I have such a special place in my heart for women in history whose stories waited much too long to be told. Henrietta Lacks, The Radium Girls, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton are the ones who immediately spring to mind. And now, Deborah Sampson.
In A Girl Called Samson we have the story of this real-life heroic woman who was abandoned by her father and sold into indentured servitude by her mother. Through a series of events she became one of a handful of females who served valiantly in the Revolutionary War. Author Amy Harmon has filled in the details faded by time, portraying Deborah as a brave and determined soldier, one who never let her gender and society’s rules stand in her way during incredibly challenging times.
My dilemma is the ending. I won’t reveal it, except to say that a very important element in the book is fictional. Why? Why pay respectful homage to this woman only to tamper with the facts? For this reason and because of some extra lengthy war scenes I could only give it 9 stars. But I will say that the book is worth reading. The less you know of actual history, the more you will enjoy it. If the real Deborah Sampson was at all as honorable as our novel’s heroine, she is a person you should know and admire.
9/10 Stars
This is a Kindle First Reads selection for March 2023, a free book if you have Amazon Prime in the US. Paperback and hardback formats will be available April 1st.
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