The Traitor's Wife: A Novel by Allison Pataki
February 11, 2014
A riveting historical novel about Peggy Shippen Arnold, the cunning wife of Benedict Arnold and mastermind behind Americas most infamous act of treason.
Everyone knows Benedict Arnoldthe infamous Revolutionary War General who betrayed America and fled to the British as historys most notorious turncoat. Many know Arnolds co-conspirator, Major John Andre, the British soldier who was apprehended with Arnolds secret documents in his boots and hung at the orders of General George Washington. But few know the third integral character in the conspiracy: Peggy Shippen Arnold, the charming, cunning young woman who orchestrated the whole thing.
At eighteen, socialite Peggy seduces the infamous war hero Arnold with her beauty and wit during his stint as Military Commander of Philadelphia. Blinded by his young brides allure, Arnold does not realize that she harbors a secret, lifelong loyalty to the British. Nor does he know that she is hiding a past romance with the handsome British spy, Major John Andre. Peggy Shippen Arnold watches as her husband, crippled from a battle wound 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 lover and her disaffected husband, Peggy hatches the plot to turn over West Point to the British and, in exchange, win fame and fortune for herself and Benedict Arnold.
Told from the perspective of Peggys maid, whose faith in the new nation inspires her to intervene in her mistresss affairs even when it could cost her everything, The Traitors Wife brings these infamous figures to life, illuminating the sordid details and the love triangle that nearly destroyed the American fight for freedom.
