Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War

In the context of Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy, abolition refers to the social movement to end slavery in the United States. The movement had a long and contentious history in the United States, dating back to the country’s founding and coming to a peak during the Civil War. It culminated in the 14th and 15th Amendments, which outlawed the practice of slavery and gave Black men the right to vote, respectively. Abolition was a cause that Union supporters and troops rallied behind and that supporters of the Confederacy fought to stop.

Espionage is the “process of obtaining military, political, commercial, or other secret information” with illegal monitoring devices, spies, and secret agents (“Abolitionism.” Britannica, 16 Oct. 2023). All four women in Abbott’s novel, despite the great risks, took part in one kind of espionage or another. Espionage differs from other types of intelligence gathering because in practice, it is often illegal, and the tactics employed are often direct and aggressive in nature. During the Civil War, spies were seen as dishonorable unless the intelligence they gathered secured victory for the side they served. Women who were caught spying were seen on the same level as sex workers—often charged with prostitution in addition to any direct espionage-related charges.