With a gripping you-are-there-immediacy, Barbara Ashley has created characters who spring to life on the pages of "Amazons, Rebels & Spies?". Although this is a work of fiction, the experiences of Amanda, Tom, Cassie and Wade and the challenges they face were inspired by Barbara's meticulous research into the lives of real men, women and children as revealed in their letters, diaries and memoirs. When the Civil War breaks out in April of 1861, Amanda is a beautiful 19 year old wife and mother. She and her beloved husband Dr. Thomas Griffin dread Tennessee's secession from the union and the resulting conflict as a threat to their blissful lives in Nashville, Tennessee. Tom's sister Cassie is an intelligent and rebellious woman who dreams of becoming a professional actress. Frustrated by the very limited options she has as a respectable 19th century woman, Cassie hopes the war will enable her to enjoy a more exciting and rewarding life. After marrying a man she does not love in her quest for financial independence, Cassie serves as a nurse in Confederate military hospitals until the Union army occupies Nashville in March of 1862. When her lover invites Cassie to join a rebel spy ring, she jumps at the chance to help the South win the war while she satisfies her craving for adventure. Described by Cassie as "being squat and ugly as a toad", the Griffin's friend Wade Cunningham is a brilliant and ruthless attorney who seizes the opportunities this war provides to make his fortune, to revenge himself upon the Southern aristocrats who've scorned him and to pursue his unrequited passion for Amanda. "Amazons, Rebels & Spies?" tells the riveting story of their struggles to keep what they have or to get what they want while they try to survive the economic and ethical crises posed by civil war.
About the Author: Who is Barbara Ashley? She is an author, a screenwriter and a playwright who enjoys sharing her enthusiasm for and her knowledge of our Civil War with her readers. In addition to "Amazons, Rebels & Spies? and the sequel "Warriors & Peacemakers", Barbara is the author of "Be a Civil War Spy!", a nonfiction book for young readers. "You Can Be a Civil War Spy!" is a game for ages 8 - 108 she created to accompany the book. Her screenplays include adaptations of "Amazons, Rebels & Spies?" and of the sequel "Warriors & Peacemakers" and "Sarah & the Spaceball", a story for young readers which was published in "Writing Down the River", an anthology of prize-winning poetry and fiction. Barbara has also written other screenplays based on her stage plays and one of her interactive books for young readers entitled "Once Upon a Dragon". She is a member of the Dramatists Guild and several local writer's groups.