The Winthrop Woman

From the bestselling author of Katherine, this is the richly detailed story of Elizabeth Winthrop and her struggle against hardship and adversity in the new American colonies of the 17th Century. 'A rich and panoramic narrative full of gusto, sentimentality and compassion' (Times Literary Supplement)

In 1631 Elizabeth Winthrop, newly widowed with an infant daughter, set sail for the New World. Against this background of rigidity and conformity she dared to befriend Anne Hutchinson at the moment of her banishment from the Massachusetts Bay Colony; dared to challenge a determined army captain bent on the massacre of her friends the Siwanoy Indians; and, above all, dared to love a man as her heart and her whole being commanded.

And so, as a response to this almost unmatched courage and vitality, Governor John Winthrop came to refer to this woman in the historical records of the time as his unregenerate niece.

Anya Seton's riveting historical novel portrays the fortitude, humiliation, and ultimate triumph of the Winthrop woman, who believed in a concept of happiness transcending that of her own day.

“Abundant and juicy entertainment”

New York Times
The Winthrop Woman is that rare literary accomplishment living history. Really good fictionalized history [like this] often gives closer reality to a period than do factual records. Chicago Tribune
A rich and panoramic narrative full of gusto, sentimentality and compassion. It is bound to give much enjoyment and a good many thrills. Times Literary Supplement

Anya Seton was born in New York City and grew up on her father's large estate in Cos Cob and Greenwich, Connecticut, where visiting Indians taught her Indian dancing and woodcraft. One Sioux chief called her Anutika, which means 'cloud grey eyes', a name which the family shortened to Anya. She was educated by governesses, and then travelled abroad, first to England, then to France where she hoped to become a doctor. She studied for a while at the Hotel Dieu hospital in Paris before marrying at eighteen and having three children. She began writing in 1938 with a short story sold to a newspaper syndicate and the first of her novels was published in 1941. She died in 1990.

From the bestselling author of Katherine , this is the richly detailed story of Elizabeth Winthrop and her struggle against hardship and adversity in the new American colonies of the 17th Century. ' A rich and panoramic narrative full of gusto, sentimentality and compassion' ( Times Literary Supplement ) In 1631 Elizabeth Winthrop, newly widowed with an infant daughter, set sail for the New World. Against this background of rigidity and conformity she dared to befriend Anne Hutchinson at the moment of her banishment from the Massachusetts Bay Colony; dared to challenge a determined army captain bent on the massacre of her friends the Siwanoy Indians; and, above all, dared to love a man as her heart and her whole being commanded. And so, as a response to this almost unmatched courage and vitality, Governor John Winthrop came to refer to this woman in the historical records of the time as his unregenerate niece. Anya Seton's riveting historical novel portrays the fortitude, humiliation, and ultimate triumph of the Winthrop woman, who believed in a concept of happiness transcending that of her own day.

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