Belle was a belle of the old South, haughty, flirtatious and beautiful with a passion for danger and the spunk of a Scarlett O'Hara. Mrs. Nolan doesn't idealize her motives for becoming a spy as she turns her espionage exploits and personal life during the Civil War into a well-paced, often exciting fictionalized biography. It reads like a good story, but carries the extra benefits of historical information and background material. Buttons and beaux and barricades, especially for Scarlett's female following.