The Secrets of Mary Bowser (59 page)

The Family Nurse
even recommends using spirits of turpentine to “bathe the loins, and seat of the kidneys” to cure children of “involuntary discharges of urine”! As for Mary’s father, based on the advice in
The Family Nurse,
I decided to have her bring him prickly ash (“Very highly recommended for chronic rheumatism. A decoction is made with an ounce of the bark boiled in a quart of water; a pint may be taken in the course of the day”), which he complained was pretty awful to take.

All in all, I think it’s probably far more pleasant to read about this era than to have lived in it.

Acknowledgments

I
wish I were clever enough to craft these acknowledgments so they could be sung to the tune of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” as I once vowed to do. But having benefited from the support of so many people and institutions, the closest I can come is
Glory, glory, hallelujah, my thanks go marching on . . .

Michele Jaffe told me to write this book. She, Rosemary Weatherston, Nan Cohen, Leslie Bienen, Molly Gloss, Stephanie Von Hirschberg, and Willa Rabinovitch read initial versions of some or all of the chapters, exhibiting great patience for my early efforts and keen insights on what could be improved. Wonderful faculty at Harvard, USC, and UCLA—Werner Sollors, Joe Boone, Alice Gambrell, Tania Modleski, Val Smith, Richard Yarborough, and Martha Banta—taught me to take care as well as delight in my research, my writing, and my thinking about American literature and culture; although this is not the book either they or I thought they were training me to write, nevertheless it grew out of what I learned from them. David Garrett and Judy Stone kindly let me impose on their access to university collections. Ben Metcalf, having spent an awful lot of years ensconced first in Virginia and then in the heart of American letters, encouraged my audacity in declaring myself a novelist of Richmond—he has no idea how much his confidence in me made me believe I could really pull this off.

Portland, Oregon, provides many riches, chief among which are the greatest public library system in the United States and Powell’s bookstore, invaluable resources for my research. (Vote for your library bonds and support your local bookstores, for what they give to the community is far greater than dollars.) I drew on many scholarly articles and books to bring accuracy to my telling of Mary Bowser’s tale, and I salute all the researchers whose diligence enables us to understand the nuances of American history. A Ruby Fellowship and other faculty support from Reed College enabled me to travel to a number of historical sites, including the Gray House, now better known as the Museum of the Confederacy. My students at UCLA, Reed, and in the many Delve seminars that I have the great fortune to lead throughout Portland, have reminded me time and again of the power and pleasure that literature has for its readers. Paulann Petersen and Peter Sears offered models of grace and humor as well as lessons in precision and revision that brought touches of poetry to my prose. Ariel Gore was an exemplum of how to become a famous writer before either of us was anywhere near dead. Bruce, Audrey Jane, “Stinkin’ Lincoln,” and Isabelle “the Mug” frequently persuaded me to spend just a few more minutes, which somehow morphed into many long hours, writing and revising. Friends too numerous to mention put up with all manner of exuberance, churlishness, and absences, depending on precisely where I was in the process; I am grateful to them all, and especially to Amy Bokser and Brenda Pitts, whose e-mails sustain me when visits are too few and far between. And John Melville Bishop made me look good, even without any leopard print.

From our very first phone conversation, I knew I was exceedingly lucky to have my wonderful agent Laney Katz Becker. She pushed me to make the manuscript stronger and stronger still, and she shepherded me with wit and wisdom through every step of turning it into the book you (or your e-reader) now hold. Laney and her colleagues at Markson Thoma believed in my novel and gave their all to bring it to readers around the world. I am deeply grateful to work with Jennifer Brehl, Laurie Chittenden, and Emily Krump, three exceptional editors at William Morrow, as well as their wonderful colleagues, particularly Laurie Connors, Trish Daly, and Jean Marie Kelly. Suzie Doore “across the pond” at Hodder & Stoughton has also been an astute editor and astounding champion of this book.

As always, my deepest gratitude goes to my best reader, best ally, and best friend, Chuck Barnes, who fell in love with me in the twentieth century, puts up with me in the twenty-first century, and indulges the many hours I spend obsessing about the nineteenth century.

About the Author

LOIS LEVEEN earned degrees in history and literature from Harvard University, the University of Southern California, and UCLA. A former faculty member at UCLA and Reed College in Portland, Oregon, she gives talks nationally and internationally on American history, literature, and culture, with special emphasis on race. She is a regular contributor to
“Disunion,” the New York Times’
ongoing coverage of the sesquicentennial of the Civil War. Her poetry, short humor pieces, and scholarly essays have appeared in many publications and on National Public Radio. She lives in a bright green house in Portland, Oregon, with a very charming Newfoundlander.
The Secrets of Mary Bowser
is her first novel.

www.loisleveen.com

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Advance Praise for
The Secrets of Mary Bowser

“Masterfully written,
The Secrets of Mary Bowser
shines a new light onto our country’s darkest history. Balancing fire and grace, the story of Mary Bowser is an ethical journey we won’t soon forget, one that takes us from hatred to courage to love.”

—Brunonia Barry, bestselling author of
The Lace Reader
and
The Map of True Places

“
The Secrets of Mary Bowser
is a good old-fashioned historical novel packed with drama, intrigue, love, loss, and most of all, the resilience of a remarkable heroine who forges her own destiny from the first page. What a treat!”

—Kelly O’Connor McNees, author of
The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott

“Lois Leveen has given us a new hero, Mary Bowser—a slave turned spy for the Union army. Told with clarity, confidence, and courage,
The Secrets of Mary Bowser
illuminates an untold and important story about slavery, the Civil War, and the role of women in achieving emancipation. A riveting and powerful book.”

—Naseem Rakha, author of
The Crying Tree

Credits

Cover design by Mumtaz Mustafa
Cover photograph © by Ilona Wellmann

Copyright

This book is a work of fiction. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locales are intended only to provide a sense of authenticity, and are used fictitiously. All other characters, and all incidents and dialogue, are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.

P.S.™ is a trademark of HarperCollins Publishers.

THE SECRETS OF MARY BOWSER.
Copyright © 2012 by Lois Leveen. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

FIRST EDITION

ISBN 978-0-06-210790-9

Epub Edition © MAY 2012 ISBN: 9780062107916

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1
. Ernest B. Ferguson,
Ashes of Glory: Richmond at War
(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996), 230.

2
. David Ryan, ed.,
A Yankee Spy in Richmond: The Civil War Diary of ‘Crazy Bet’ Van Lew
(Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1996), 94.

3
. “Recollections of Thomas McNiven and His Activities in Richmond During the American Civil War,” Archives Division, Virginia State Library.

4
. Elizabeth Varon,
Southern Lady, Yankee Spy: The True Story of Elizabeth Van Lew, A Union Agent in the Heart of the Confederacy
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2003).