told with such beautiful prose I am hoping The Spy Lover will be picked up by Ang Lee or Steven Spielberg. Kiana Davenport is a brilliant writer. [Based] on her ancestors from the American South and global East, The Spy Lover takes the incredibly difficult…topics of race, gender, slavery and war and artfully weaves them into a specific story. Davenport is genius at capturing complex times, and complications of the heart. It’s been a long time since I cried while reading a novel, and that happened several times while reading The Spy Lover…I couldn’t wait to finish the story, but grieved when it ended. That’s exactly how I felt when I finished reading Gone With The Wind so many years go. If you need a holiday escape…or want to spend time in a different world read…The Spy Lover!” —Ellen Snortland for The Huffington Post
“A beautifully written tale…filled with the horrors of war…and the anguish of loss…as we follow the characters on their journeys to find peace and redemption. The prose is magnificent. You will come away fulfilled. If you read one Civil War novel this year, make this the one.” —Joseph A. Truglio, from Civil War News
“Beautiful writing…a page turner one could not lay down. The novel emanates from Davenport’s own family history, ancestors who fought in the war…as she tells the story of a woman and her lover, the conflict between love, conscience and determination…I have no hesitation in recommending The Spy Lover to anyone who enjoys stories of the Civil War as well as of genuine conflicts, love and dedication…It will go into a special niche of historical fiction and…likely become a classic like Cold Mountain.“ —Martha Boltz of The Washington Times
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