Daughter of Anne-Hoeck

by Carol Pratt Bradley

Nine-year-old Susanna Hutchison witnessed the massacre of her mother and seven siblings before being taken captive by the tribe who slaughtered her family and burned their home to the ground. Eventually, she found a place and a family in the Indian village. When a group of Dutch discovered her years later, she begged to stay with the Indians. But they and the Dutch traded goods for the white girl, and Susanna was forced to leave the village. Returned to Boston and to her brother, Susanna finds everything strange. Now fifteen, she is an outsider among her own people. John Winthrop and the other local authorities are watching her and her brother closely. They have determined that Susanna will conform to the strict society and not become like her outspoken, renegade mother Anne Hutchison. Susanna is not even sure she wants acceptance back into Puritan society, where she feels like an object of pity and scorn. And she certainly does not welcome the attentions of their tall young neighbor, John Cole. Caught between two worlds and belonging to neither, Susanna wonders how she can possibly build a new life out of the ashes of what went before.

Genres: Historical Fiction

234 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 11, 2020

About the author

I am a historical novelist with a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. I live in Utah with my wonderful husband of four decades. Our three daughters and one son have grown and left their parents to survive on their own. My history interests currently include the Ancient Near Eastern world, Reformation England, and 17th century America.

Reviews

[Randy Becraft · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carol has again given a wonderful story to bring to life characters that need a spotlight in history. All her books are must reads!

[Earlene Rhien · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read and enjoyed every book that this author, Carol Pratt Bradley, has written. One thing that I enjoy about her writing is that she obviously does in depth research on the time and place she is writing about. Then she thoroughly develops her characters so that the reader is drawn into the story. This story did not disappoint.

Ms. Pratt wrote this story about one of her own ancestors, giving it even more validity. I found myself quickly drawn into the story and the characters and found myself easily and thoroughly immersed into the storyline...so much so that I had an interesting emotional experience in the which the story and the characters felt very familiar to me. Give it a try. I loved it.

[Jacob Mendoza · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful novelization of historical events, but with a twist. This is the story of the Daughter of Anne Hutchinson a Puritan spiritual advisor, religious reformer in the 1600's. We are taken into the world of a young girl who has been ripped away from more than one home expected to assimilate to yet a another home, culture and people.
There are harrowing chapters that end in despair. There are chapters teeming with hope and love. This book also reminds us how easy we have it to live in this day and age. Beautiful thoughts throughout. A must read.

[Francie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this wonderful historical novel of the author's own ancestor, Susanna Hutchinson. I loved the flashbacks to her experiences as a child living with a native American tribe, and the memories of her early childhood as she recalled them. I love how she came to learn how to use the experiences from both her 'former' lives to become just who she was meant to be. Carol Bradley writes in a clear, uncluttered style that I find refreshing and pure. This is a beautiful book.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had no idea about how Anne Hutchinson died or what happened to her family. This was fascinating from a historical context. The tone was really perfect for a historical novel--this did not feel like a modern heroine dropped into the seventeenth century, and the world felt three-dimensional and real, with great details. It's a quiet book, but deep and full of emotion. I couldn't believe how much I loved it. What a great read.

[Kpj · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I was transported back to the first years in the Massachusetts settlements and to the Indian village. I could tell the author had done lots of research that provided vivid details but not excessively to bog down the story. The way the author unfolded Susanna’s story kept me from wanting to put the book down. This is a very good historical fiction novel based on real people.

[Angie Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fantastic and fascinating from beginning to end. I lived learning about Anne Hutchinson and the colonies during the 1650s. I loved the themes of fighting for religious freedom and for women’s rights. And the first person point of view was beautiful as Sisika/Susanna wove both her English and Native American upbringings together to tell the story! Beautifully written.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was hard to put down. I thoroughly enjoyed this historical fiction based on real historical figures. This truly was a book about men and women who were ahead of their time therefore didn't fit in with the closed and oppressive culture that surrounded them.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Her feelings of not belonging really struck a chord with me and I found myself in tears more than once. I liked the unhurried way she told the story and how real the story felt real (but, of course, it was!). I want to read more by this author.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fascinating historical fiction book which tells the true story of William and Anne Hutchinson through the eyes of their daughter - Susanna. After witnessing the massacre of her mother and seven siblings Susanna was taken captive by the Indian tribe who slaughtered her family and burned their home to the ground. Susanna lived with the Indians for 5-6 years before being traded by the Dutch and was then forced to leave the village.
The book details Susanna's struggle to find her own "space between" two cultures and her true home.