Overview
The intriguing story of one of America’s first spies—a woman!
Born in 1725 in the American colonies, Patience Wright discovered her talent for art at an early age. As an adult, she joined her sister in a wax-sculpting business and later moved on her own to England. There, Patience became a spy for the colonies, hiding messages in the sculpted busts she sent to her sister’s waxworks in America. Here is the story of a woman who lived an extraordinary life, full of art and intrigue.
Patience Wright is a 2008 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
Synopsis
The intriguing story of one of America's first spies—a woman!
Born in 1725 in the American colonies, Patience Wright discovered her talent for art at an early age. As an adult, she joined her sister in a wax-sculpting business and later moved on her own to England. There, Patience became a spy for the colonies, hiding messages in the sculpted busts she sent to her sister's waxworks in America. Here is the story of a woman who lived an extraordinary life, full of art and intrigue.
Children's Literature
It's wonderful that young readers live in a time when so much is being discovered and shared about the strong and brave women of America's past. Patience Lovell Wright is a case in point, worthy of recognition as a highly successful and entrepreneurial sculptor whose story becomes all the more fascinating when she begins passing political secrets overheard in her wax-sculpting studio to colonial leaders during the Revolutionary War. Raised an independent-minded Quaker, Patience used her artistic talents to support her four children when she was left widowed at age 45; soon, she and her also-widowed sister achieved fame for their remarkably life-life wax figures of rising political stars. In 1772, Patience moved her operations to London and Paris, where she was once nearly arrested for having Benjamin Franklin's "real head" in her possession. As Patience sculpted, she also listened, and sent across the ocean espionage messages carefuly hidden inside her molded waxen heads. Shea has indeed found a story worth telling, and she tells it well, with Andersen's watercolors a lovely, period-perfect accompaniment.
Editorials
Children's Literature -
It's wonderful that young readers live in a time when so much is being discovered and shared about the strong and brave women of America's past. Patience Lovell Wright is a case in point, worthy of recognition as a highly successful and entrepreneurial sculptor whose story becomes all the more fascinating when she begins passing political secrets overheard in her wax-sculpting studio to colonial leaders during the Revolutionary War. Raised an independent-minded Quaker, Patience used her artistic talents to support her four children when she was left widowed at age 45; soon, she and her also-widowed sister achieved fame for their remarkably life-life wax figures of rising political stars. In 1772, Patience moved her operations to London and Paris, where she was once nearly arrested for having Benjamin Franklin's "real head" in her possession. As Patience sculpted, she also listened, and sent across the ocean espionage messages carefuly hidden inside her molded waxen heads. Shea has indeed found a story worth telling, and she tells it well, with Andersen's watercolors a lovely, period-perfect accompaniment.School Library Journal
Gr 4–6
This biography introduces an obscure but fascinating American Revolution figure—a patriotic precursor to Madame Tussaud. Born in Oyster Bay, NY, in 1725, Patience Lovell grew up in a Quaker household. From an early age, she exhibited a gift for creating lifelike sculptures, first using clay, and later, wax. Widowed at 45, she moved to Philadelphia, where she opened an art studio. Wealthy clients commissioned busts and figures of themselves. After establishing permanent exhibits in Philadelphia and New York, Wright opened a London studio. Letters of introduction from Ben Franklin helped to establish her success in England. While her efforts to persuade King George not to wage war on the colonies failed, her engaging nature helped her obtain information from members of Parliament and military officers. "Patience led them into revealing secrets by offering wrong information, which they immediately corrected." She put the secrets inside hollow busts that she sent back home, revealing which colonists took bribes from the British, as well as details about enemy weapons and attacks. The delicately rendered, gouache-and-pastel illustrations, covering full spreads, portray the artist, the early American landscape, period costumes, and life-size, fully dressed sculptures. The one of Franklin's head looks alarmingly alive, as the coloring, facial expression, and eyes are so real. Use this unique biography to enrich social-studies units on the Revolution and on women's history.
—Barbara AuerbachCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.