A scandalous woman of history defying all the rules.

“In this novel, author Claire J. Griffin weaves a thought-provoking story based on the life of the real Belle Boyd, a young woman who chafed at the constraints put upon American women during the 1800s. Belle yearns for a life where she can use her God-given talents to make a difference. The Civil War provides the perfect opportunity for Belle to assert herself and become an undercover spy for the Confederacy.

Griffin’s story mirrors that of the real Belle Boyd but has finely crafted fictional characters who help drive the plot. As the narrative begins, the state of Virginia is pro-slavery, while the western part of the state is more pro-Union. By 1863, West Virginia has become a new state, and Belle Boyd has become an essential link in the virtual spy network that helped the Confederacy.

Belle mingles with Union soldiers in residence near her home, then visits soldiers in Confederate camps. She works furtively to bring vital information to Stonewall Jackson to help the Southern cause. Eventually, she is arrested and sent to the infamous Old Capital Prison in Washington D.C. However, Belle can work her charms even in prison. She is finally paroled, the South loses the War, and Belle embarks on a new life that takes her on stage and into the limelight.

It is a thoroughly enjoyable book, obviously well researched, with good pacing and believable characters who find themselves pivotal agents in history. Other than a wish for some maps, I would highly recommend this novel.”

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“While other Southern girls focused on husband-hunting and observing all the rules for social etiquette during the Civil War era, all Belle Boyd wanted was a chance to do her part for the Confederacy.

Author Claire Griffin tells the true story of Belle Boyd in A Rebellious Woman. In a time when women were thought to be too fragile to deal with serious matters like war, Belle proved that she was mistress of her own destiny. She used her feminine wiles to gather useful information to pass on and even spent time in prison. Based on her life experiences, she was known as someone who always charted her own path.

Throughout history, it’s ordinary people like Belle who are rarely recognized. I appreciate the author’s research into Belle’s life and decision to highlight her contributions. I found the author’s discussion questions at the end of the book to be thought-provoking, particularly a comparison between Belle and her maid, Eliza. While Eliza’s choices were limited because of her skin color, she and her family prospered over the course of the book. In contrast, Belle had complete freedom yet failed in a number of aspects.

With three marriages, two divorces, a stint in prison, and an acting career, Belle Boyd was quite an interesting woman. Kudos to the author for delivering a fresh face from history with A Rebellious Woman.”

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“A Rebellious Woman by Claire Griffin addresses a void in American history: the lack of authentic voices of women who defied social expectations from the 1840’s through 1900. It focuses on Belle Boyd, a compelling historical figure who charted her own course in life. It is rare to find such a well-researched work of historical fiction of a woman who chose to be an active participant in the tumultuous events unfolding around her and who forged a uniquely independent life through four decades.  Griffin’s A Rebellious Woman brings this remarkable character to life with its attention to historical detail as well as the development of Belle’s character, from her early years as an irrepressible young girl in Martinsburg, Virginia, including her daring exploits as a spy, to her acting career and extensive travels throughout America, and, finally, to her death while she was still performing on stage in 1900 in Kilbourne, Wisconsin. Griffin’s Belle Boyd, in many ways, is a welcome antithesis to the portrayal of the stereotypical Southern belle.  Her research revealed Belle’s many and varied accomplishments and experiences—an expert horsewoman, a spy, a prisoner of war, a domestic and world traveler, an author, a diseuse, and finally a woman who married three times and divorced twice, gaining and losing financial independence along the way. With A Rebellious Woman, Claire Griffin has written an American woman’s story that needed to be told.”

“A Rebellious Woman is a historical fiction biography of a remarkable woman who came to maturity just as the Civil War began and died a few decades later.  Belle Boyd lived her whole life surrounded by the cult of genteel ladyhood. At times she used these constraints skillfully, and even unscrupulously, to gain her own controversial ends. But just as often she resisted conventional limitations, and astonishingly frequently, she had her way and did what she wished to do.

No Hollywood screen writer would dare to shape a plot so full of espionage, chase and escape, sex, melodrama and tragedy as the barest facts of Belle Boyd’s life. But this heroine pays heavily for flouting and undermining the rules of her gender and class. Griffin helps us to see these twists and contradictions, which make RW a great pick for a book club.

Griffin’s prose is lean and vivid and she gives us an honest, fully dimensioned picture of Boyd, including her blindness to the other great American system of oppression – slavery and racism. But we care about Belle, whose life unfolds in difficult and troubling ways, in spite of her gifts and courage. This complicated life raises timely questions and will provoke probing discussion.”