First published 2010
Mary Surratt operates a boarding house in Civil War Washington while secretly supporting the Confederate cause. When John Wilkes Booth and his conspirators gather to plan Abraham Lincoln's murder, her establishment becomes their meeting place. After Booth kills the president at Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865, authorities arrest Surratt three days later as the sole female conspirator. Kate Clifford Larson draws from previously overlooked interviews, confessions, and trial records to reveal how deeply Surratt involved herself in the assassination scheme. The historian examines how Surratt's choices violated expected standards of female behavior in nineteenth-century America. Her participation in espionage and political murder challenged contemporary assumptions about women's loyalty and moral character. This account illuminates the most famous political killing in American history through the experience of its most controversial participant.
Genres: biography, american-civil-war, historical-fiction, american, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-fiction, political-intrigue
Setting: Civil War Washington, Ford's Theatre
Period: 1865
288 pages · Paperback · Basic Books
Content warnings: murder