EBOOK
About
Jane Armstrong Tucker was a Boston stenographer scrabbling to get by as a single woman in the Gilded Age, until she was offered a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Madeleine Pollard was a Kentuckian with humble roots who had used charisma to work her way into the parlors of the Washington, DC, elite. Tucker hid behind an alias-Agnes Parker-but Pollard had a secret, too.
Alias Agnes details the story of Jane Tucker, who took a job as an undercover detective with a ten-week mission. Her target: Madeleine Pollard, former mistress of Congressman William C. P. Breckinridge, whom she had sued for breach of promise when he failed to marry her. Exploring the intricacies of this trial and a scandal that captivated the nation, author Elizabeth A. DeWolfe demonstrates that a shared lack of power did not always lead to alliances among women. DeWolfe uncovers the strategies women used to make their way in the world, drawing parallels between the previously forgotten and incomplete tales of Tucker, Pollard, and the women who testified in the trial-from formerly enslaved persons, to white socialites, to single government clerks, to divorced physicians.
Written in engaging prose with all the intrigue and suspense of a detective tale, Alias Agnes chronicles the lives of women at the cusp of the twentieth century-the opportunities that beckoned them and the challenges that thwarted their dreams.
Alias Agnes details the story of Jane Tucker, who took a job as an undercover detective with a ten-week mission. Her target: Madeleine Pollard, former mistress of Congressman William C. P. Breckinridge, whom she had sued for breach of promise when he failed to marry her. Exploring the intricacies of this trial and a scandal that captivated the nation, author Elizabeth A. DeWolfe demonstrates that a shared lack of power did not always lead to alliances among women. DeWolfe uncovers the strategies women used to make their way in the world, drawing parallels between the previously forgotten and incomplete tales of Tucker, Pollard, and the women who testified in the trial-from formerly enslaved persons, to white socialites, to single government clerks, to divorced physicians.
Written in engaging prose with all the intrigue and suspense of a detective tale, Alias Agnes chronicles the lives of women at the cusp of the twentieth century-the opportunities that beckoned them and the challenges that thwarted their dreams.
Related Subjects
Reviews
"A thoroughly captivating story of late Gilded Age gender norms and deeply rooted social conventions. DeWolfe skillfully weaves the stories of Madeleine Pollard and Jane Tucker while also introducing readers to a wider cast of fascinating female characters, each of whom demonstrate their own agency while creatively navigating a world designed by men. Readers will come away with a better understand
Melanie Beals Goan, author of A Simple Justice: Kentucky Women Fight for the Vote
"In Alias Agnes, Elizabeth DeWolfe delves into a remarkable Gilded Age trial, uncovering little-known sources and never-before-published secrets from hidden archives. Through the riveting tale of a jilted lover and the spy dispatched to entrap her, DeWolfe unveils two narratives of justice and betrayal surrounding women who were striving to break free from the constraints of their time. This book
Amy Stewart, New York Times-bestselling author of Girl Waits with Gun