Comments on: REVIEW: Pinkerton’s Secret by Eric Lerner

By: Jayne

Jayne — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 11:50:08 +0000

I’m not sure if that is Kate in the picture or not. The person is either a feminine looking man or a masculine looking woman.

By: Jayne

Jayne — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 11:39:09 +0000

I don’t think he changed major events in Pinkerton’s life or messed around with the facts or conjectured in ways that couldn’t be supported by the what we do know about him. Whether it’s true or not…? I skimmed a book written by Rose Greenhow that detailed her arrest and there was no mention of any women agents being present. I just get twitchy when ‘biographies’ have so many facts changed.

By: Belinda

Belinda — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:50:02 +0000

There's an interview with Lerner at Mostly Fiction where he talks about writing the book. He makes a big deal out of Kate's grave being next to Pinkerton's - but Webster's is next to hers, so what does that say? (That may be where Lerner got the idea to have them engaged, but Webster had a wife and 4 kids, so there's another fudge.) The Spy and Private Eye Museum page on Kate does say she was certainly Pinkerton's mistress, but the evidence seems to be that "everybody knew." (Do you think that's her in the picture?) Getting rid of Robert is a pretty big fudge, but it's not really like the book needed more conflict. I've read several places that Pinkerton did oppose his sons using the agency for strikebreaking so I don't know if I'd fault Lerner's characterization there. According to Wiki, Kate died Jan. 28 1868 of pneumonia, with Pinkerton at her bedside. I was talking more about the sequence of events surrounding the southern spies, which I can't detail for spoilers. I read an account that said Rose Greenhow (whose papers you can browse here) was released early and set that in motion, but there are other accounts that track more with Lerner's, so my initial impression could be off.

By: Jayne

Jayne — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 11:00:29 +0000

Fudging-his brother wasn’t in the book, his sons are portrayed as weaklings and/or snot-nosed brats, did he have an affair with Kate Warne and was the manner of her death accurately portrayed?

Cain was more blunt about her feelings for the way Pinkerton was portrayed but I did touch on some of that in the infamous ‘paragraph three.’ I’d hate to have this man for a boss. This is the first time I’ve probed around the Crime Library but I love Court TV’s site.

By: Belinda

Belinda — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 10:35:08 +0000

Thanks! (I love the crime library, is that a vice?) If we’re talking about the same fudging, it did give Pinkerton more direct personal responsibility for the way things played out in the novel than the way it actually happened. I do think Lerner could have used the same angle with the real sequence of events, but his Pinkerton pretty much had to be hit over the head with things – personal things, anyway, so I see the logic for the choice. I loved the portrayal of Pinkerton (in a glad-I’m-not-related-to-him kinda way), but did you read the NYT review? Chelsea Cain HATED him. If I were Lerner, I’d consider that a compliment. You want your characters to be that real to people. Of course, it is the NYT, and given the protagonists of Cain’s book, getting her to dislike your narrator is no small feat, so maybe not.

By: Jayne

Jayne — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:58:03 +0000

Here's a link to a site that also bemoans the lack of bibliography. And one to a fairly long biography. I agree with you re: the broad details are the same but it seems that the man and his life are so amazing, why fudge anything?

By: Belinda

Belinda — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 14:35:47 +0000

Thanks for this review, Jayne. I finished this two nights ago and loved it. I pretty much agree with your review – particularly the third paragraph. It’s a fun character study, isn’t it? I did some googling too and only came up with one major event in the story where the facts had been tweaked to fit the narrative a bit better. Most other broad details seemed to follow the actual history. I do wish Lerner had included some sort of bibliography – his web site is very well done but doesn’t offer any background substance. In an interview I read he says he researched for 10 years, seems like he’d want to share at least a bit. I now have three other books on the Pinkertons on hold at the library.

By: azteclady

azteclady — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 21:57:09 +0000

Oh I’ve been curious about this one! Thank you for the review, Jayne *adding to humongous wish list*