Elizabeth Loring Slept Here

An eye-opening work of historical fiction based on the true story of the woman who was either the American Revolution’s most infamous loyalist harlot or a courageous spy and patriot.

During the bloody war for America’s independence, Elizabeth “Betsey” Loring rose to infamy as the American mistress of William Howe, the British general who failed, repeatedly, to stamp out George Washington’s rebellion. Many of Howe’s failures were blamed on the time he spent with the beguiling Betsey. Her name has been dragged through the mud by historians ever since.

In Elizabeth Loring Slept Here, Betsey breaks her silence on her notorious past, telling her side of the story as she considers her legacy years after the war’s end. She came of age in the Colonies determined to find the security and love that eluded her as a child. She swiftly discovered that her beauty and social privilege gave her a certain kind of power, but when war came, she began to realize that the gilded cage around her wasn’t keeping her safe—it was keeping her trapped. Soon, she was forced to make fateful choices for the sake of her children. 

What was Betsey’s true role? Was she just a distracting bombshell? Was her affair with Howe all there was to her story? 

Set in the nurseries, kitchens, and bed chambers where history really happened, Elizabeth Loring Slept Here offers a fresh look into this momentous period in America. Men may have written the headlines, but women were busy making the news.