The Impostress: The Dishonest Adventures of Sarah Wilson

by R.J. Clarke

"Her story is adapted to move the compassion of those she visits. She has bad nerves, and seems in great disorder of mind, which she pretends to be owing to the ill usage of her father […] She attempts to borrow money of [sic] waiters, servants, and chaise boys, and offers to leave something in pawn with them to the value. Her name is supposed to be Sarah Wilson." - London Evening-Post, 30 October 1766.Beginning in her late teens, Sarah Wilson travelled alone all over England, living on her wits, inventing new identities, and embroidering stories to fool her victims into providing money and fine clothes. When her crimes eventually caught up with her, she was transported to America – where she reinvented herself in the guise of the Queen’s sister and began a new set of adventures at the onset of the American War of Independence.Using original research, newspaper reports and court records, this is the story of ‘the greatest Impostress of the present Age’: a real-life Moll Flanders who created a remarkable series of lives for herself on both sides of the Atlantic.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography

272 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2019

Reviews

[eleanor · Rating 4 out of 5]

what a slay! sarah was such a cool lady and i am so very pleased that I read this biography/ non fiction/ academic biography on her. I did feel that at times the historical references stopped the flow of the storytelling, but they also added so much to the story. Very enjoyable.

[Lucy Scothern · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so excited to read this book and parts of it really caught my attention but my biggest takeaway was that sarah’s story could’ve been told in 100 pages maximum. More than half the book is historical scene setting and it was a real challenge not to DNF during those parts especially during the retelling of events in America leading up to the revolutionary war. In conclusion, the author has a great idea going with these deep dives into unknown individuals but before writing they should ask themselves: do i have enough information or is this just a short tale to tell.

[Sophie T · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting life but the book doesn’t really live up to its title- there is far too much scene setting information (lengthy passages about the types of people Sarah ‘may’ have met and their histories)
I really wanted to like this as I usually enjoy this sort of book but it felt like the focus was constantly moving away from our main character which I found annoying.

[Elaine Maul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing true story! She must have been a very confident person to pull off appearing to be a member of the nobility. The book also gives a good picture of what life was like for the different layers of society at that time both in England and America.