Coming in April 2025
Jane Armstrong Tucker was a Boston stenographer scrabbling to get by as a single woman in the Gilded Age, until she was offered a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Madeleine Pollard was a Kentuckian with humble roots who had used charisma to work her way into the parlors of the Washington, DC, elite. Tucker hid behind an alias—Agnes Parker—but Pollard had a secret, too.
Alias Agnes details the story of Jane Tucker, who took a job as an undercover detective with a ten-week mission. Her target: Madeleine Pollard, former mistress of Congressman William C. P. Breckinridge, whom she had sued for breach of promise when he failed to marry her. Exploring the intricacies of this trial and a scandal that captivated the nation, author Elizabeth A. DeWolfe demonstrates that a shared lack of power did not always lead to alliances among women. DeWolfe uncovers the strategies women used to make their way in the world, drawing parallels between the previously forgotten and incomplete tales of Tucker, Pollard, and the women who testified in the trial—from formerly enslaved persons, to white socialites, to single government clerks, to divorced physicians.
Written in engaging prose with all the intrigue and suspense of a detective tale, Alias Agnes chronicles the lives of women at the cusp of the twentieth century—the opportunities that beckoned them and the challenges that thwarted their dreams.
Praise for Alias Agnes
“From hints and scraps, Elizabeth DeWolfe has masterfully reconstructed the story of a woman living a life that few people at the time expected or knew women could do. This is a thrilling and exciting tale of two women, one a wronged mistress and the other a spy, carefully researched and beautifully told. Agnes’ story is one I won’t soon forget.”
-Erika Janik, author of Pistols and Petticoats: 175 Years of Lady Detectives in Fact and Fiction
"Featuring lively writing, engaging narrative, vivid description, and deep research, Alias Agnes also offers trenchant observations about choice and constraint for women in Gilded Age America."
-Anya Jabour, author of Sophonisba Breckinridge: Championing Women's Activism in Modern America (University of Illinois Press, 2019)
"I tore right through this courtroom drama of two ambitious women trying to forge a path through the restrictions placed on their lives in 1890s America. Letters, trial transcripts, newspaper coverage, all provide details and insight, making for gripping narrative nonfiction."
-Kim Todd, award-winning author of Sensational: The Hidden History of America’s “Girl Stunt Reporters
“In Alias Agnes, Elizabeth DeWolfe delves into a remarkable Gilded Age trial, uncovering little-known sources and never-before-published secrets from hidden archives. Through the riveting tale of a jilted lover and the spy dispatched to entrap her, DeWolfe unveils two narratives of justice and betrayal surrounding women who were striving to break free from the constraints of their time. This book not only sheds light on a dramatic episode in American legal history, but also offers profound insights into the resilience and courage of women fighting for their rights as the modern era dawned.”
-Amy Stewart, NY Times bestselling author of Girl Waits with Gun