Blog readers meet Anna, Anna my blog readers. That is all.
Just kidding! Anna is one of my favorite characters, and she is as tough as nails. She is strong, quick on her feet and a spy for the Union. When she was a teenager her father, an exporter in the north, wanted to secure a business deal with a tobacco plantation owner in Virginia so, to sweeten the deal, he threw in his daughter’s hand in marriage. Thus Anna was packed off to Virginia and wed to a man she’d never met as soon as her father’s contract was signed.
She never adjusts to the Southern way of life, and despises the fact that her one offspring is a daughter whom is raised as a quintessential Southern Belle. So when the Civil War breaks out and her husband is named a Confederate officer, Anna jumps at the chance to spy for the Union, her true home. Among other tactics, Anna uses her husband’s social standing to hold afternoon parties where women gather to chat and play parlor games. Only she invites other operatives so they can pass intelligence.
Anybody want to play a fun game of memory? You remember that game. The first person says A is for Apple. Then the second person repeats A is for Apple and then adds B is for bear, etc around the circle until somebody gets the order wrong. Well with a predetermined set of signals – placement of a kerchief, where hands are held, etc – C is for Confederate, G is for Grant and S is for Shiloh translates into the Confederates are planning an attack on General Grant at Shiloh. Adds a whole new dimension to that game now doesn’t it!
However, Anna’s biggest challenge comes when her daughter, Kady, discovers that she is a spy. Instead of running to her father to tattle, Kady tells Anna that she wants to be a spy too. Initially Anna rebukes her, but circumstances arise that require Kady’s assistance so Anna is forced to bring her into the fold. So in the midst of her espionage activities, Anna must also reconcile her fractured relationship with the daughter that she never wanted in the first place.