The Winthrop Woman: A Novel

Product Details

Author : Anya Seton
Binding : Paperback
EAN : 9781556526442
Edition : 1
Number of Pages : 608
Product Group : Book
Publication Date : 2006-09-01
Publisher : Chicago Review Press

ASIN : 155652644X

Customers who bought this goods also bought.

Customer Reviews

THE PURITAN LEGACY IN AMERICA... (2007-11-27)

This is a dazzling work of historical fiction that I first read as a young adult. Now, over thirty years after first reading it, I find that time has not diminished the power and passion of this exquisitely written work of historical fiction. At the heart of this fine novel, is Elizabeth Fones, an Englishwoman who would marry her first cousin, Harry Winthrop, and would go on to lead a life of which few of us would dream. As a member of the austerely Puritan Winthrop family, Elizabeth would chafe under its restrictive influences. When the family fortunes abated in England due to the religious beliefs of the family patriarch, John Winthrop, Elizabeth's uncle and father-in-law, the entire family sets off for the New World to become founding members of the Massachusetts Bay colony, a theocracy under which Elizabeth was to know much heartache. A passionate and vibrant woman, Elizabeth would have a number of personal situations that would cause her to become notorious amongst the Puritan colonists. She would be both reviled and admired for her actions, which were singular for those times. This is an absorbing, page turner of a book that takes a look at sixteenth century England during the tumultuous time that preceded the civil war that would see an act of regicide and the rise of Puritan Oliver Cromwell. It also relates the turmoil that underlay the government of the nascent Massachusetts Bay colony with all its factionalism, restrictive practices, and bigotry. The novel, set against a historical backdrop filled with well known personages of the time, both English and Dutch, lovingly chronicles and explores Elizabeth's passage in life as a member of the illustrious Winthrop family, her troubled marriages, her relationship with the Siwanot Indians, and the trials and tribulations that she underwent as a compassionate, independent woman in a time when to be such was to destine oneself to become a pariah within the larger community. This is a historical novel that is epic in its telling, beautifully written, and one to be savored until the very last page is turned. Bravo!

AWESOME! (2007-01-27)

What an incredible story of an amazing woman. Elizabeth Fones, married into the Winthrop family, the leader of that being John Winthrop who took his family to New England to govern the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Elizabeth was a rare woman indeed, going on to being one of the few women of her times to be a large landholder, married three times and finally finding great happiness and love in the last one to Will Hallet. This book has it all -- passion, madness, bigotry, ignorant superstitions and religious persecution. The author beautifully weaves her story so that you feel you are there, from terrors of sailing the Atlantic, small pox, the sights, sounds and smells of the times, everything is perfectly melded to entertain and educate you about this period. I was also sorrowed at the eventual treatment of the Native Americans, from originally friendly terms, then to end so tragically. I found out much about a period in our nation's history that I only had the briefest of recollections from those long ago history lessons in school. Anyone who enjoys historical fiction should put this one on their list. Highly recommended.

Look for similar items by category

• Subjects > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction

Related Link