Overall, this was fascinating. It could have been slightly shorter as Fagone sometimes veered a bit far afield from his primary topic. The opening and closing sections were particularly strong, I thought, but I felt that it sagged a bit in places in the middle. Still, this is excellent narrative nonfiction that brings to light the life and contributions of a little-known, but vitally important, woman: Elizebeth Smith Friedman (yes, she spelled it “Elizebeth”). Her early adult life was particularly bonkers! An eccentric and extremely wealthy man recruited her to look into the question of whether Francis Bacon penned and then encoded messages in Shakespeare’s printed plays using subtle variations in typography. He whisks her to Riverbank, his estate and makeshift research facility, where things quickly get a bit “Through the Looking-Glass”! Come for that craziness, stay to see Elizebeth outwit the Nazis. A solid read that I found well worth the time and effort.

This is headed out to another BookCrosser as a wishlist RABCK. Enjoy!

Thank you so much!

This book appears to be traveling, although I didn't make release notes.