Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen by Sarah Bird – 399 pages
ARC courtesy of St. Martins Press in exchange for my honest opinion
Book Blurb:
Though born into bondage on a “miserable tobacco farm” in Little Dixie, Missouri, Cathy Williams was never allowed to consider herself a slave. According to her mother, she was a captive, bound by her noble warrior blood to escape the enemy. Her means of deliverance is Union general Phillip Henry “Smash ‘em Up” Sheridan, the outcast of West Point who takes the rawboned, prideful young woman into service. At war’s end, having tasted freedom, Cathy refuses to return to servitude and makes the monumental decision to disguise herself as a man and join the Army’s legendary Buffalo Soldiers.
My Review: 4 stars
Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen sucked me in by title alone. I assumed it would be about some type of monarchy in Europe, yet surprisingly it was about slaves and the infamous Buffalo Soldiers.
Based on the real life Cathay (Cathy) Williams, the first and only female Buffalo Soldier who disguised herself as a man. I absolutely love stories of women who live under the pretense of being a male. It was sad that she had to do that, but it was her only viable choice for survival. She lived as William Cathay and how she kept her secret safe often led to some humorous moments. The author always had a twist in store to keep her in the clear.
Cathay is a heroine and a great character to read about. Her bravery, sharp mind and sharpshooting skills became instrumental to her survival. I loved that her mother, from her grandmother, told her that she was not a slave at all, yet being held captive until she escapes. So much of her courage came from those beliefs.
I enjoyed the bit a romance peppered through the book as it lightened some of the awful scenes of the mistreatment of slaves. The little I learned from this book encouraged me to google and learn more about why the Buffalo Soldiers came about, how they got that name and much more. Interestingly, about four hundred women posed as men during the civil war, but Cathay is the first to enlist after the Civil War. She is the only documented African-American woman to serve prior to the 1948 law that gave women permanent status in the army’s regular and reserve forces. It was heartbreaking to learn that many captured slaves were used as contraband to do the cooking and mending for the army. Seeing the impact of both General Custer and General Sheridan during the war was eye opening and quite believable.
Although I never lost interest in the story, it did seem a bit long. There was a great cast of characters that both supported her or despised her. This is a different type of read if you’re looking for something outside your usual reading box. Attached is a photo of the real Cathay Williams.
Quotes I liked:
Suddenly, I realized that I had taken to thinking like a man. Which is to say, I had stopped allowing the possibility that I might ever be wrong.”
-“Something not quite right about you, Cathay. You know it and I know it. You can hide it here, but no place to hide out there. No place to hide.”
-“Here’s the first thing you need to know about Miss Cathy Williams: I am the daughter of a daughter of a queen and my Mama never let me forget it.”
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