Book Title: Velvalee Dickinson: The "Doll Woman" Spy by Barbara Casey
Category: Adult Non-Fiction, 184 pages
Genre: True Crime / Historical / Biography
Publisher: Strategic Media Books
Release date: April 2019
Tour dates: May 27 to June 7, 2019
Content Rating: PG - Velvalee Dickinson is appropriate for all ages.
Book Description:
Velvalee Dickinson was born in Sacramento, California, graduated from Stanford University, married three times, and then in the early 1930s moved to New York City where she eventually opened her own exclusive doll shop on the prestigious Madison Avenue. It was there that she built her reputation as an expert in rare, antique, and foreign dolls. She traveled extensively around the country lecturing and exhibiting her dolls while building a wealthy clientele that included Hollywood stars, members of high society, politicians, and other collectors.
When medical bills started to accumulate because of her husband’s poor health and business started to fail with the onset of World War II, she accepted the role as a spy for the Imperial Japanese Government. By hiding coded messages in her correspondence about dolls, she was able to pass on to her Japanese contacts critical military information about the US warships. After surveilling Velvalee for over a year, the FBI arrested her and charged her with espionage and violation of censorship laws. She became the first American woman to face the death penalty on charges of spying for a wartime enemy.
Velvalee Dickinson: The “Doll Woman” Spy is a carefully researched glimpse into the “Doll Woman’s” life as a collector of dolls, and as the highest paid American woman who spied for the Imperial Japanese Government during World War II.
Review
I have previously read two fiction works of Barbara Casey, 'The Cadence of Gypsies' and 'The House of Kane', so I was familiar with her style and liked the language enough to pick this book up when the chance came.
Biographies are always more interesting than regular books with respect to the content because there is always that underlying feeling that we are reading the story of someone who actually lived and did the things described in the book. But as is often the case, the biographies err on one of two extremes: becoming too descriptive that some parts look fabricated, or being too bland and just sticking to the reported facts.
But this book manages to break that norm, easily flowing between fact narration and description, making the entire reading experience an engaging one. I finished this in one sitting. The first factor that determines the success of any biography is its presentation, and this wins in that regard because it presents history in an interesting manner. Of all the things I love about the book, the most important ones I should mention is how I did not even know of this woman before I began reading, but the book made me think I really knew her well. I had, at least, obtained a comprehensible idea of the person that she would have been after I finished reading. In that, the book succeeded.
Secondly, I have always wondered how and why biographies have to resort to factual reporting. Most are one dimensional, focusing only on the character and the major events in their life. But this book transcends that, giving the reader a wholesome idea about the country and the time period, mingling them both into a wonderfully fluent narrative.
The book is well researched, and it shows clearly. Not to mention too much about the story, or give away spoilers, the author has clearly taken pains to collect authentic information about a secretive character who drifted into mysterious oblivion and made the story into a novel-type narration. Overall the language is smooth to read, the book holds the readers' attention well and makes them want to keep turning the pages to know more.
A brilliant effort save a few issues, but not mentioning them because I want to focus on the appreciation for this effort.
To read reviews, please visit Barbara Casey's page on iRead Book Tours.
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Meet the Author:
Established in 1995, she represents authors throughout the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and Japan. In 2018 Barbara received the prestigious Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award and Top Professional Award for her extensive experience and notable accomplishments in the field of publishing and other areas. Barbara lives on a mountain in Georgia with her husband, and three pets who adopted her: Benton, a hound-mix; Reese, a black cat; and Earl Gray, a gray cat and Reese’s best friend.
Connect with the author: Website
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