By Susan Granger
If you enjoy discovering unsung American History heroes, look for a new, eight-part, based-on-a-true-story miniseries called “The Gray House” on Prime Video.
In 1861 in Richmond, Virginia, there was a clandestine Union spy ring that defied the Confederacy. Headed by wealthy socialite Elizabeth Van Lew (Daisy Head) and formerly enslaved Mary Jane Richards (Amethyst Davis), they conspired against the cruel realities of slavery in the South.
Widowed Eliza Van Lew (Mary-Louise Parker) and her genteel, unmarried daughter Elizabeth are considered social royalty, living on an opulent estate financed by Eliza’s late merchant husband and inhabited by retainers whom he freed on his deathbed.
As the story begins, Mary Jane has just returned from Liberia, where she once considered emigrating. Realizing that America is really her home, she enlists the Van Lew household in fighting slavery, including chief porter Isham (Ben Vereen).
The glaring exception is Elizabeth’s flirtatious, duplicitous sister-in-law Laurette (Catherine Hannay), who favors the Rebels’ cause.
It’s a historical fact that newly appointed Confederate President Jefferson Davis (Sam Trammell) established residence in Richmond at what became known as The Gray House, where Mary Jane became embedded as a ladies’ maid to Mrs. Davis (Laura Morgan), a position that allows her to utilize her photographic memory to gather and disseminate information about troop movements.
Collaborating with baker Thomas McNiven (Christopher McDonald) and prostitute Clara Parish (Hannah James), the resourceful Van Lews participated in the Underground Railroad before turning to espionage to deliver information directly to the Union Army.
Created by John Sayles, Darrell Fetty & Leslie Grief, executive produced by Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman, and directed by Roland Joffe, it’s too fragmented, introducing underdeveloped characters who then disappear and spending far too much time on extraneous subplots, like Elizabeth’s admirers: Hamton Arsenault (Colin Morgan) from New Orleans and Union Capt. William Lounsbury (Colin O’Donoghue)
To learn more, read Gerri Willis “Lincoln’s Lady Spymaster: The Untold Story of the Abolitionist Southern Belle Who Helped Win the Civil War” (2025).
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Gray House” is a well-intentioned but overly melodramatic, superficial 6 – with all episodes streaming on Prime Video.
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Susan Granger
Westport resident Susan Granger grew up in Hollywood, studied journalism with Pierre Salinger at Mills College and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in Journalism. In addition to writing for newspapers and magazines, she has appeared on radio and television as an anchorwoman and movie critic for many years. Read all her reviews at susangranger.com.
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