A Woman of Agency

1863: The American Civil War rages on. En route to Liverpool, the center of Confederate operations in Europe, a French agent bearing an offer from the Emperor is killed. A scramble begins to retrieve the papers he was carrying, papers which could expose a plot to build warships in France in exchange for Southern approval of its Mexican empire. Viola Ross, daughter of a Boston shipping merchant, serves as social secretary to the American legation in London. When a French countess confides in her about the plan, Viola realizes that a secret French-Confederate alliance could prolong the bloody conflict. Threatened with dismissal by the legation secretary, Viola steals off to inform Union agent Thomas Lannan in Liverpool.  Lannan and Viola seek evidence and a clandestine deal with the Irish Brotherhood. But the notorious thug Niall Tackett is out to make sure no one else discovers the papers. When Lannan disappears, Viola must navigate her way through a dangerous world of men to thwart the Emperor’s plot and the lethal Tackett on her own.