Did not finish. I only made it to 40%. It would have been better as a novel. There was too much narrative and not enough dialogue.

An interesting, well written story of Pearl Hart, a woman outlaw in an era where women were told where they could go and what they could do.....they had a "place" and it was most certainly not with a gun holding up a stage coach. But Pearl had found herself the main provider for her family with few options, so she dressed as a man and robbed stage coaches. She would become famous as she lived her life her way. I knew very little about Pearl Hart so did some research on my own. That's what a really good biography does, stirs interest to follow the information laid out in the book. John Boessenecker did an excellent job of making Pearl's life interesting.

Fascinating historical account of a woman's journey to becoming an outlaw. Very interesting and well laid out.

Pearl Hart - one of the most well-known of the women desperadoes, lived in the late 1800's Born in Canada to parents who had very little, Pearl eventually moved to New York, and from there to Ohio and Chicago. She was used to hard-scrabble and she did whatever she had to to keep herself and her siblings alive. At that time the only thing a woman could look forward to was being married, oftentimes to someone as abusive as the situation she had at home. Pearl was a rebel and she ran off to become an outlaw.She dressed as a man and she robbed stage coaches. When caught, she and her accomplices broke out of jail, not once but just about every time. Most western lawmen found themselves bested by her. She lived life on her own terms.

Well researched and informative, this biography draws attention to the extremes that some went to to make it big in the west.

This book gives the reader a fascinating look into the life of Pearl Hart, an Arizona stage coach robber . The book separates the facts from the fiction regarding Pearl's life. If you like reading about the Wild West and old western outlaws, you'll like this book. I highly recommend this book to other readers who enjoy biographies.

Pearl Hart grew up in poverty and abuse. Her sisters and brothers did what they could to make money or stole things including food. Pearl’s mother never seemed to stop having babies even though her husband would beat her. Her father was a drunk who would easily get mad. That caused him to lose most of his jobs. It also caused him to get in trouble with the police. This would make the family to move often. Pearl and her younger sister ran away from home. They disguised themselves as boys by cutting their hair short and wearing boys clothing. Pearl didn’t care about what the latest fashion for women or what they were suppose to do. She was a feminist before anyone had heard about it. She got arrested after trying to rob the stage coach. After getting out of prison, he did her best to b forgotten so she could live a normal life.

Pearl’s extraordinary and unconventional life recreating the drama and exciting life she had. The biography of Pearl Hart was fascinating as I couldn’t believe how independent she was. The author has written a fascinating book. I enjoyed reading it very much.

John Boessenecker's biography of Pearl Hart, "Wildcat," provides an interesting look at at a fierce woman willing to rob stage coaches — or do anything else necessary to survive. Even Western enthusiasts may be surprised by what Boessenecker unearthed.

Wildcat is the story of Lillie Davy as well as the Davy family. Lillie Davy was more commonly known as Pearl Hart. An unconventional woman, Pearl Hart’s activities led her across North America several times and earned her legendary fame.
A worthy read, Wildcat tells the tale of a gal with grit; who did what she had to do to survive.

An exhaustively researched look into the life of a woman you've never heard of.
Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC!
3.5 stars

Wildcat The Untold Story of Pearl Hart, the Wild West's Most Notorious Woman Bandit by John Boessenecker is a historically informative, exceptional read. A fact-based examination into the life of one of the West's most intriguing outlaws was a refreshing take on the history of the American West. A fun, fast-paced read that is sure to stay with you long after reading.

SYNOPSIS

John Boessenecker breathed new life into an old case; the case of Lillie N. Davy known by the noms de guerre of Pearl Hart. Drawing upon his research skills, he’s removed the fallacies, the myths, the lies and revealed in extraordinary detail the life and times of Pearl Hart. She was one of the most notorious late 19th Century female criminals of the old West. Pearl was a cross-dressing female with a flare for making herself incognito when the need arose. Her endless dalliances with numerous men doesn’t mark her as unique however, her need to control situations was unique for a woman of that time. At a period in history where women were meant to be housebound homemakers; meek, submissive, barefoot and pregnant; Pearl railed against the expected norms and challenged the mores of the time.

What John Boessenecker has presented in Wildcat is the unoccluded view of a female recidivist from child to adulthood. His research is as exceptional as it is detailed and he comingles them into a completely engrossing narrative. Boessenecker artfully recounts Pearl’s story from her parents brief courtship to her birth and on. He details ad infinitum her early years as the daughter of an indigent, semi-literate, workshy child molester and petty criminal in Canada. We follow her itinerant lifestyle across many years and locations culminating with the pinnacle of her criminal enterprise; a coach robbery.

Throughout the book we discover Pearl’s life of bitter poverty, abuse, and abysmal parenting culminating in a damaged woman bereft of morals, dignity or honesty. Like many women in those historic days, she was often forced to make difficult decisions just to survive. After viewing her circumstances in the round one cannot help but be sympathetic.

Boessenecker reveals the uncompromising world that Pearl lived in and the uncompromising woman that it birthed. From his detailed accounts, she owned the ‘Wildcat’ nickname. She lived life her own way, loved risk taking and took the punishment where she found it. She was intelligent and ‘street smart,’ a potent combination for an erstwhile career criminal.

Living in a time where women rarely left the home once they were betrothed and were kept in check by societal and socio-cultural norms, Pear turned the world on its head to live her own way. She seamlessly integrates into the criminal underclass not as a woman, but as a boy and later a man. She would alter her outer appearance by cutting her hair and affecting a manly stride. She was often found in the company of the criminal class sharing or gleaning useful information for future criminal activities. Peal, we discover, took things to a whole new level when she began utilizing firearms. Weapons that no doubt added to her sense of safety and security, especially due to the company she would often keep.

She is such an outrageous character, that it is amazing that her story has been lost in time until now. It seems strange that she is forgotten but characters like Big Nose Kate still hold a semblance of allure for many Western History fans. If I were to compare the two, I would say that Pearl’s story has far more impact than the latter.

The review of Wildcat would not be complete without mentioning Katy Davy, Pearl’s younger sister. An outrageous character every bit as unique as her older sibling. Katy Davy, who used the sobriquets of Millie Davy has an incredible nerve and was talented physically and mentally. Both sisters were, without-a-doubt, survivors; Katy even more so. At thirty-six-years-old, in the 1890’s, Katy became an ascensionist and a descensionist. She took a rest from being a fille de joie started parachuting from a balloon at a thousand feet. Following a near fatal accident she retired, but not for too long. The many tales of prison escapes, her years as a teenage madam and rescuing her husband from prison, Katy appears to have an unending skill in creative problem solving. They sisters even made it into Cosmopolitan magazine, the nations most popular women’s publication at that time. The sisters were walking contradictions for women of their time.

John Boessenecker pens an informative review of the exciting escapades of the notorious Pearl Hart who from. early childhood living in poverty accepted a lifestyle of theft and deceit. Her life is packed with the need for survival and satisfaction and the thrill of accomplishing that constantly.

in 1899 Pearl Hart robbed a stagecoach at gunpoint. Dressed as a man, her exploits immediately spread like wildfire and a manhunt ensued. Once captured, she basked in the attention, posing for photos, giving interviews and loving every minute of it. This book explores both her early life, exploits, and later life.

I really enjoyed this book. It was well paced and engaging. The entire Hart family was fascinating. I would definitely pick up another book by this author. Overall, highly recommended.

Superbly researched and remarkably narrated, Boessenecker delivers to the reader the incredible life of Lillie Naomi Davy, aka Pearl Hart, the Wildcat of the Wild West.

Born into poverty and abuse, we read as Lillie roams recklessly across Canada and the US, in and out of trouble with the law, famous for disguising as a boy, to ultimately robbing stagecoaches.

A historically informative, exceptional read that I highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, Hanover Square Press for the read of John Boessenecker’s, Wildcat The Untold Story of Pearl Hart, the Wild West’s Most Notorious Woman Bandit.

Opinions expressed are my own.

Interesting read about a figure from the Wild West - her true story, not the mythology. Recommended read for those interested in little-known historical figures.

I always enjoy reading the "untold" stories of the Wild West and this was certainly one of them. I hadn't heard about Pearl Hart and the wild life she lived and this book was so enlightening. This fact-based examination into the life of one of the West's most intriguing outlaws was a refreshing take on the history of the America West. Very fun read.

Life for most women in the late 1800's midwest and western states was one of drudgery. Pearl had a tough childhood and early adulthood where she was expected to stop caring for her family only to marry and care for another family so she did the unexpected - she ran off and became an outlaw. Dressed as a man she robbed stage coaches, broke herself out of jail as well as whatever man she was with and became quite a celebrity for her good looks, unusual situation and her choice of a pet wild cat. She also became quite the thorn in the side of most of the western lawmen. I wouldn't call her life a happy one but she certainly did live it on her terms. Well researched and entertaining as it is informative, this spotlights an unusual family and the extremes that some went to to make it big in the west. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

All of Wild West history interests me, especially the women. This book caught my eye due To it’s content about an outlaw western woman who was actually Canadian, Pearl Hart. I had never heard of her so I had to read it. The author does a credible job on weaving her story, sifting fact from hype and fabrication. I was amazed at how many laities there were of her, especially while she was incarcerated in the Yuma prison. It’s also a story of her entire family and their crossing the line of the law over and over. It’s an interesting piece of outlaw history and a woman who had a very difficult life.

Pearl Hart's story is both adventurous and tragic. Her early life consisted of poverty, abuse, neglect, alcoholism, and prostitution. It wasn't pretty or glamorous. There was little in the way of social safety nets in the late 1800's. The poor could only rely on charity and good neighbors for help, and there wasn't much of that in Pearl's life. One of the few constants was that Pearl Hart was a born rebel.

I was surprised to discover that Pearl, (or Lillie Davy, or Mrs. Bandman, or any of the numerous pseudonyms she had) spent most of her youth in Canada, New York, Chicago, and Ohio. Her family did a lot of moving around as her alcoholic father failed to maintain steady employment, while her mother had more mouths to feed year after year. But eventually Pearl drifted westward and found herself in small boom towns connected by new rail lines. Although the era of coach robberies was drawing to a close, there was still money to be made if one had grit, or 'sand' as it was referred to.

The strange thing about her famous robbery was that Pearl claimed she was in desperate need of money. She had gotten word that her mother was in poor health (which was not exactly the case) and that money was needed to buy a train ticket home. In order to get enough money, Pearl somehow convinced herself a stage coach robbery would be just the thing. So she bought horses, she bought guns, she bought supplies, the price of which all exceeded the cost to buy a train ticket... It certainly leaves one wondering.

After her famous stage coach robbery in Arizona, Pearl didn't shy away from talking to the press or posing for photos. I sometimes wondered if she enjoyed having a say in how her narrative was presented to the public, as so much of her early life had been outside her control. On that note, the author doesn't speculate much about Pearl's thoughts or beliefs. He just presents the facts as they were recorded and for that I thank him. Too many biographies go on and on about what the subject might have been thinking, or why they justified certain actions. But not here. We are given the facts, unclouded by guesswork. And considering all the different places Pearl lived and names she acquired, laying out her entire history, and the history of the Davy family, is pretty damn impressive.