The Hello Girls: America's First Women Soldiers, by Elizabeth Cobbs was a fascinating and frustrating read. In 1917 telephones were connected with wire and required an operator to connect calls. Seems men were not all that good at such a job, and as they were needed for 'more important jobs', the military needed someone to work the phones. Women were the answer. Educated, bilingual (French) women. Dozens, hundreds, of women volunteered. They were given uniforms, a modicum of training, and sent overseas (many wanted to be as close to the front lines as possible). They served with honor and dignity under horrifying conditions. And yet, when they came home, the Army denied them any benefits at all, saying they weren't actually part of the military (as in not soldiers). It took decades to rectify this. Good read, but as I said, frustrating!

Alan Pinkerton was a man ahead of his times. Practically from the day his detective agency opened he hired women as operatives, not office staff. The Pinks: the First Women Detectives, Operatives, and Spies with the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, by Chris Eness tells about several of them. They worked undercover, behind enemy lines, and in dangerous situations (think assassination attempts). What an exciting read!

There is not much to be found on Kate Warne, the records of her time at the Pinkerton Agency were destroyed in the Chicago fire of 1871, but using what is available, and her talents as an author, Greer Macallister has written a most readable historical novel. It was fun reading Girl in Disguise so soon after The Pinks because the cases were still fresh in my mind. I enjoyed the possibilities of what might have happened, and what might have been said. Hard to put down!

Reading Hermit With Dog