It’s July 1914, and Constance, Norma, and Fleurette Kopp are driving their horse and buggy when they get run over by a motor car driven by Henry Kaufman, an heir to the silk manufacturing industry who has been drinking and is surrounded by a group of thuggish-looking men as Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart opens. Constance, age 35, sends an invoice to Kaufman for $50 to repair their buggy, but she gets no response. So after two unanswered letters, Constance visits Kaufman’s office to deliver her invoice in person, but Kaufman makes fun of Constance. This leads the 6-foot-tall woman to grab the bully, causing him to lose face in front of his friends. Thus begins a year of terror for the Kopp sisters.
They suffer through threatening letters, most delivered through “brick mall,” with bricks being thrown through their windows. They soon take the shape of “black hand letters,” originally letters written by Italian mafia threatening damage if money isn’t paid to them, but soon any thug, including Kaufman, adopted the method. Constance struggles to gain any recognition of her problem until she meets Sheriff Heath, who takes her seriously and sends deputies to patrol and later stay around the clock at the Kopp house. And Sheriff Heath gives revolvers to Constance and Norma, teaching them to use it. Heath soon makes use of Constance in the case, ultimately culminating in a short but dramatic court scene.
This book is historical fiction, based upon Stewart’s uncovering evidence of one of the first female deputies during her research into the strike that silk workers held but in which they were ruthlessly struck down. It is as close to the historical record as the author could make it. Even the numerous newspaper headlines came from legitimate newspaper sources.
The only problem is that the book, which I found fascinating, takes a little too long to get to the point. It could stand to be edited back a little bit, as things got a little tedious. Further, the people do not show the growth in their characters that I would have expected. We do see Constance gaining personal strength, but she still remains too much the same person by the end.
Christina Moore performs the narration of this book. She does a good job of portraying Constance, who narrates the book. She especially seems real during times when Constance is describing traumatic events from her past that left her emotionally empty.
Despite my concerns about the unnecessary length of Girl Waits with Gun, I really enjoyed this book. It especially became fascinating when I learned that the book was based upon real events. I give the book four stars.
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