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G**S
A Treasure From Anya Seton- Fabulous Historical Fiction
The republishing of the prodigious historical novels of Anya Seton in the first decade of this century brings to light the treasure trove encompassed in her work.Winthrop Women, first published in 1958 and later released in 2006 is a particular gift for those whose interests lie in the history of the Puritans, the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the early settlement of the environs of Greenwich, Connecticut. Above all, it is a great love story and the saga of a strong and independent woman richly entwined in the region's history.Winthrop Women embraces a broad historical web, set in the 1600s (1617-1655) centered around the family of John Winthrop, a fanatical practitioner of the Puritan faith who became the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and his rebellious niece and daughter-in-law Elizabeth Fons. Their descendents remain in Connecticut and throughout New England. Seton tells the Winthrop family and Elizabeth Fons' story in three parts: The early years in England living a near aristocratic lifestyle; the great Puritan migration to the New World with the establishment of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; Elizabeth's banishment from Massachusetts and her emergence in Greenwich, Connecticut with husbands (correct) , lovers and children joining in the journey!Anya Seton's story of Elizabeth is written in " high-definition." From childhood, "Bess" is of independent thought and passionate in her views. She was born on a collision course with the beliefs of her Puritan elders, especially John Winthrop. Long before boarding the ship Lyon for the journey to the New World, this child of luxury and high social status had established herself as the Fons' and Winthrop family non-conformist.Proudly leading his flock beneath the banner of religious freedom to the colonies in New England, far away from the dictates of King Charles, Cromwell and the ruling British establishment, John Winthrop becomes a zealot and religious tyrant, ruling over his domain, with a wrathful "God" as his enforcer.Elizabeth's ever complicated life, saturated with her passion for men and her non-conformist beliefs, provides the framework for an abundant tableau of what life and love was like in 1630s New England. The drudgery of daily survival, the absence of luxuries, disease and Indians both friend and foe. Foremost, the woman's role of being, above all, a necessary "good breeder," upon which the future of the faith and the colony itself depended!Elizabeth, having fallen in love with John Winthrop's son, her cousin Henry, became pregnant and was hastily married before leaving England! Henry, a kindred free spirit was not traveling with Elizabeth on the ship Lyon but was under his father's supervision on the Arabella. Elizabeth learned upon her arrival in Massachusetts that Henry had drowned in a boating accident upon landing. There would be two more husbands and many children, living and still-born before her story concludes thirty years later.During a brief period when Winthrop had been ousted as Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor, the community rose up against Elizabeth's behavior with rumors and speculation that she and her Indian servant Telaka were possessed by the devil. The outcry became witchcraft! Banishment from the colony, the final solution in those days short of hanging, saw Elizabeth, her family and Telaka ( whom Elizabeth had rescued from a slave auction) on their way to Greenwich where under Dutch law there was greater respect for individual freedom and religious beliefs. This novel is so wonderfully written and researched that of course, Telaka, had ended up in Boston only after being kidnapped from her tribe, the Siwanoy Indians who populated the area in and around Greenwich! A homecoming for Telaka and a new most welcoming home for Elizabeth, her husband and brood? Not quite that simple!In the Greenwich chapters you will walk with Elizabeth on the white beaches of Monakewago ( Tods Point), follow the Mianus River, witness the massacre of over 1000 Siwanoy Indians ( Telaka's family) in what is today Cos Cob. There will be yet another husband and more "breeding, " and another banishment with the loss of thousands of acres of land that today encompass the entire Town of Greenwich.History is taught in many ways and Seton is deserving of high praise both as a novelist and historian for Winthrop Women. Seton wrote Winthrop Women while living in Old Greenwich, Connecticut where she died in 1990 at age 86. She is buried there in Putnam cemetery.Other highly acclaimed novels by Anya Seton include, Foxfire ( 1950), Katherine (1954), The Mistletoe and the Sword (1956). See gordonsgoodreads.com
U**Y
SHAME on YOU AMAZON! The Book - 5 Stars. The Editing - 0 Stars.
This great classic doesn't require a review from me on how well it was researched or written. Elizabeth Winthrop is one of our country's "Foremothers" and her story was well-told by Anya Seaton. Whether or not you enjoy it may have more to do with the kinds of books you like than its actual worth. It was written in the late fifties and as I recall, when my older sister read it in the early sixties, it was considered quite a racy book. Well, in today's world it is pretty tame, but still an excellent story.I rarely criticize Kindle books for their editing because there are so many first time authors that I give them a pass. I just want to have a chance to read what they have to say. And though I read many indie books that have editing issues I have NEVER seen such a badly edited book in my life! Considering that the original was well-edited, I feel that republishing an existing classic and charging almost $8 for such a lousy Kindle version with no value added is an absolute crime.The book was obviously scanned and published with NO editing at all. Anybody who has even minimal experience with scanning-to-text would realize that the software doesn't always interpret the scan correctly and if you don't edit it there will be whole sentences that have so many mistakes that they make no sense. This was the case with the Kindle version of The Winthrop Woman. Saying that they did a poor job editing is to give them too much credit. If anybody even read through this book before publishing it they must have been illiterate.SHAME ON YOU AMAZON for selling such a trashy piece of publishing!!!
L**N
grammar
As great a writer as Anya Seton is I think she would know the difference between anxious and eager. Guess not
M**E
Still good after all these years
The Winthrop Woman was the book that first introduced me to Anya Seton when I was just 14 (many years ago), and it left an indelible mark in my memory. Over the past few months I have been reading every work by Anya Seton -- re-reading those I enjoyed many years ago, and discovering her works I had never read before. I purposely saved this book for last; I wanted to see how it compared to all her other works, and whether it still held up for me after all these years.I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book again, although I found it less remarkable than when I read it as a young teen. Which isn't surprising; my expectations and standards have naturally changed over so many years. However, I still regard it as one of Anya Seton's best. As in all of her books, she amazed me with her ability to develop such a full and convincing narrative around so few actual known facts. She creates characters that are full and multi-dimensional, and their interrelationships are multi-faceted and full of subtleties. This is the way it is in "real life", of course, but that she created this cast of characters -- and filled almost 600 pages with their story -- almost entirely from her own imagination is truly impressive. Seton's interpretation of the personality and motives of Elizabeth Fones/Winthrop/Feake/Hallett reminded me in many ways of Scarlett O'Hara. I suspect that she was more than a little influenced by Margaret Mitchell's earlier work.This book strongly resembles her other more famous work "Katherine" in its scope and ambition. Both works tell nearly the entire life story of their heroine, women who were willing to face adversity and the disapproval of their respective societies for the sake of love. Like Katherine, The Winthrop Woman is a full and satisfying story that leaves nothing out, leaves no unanswered questions in the reader's mind. And like Katherine, the only real fault I could find with The Winthop Woman is that at times the pace lagged and I found myself thumbing ahead.In fact, I was prepared to give this book a 4-star rating as I did Katherine, until I got to the last chapter. Anya Seton gave The Winthrop Woman the best and most memorable ending of all her books. The last scene was truly moving. Based on that alone, I raised my rating to 5 stars.Is this book still my favorite by Anya Seton? No. Although I couldn't pick a single favorite from among her works, categorically I would have to say her earliest works are my favorites. She is best at creating slightly shorter novels where the pace never lags. However, The Winthop Woman is a very good book that I would definitely recommend, especially to someone who is interested in early American history. She manages to convey the difficulties the earliest settlers faced, and gives a pretty sympathetic treatment of the Indians as well (which is somewhat remarkable in itself, considering that this book was written nearly 60 years ago). And through the character of Elizabeth she gives a glimpse into the early Puritan colonies in America which were, in many ways, as oppressive as the English society they had left behind.Kudos to Chicago Review Press for reprinting Anya Seton's works, making them easily obtainable. And for giving them beautiful covers to boot.One very intriguing footnote -- I just read the Wikipedia article on Meg Whitman, who is currently running for governor of my state (California). It says she was born on Long Island, and that her father's name is Hendricks Hallett Whitman. Could it be she is a descendant of Eizabeth and William Hallett? I would love to know.....!
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