This month's choice for the Foggy Pine Book Club is Girl In Disguise by Greer Macallister. We so enjoyed The Alice Network and when we found another book about female detectives/spies, we couldn't resist giving it a chance.  

Published last year, this historical fiction is set in Chicago in 1856 and has an ending inspired by true events. Kate Warne, widowed and penniless, manages to convince the great Allan Pinkerton to hire her as one of his detectives. From there, Kate fights her way to becoming one of Pinkerton's elite squad. Her talents lie in deception and manipulation, taking on the role of countless women, all in the name of getting the job done. Her work takes Kate from her former life of near-ruin to one of danger, deviousness, and trickery as she establishes herself in a man's world. From Chicago's mean streets to the battle lines of the Civil War, Kate's dangerous journey is a never-ending thrill ride. Macallister's masterly storytelling brings her characters to life, and the skillfully handled suspense never wavers. 

The Pinkerton National Defense Agency, as it was founded, was created by Scotsman Allan Pinkerton in 1850. He became famous when he claimed to have prevented an assassination attempt on then-President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln hired Pinkerton for personal security during the Civil War and, at the height of it's power, was the largest private law enforcement organization in the world. Due, in part, to this success the Pinkerton agency became the model for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States.

Copies of the book are available for purchase at the bookstore for $15.99 but you'll always get 15% off our book club selections. You can also purchase it from us online in the following formats:

We will meet at Foggy Pine Books on Saturday, June 30th at 7:30pm. We'll share free wine and a snack together. Bring a friend and come discuss the book with us, even if you weren't able to completely finish it or if you didn't like it. You can see the Facebook event & RSVP here. 

'Girl In Disguise' Is A Spunky Spy Saga
Celebrating History's Bad-Ass Women: PW Talk with Greer Macallister (interview) 

It's been a while and I do apologize for the lack of upkeep in the book club blog. However, I've been working on a website improvement for everyone--you can now check out what's happening in the Hatchet Coffee Book Club and the new Young Adult Book Club at their digital homes on this site! You can see them in the drop down Programs menu. 

The June meeting will take place on Saturday, June 24th at the bookstore at 7:30pm. Drinks and snacks will be provided. This month, we will be discussing The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. If you plan on attending, please RSVP on our Facebook event so we can prepare properly for our guests. 

Book Summary: Henrietta Lacks, as HeLa, is known to present-day scientists for her cells from cervical cancer. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells were taken without her knowledge and still live decades after her death. Cells descended from her may weigh more than 50M metric tons. 

HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions. Yet Henrietta Lacks was buried in an unmarked grave.

The journey starts in the “colored” ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s, her small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginia — wooden slave quarters, faith healings, and voodoo. Today are stark white laboratories with freezers full of HeLa cells, East Baltimore children and grandchildren live in obscurity, see no profits, and feel violated. The dark history of experimentation on African Americans helped lead to the birth of bioethics, and legal battles over whether we control the stuff we are made of. 

You can pick up a copy at the bookstore for $16.00 & receive a 15% off discount. 
​You can get the ebook here for $10.60.
​You can get the audiobook here for $20.00--if you sign up for a membership, you'll get your first audiobook for just $0.99!