Historically Speaking Book Club - The Traitor's Wife

Program Type:

Book Group

Age Group:

Adults
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Event Details

The Traitor's Wife by Allison Pataki  - Everyone knows Benedict Arnold—the Revolutionary War general who betrayed America and fled to the British—as history’s most notorious turncoat. Many know Arnold’s co-conspirator, Major John André, who was apprehended with Arnold’s documents in his boots and hanged at the orders of General George Washington. But few know of the integral third character in the plot: a charming young woman who not only contributed to the betrayal but orchestrated it.

Socialite Peggy Shippen is half Benedict Arnold’s age when she seduces the war hero during his stint as military commander of Philadelphia. Blinded by his young bride’s beauty and wit, Arnold does not realize that she harbors a secret: loyalty to the British. Nor does he know that she hides a past romance with the handsome British spy John André. Peggy watches as her husband, crippled from battle wounds and in debt from years of service to the colonies, grows ever more disillusioned with his hero, Washington, and the American cause. Together with her former love and her disaffected husband, Peggy hatches the plot to deliver West Point to the British and, in exchange, win fame and fortune for herself and Arnold.

Told from the perspective of Peggy’s maid, whose faith in the new nation inspires her to intervene in her mistress’s affairs even when it could cost her everything, The Traitor’s Wife brings these infamous figures to life, illuminating the sordid details and the love triangle that nearly destroyed the American fight for freedom.

Scheduled books:

Sep. 2025 - The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden

Oct. 2025 - The Thread Collectors by Shaunna J. Edwards, Alyson Richman

Nov. 2025 - The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamal 

Dec. 2025 -  Little Women by Louisa May Alcott 

Jan. 2026 -  Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

Feb. 2026 - The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

March 2026 - Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini

April 2026 - The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters