WRITTEN BY CAROL PRATT BRADLEY
REVIEW BY SUSAN MCDUFFIE

Boston, 1650: Susanna Hutchison, daughter of the heretic Anne Hutchison, and the only survivor of the Indian attack that killed her mother and siblings, has been ransomed from the Siwanoy tribe and returned to Boston, to the care of her eldest surviving brother, Edward. Susanna barely remembers her first language, English. She had accepted her adoption into the Siwanoy and had grown to love her foster family. Now, after seven years among the “savages,” Susannah is uprooted again and sent to the unforgiving Massachusetts Colony where her mother is remembered as a rebellious woman who needed to be reduced and eventually expelled from the colony. Can Susannah find a place among these strangers, her own family? Does she even want to?

https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/daughter-of-anne-hoeck/

Daughter of Anne-Hoeck tells a fascinating tale well. In choosing to recount Anne Hutchison’s story from the viewpoint of her outcast daughter, Carol Pratt Bradley creates a novel that will appeal to the young adult audience, as well as to older readers. Bradley’s research into the different cultures portrayed informs the story, and her sympathy for Susanna rings true. The questions of individual conscience versus conforming to the dictates of society, and the urge to find one’s own place and roots within that society, will surely resonate with many readers. Recommended.

This novel was published in 2016. During my MFA studies in 2008 I stumbled across the account of a 16th century Englishwoman. It became my thesis novel. Writing about Anne Askew was painful but I’m glad that I did. She was a woman of deep conviction who valued scripture more than her own life. She became caught in the middle of political factions who used people’s religious ideals for their own power and gain. Her story changed how I view history and also my own time. Human nature does not change.

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In the afterword of “Daughter of Anne-Hoeck,” I reflected on what I learned from studying the unusual life of Susanna Hutchinson. It seems particularly applicable to the time in which I find my own self living. It is too easy to feel the angst over circumstances I cannot control: the day to day grinding of political upheaval and warring of opinions, injustice and suffering, and now a world pandemic. How much the sun shines and how much it rains. Any yet I must remember:

“Men and women live inside a social and political world which affects their circumstances. But our lives are much more than world events, social mores, or the interpretations of current government and religious authorities. We choose our own beliefs and opinions and actions, deciding for ourselves the truths we will follow. In doing so, we build a world of our own creation inside of our larger world. Isn’t that what the designer of earth and mankind desires for each of us? Like Susanna, we choose and shape our own “space between.”

“Paul and I have been reading Carol Pratt Bradley’s new book “Daughter of Anne-Hoeck.” We are finding it exceptional! She is a very gifted writer, and I think this is her best yet. I would encourage you all to read it. Her book can be purchased on Amazon, so you don’t even need to leave home.”

With a title change, which I like much better, my fourth historical novel will be released on February 25, 2020. It is up on Goodreads and available for pre-sale on WiDo Publishing’s website.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49329260-daughter-of-anne-hoeck

“A Place Between” is my fourth historical novel, all published  with WiDo. The people of the WiDo family have been good to me, and I’m thankful to be part of them. I can’t say which novel is my favorite. All were written out of a need to comprehend the depth and strength of people who faced and conquered daunting challenges, choosing to walk amid uncertainty with courage and with hope. I love the characters in my books:  Daniel and Sarai, Anne Askew and John Lascelles, Susanna Hutchinson and John Cole, and all the people who shared their lives. I love all that I learned from them.

What kind of historical research have you done for your writing?

For “A Place Between,” I studied the history of early Boston in the 1630’s and 40’s—the streets and houses and gardens, and the people the Hutchinson family would have known. The house of Governor John Winthrop, Anne Hutchinson’s greatest enemy, stood across the street from the Hutchinson’s, and Winthrop could closely observe all the comings and goings of the family. In my mind, I pictured a wide street, but when I visited the city, I found that the space was quite narrow. How would it have been to be so closely watched, with suspicion and hate?

I also sought out the women who were midwives at that time, including a woman named Alice Tilley, who was imprisoned in the town jail out of suspicion of the methods she used to treat the medical needs of women, particularly during pregnancy and childbirth. Her imprisonment greatly upset the women of Boston and the surrounding areas, many of whom signed petitions demanding that Their favorite midwife be released. After several petitions, the authorities at last agreed to her release. Alice Tilley became a character in my book. Midwives were looked on with suspicion by the authorities, who were ever watchful for signs that they used witchcraft. One midwife was hung for it.

I found the Indian tribes who lived in the New York area, and explored Susanna’s life as she lived with them, and the language they spoke. While researching how the Indian natives were treated by the colonists, I came across towns that were established for the Indians who had converted to Christianity, called praying towns. They were situated around the Boston area, providing a protective barrier between the colonists and the Indian tribes. Winthrop recorded in his journal that in 1638 black slaves arrived in Boston. Indians would be traded for the slaves, who were then used to work the farms of the wealthy colonists, including John Winthrop.

I researched the schools that were established to educate the children, the hornbooks used for writing, and the books they studied. Education was considered so valued that a law was established that made it legal for the children whose parents were deemed by the authorities to have neglected their child’s education to be placed in another home. This became a factor as I imagined what Susanna’s life would have been like after she returned from living with the Indians.

What inspired you to write “A Place Between”?

During the writing of my second novel, Fire of the Word, while doing a Google search, I discovered that the early Boston dissident Anne Hutchinson is my ninth great grandmother, and that I descend from her daughter Susanna, who survived the massacre that killed her mother and several of her siblings. This outspoken woman so angered the Boston leaders that in 1638, she was put on trial for her heretical ideas, excommunicated and banished. The transcript of her trial was preserved, and she has become an icon of religious liberty. A statue of Anne and Susanna stands on the Boston courthouse grounds.  

My interest in the Hutchinson family was the inspiration for “A Place Between.” I wondered about Susanna, who lived among the Indians from age nine until she was ransomed back and returned to her brother in Boston about 1643. How did she cope with the disasters that so affected her life? What obstacles did she have to overcome as she returned to the house in Boston where she’d lived as a child? How did she make a place for herself? How did she come to find peace? I  knew that exploring her story could strengthen me in my own experiences with life. My hope is that this book can do the same for others.

What makes a good story? 

A good story teaches us about our nature as human beings, gives us the opportunity to develop empathy and compassion—for others, and for ourselves. Stories can teach us how to live and thrive and move forward with hope. Reading a good story is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, one piece at a time, until the whole picture is revealed. Writing a story is much the same. And when the last page is written or read and the book closed, one can feel, fleeting or lasting, a precious sense of being whole.

In 2016, when my historical novel, Fire of the Word, was released, I wrote a post about writing it for Colleen Story’s blog, Writing and Wellness. She retweeted it today, so I reread it. Interesting how our own words return to us, reminding us of what we reflected on in the past:

“Is writing a spiritual practice for me? Yes.

There are many terms associated with the word spiritual: sacred, inner dimension, bliss, search for meaning, supernatural, the soul, sense of self, to name a few. For me, spirituality is searching for something larger and wiser and better than myself, to be able to comprehend with more than my own limited ability.

I want to combine the physical and spiritual to enable me to reach higher, dig deeper in my search for understanding.

To write with power and wisdom, I must search deep inside myself, reaching for a place not seen but only felt.”

That is still my goal….

The whole blog post is here: http://www.writingandwellness.com/2016/09/13/writing-to-find-the-hero-in-ourselves/

My novel was listed as #9 in Carmel Reviews Things Top Ten List of favorite books for 2017:

“This historical fiction novel is about Anne Askew, who was also the main character of Alison Macleod’s The Heretics, my top novel of 2016. While The Heretics leans more on the political side of Askew’s martyrdom, Fire of the Word is clearly a religious novel. And rarely is religious fiction written so well. Bradley’s writing is exciting and detailed, and the sermons are sparse. Nothing is written that does not push the story forward. It is also relatively unbiased towards Catholicism; freedom of religion is repeatedly emphasized. Though it’s clear who the antagonists and protagonists are, Anne comes off more of a human martyr than a glorified saint, making her all the more inspirational. Heck, the whole book is inspirational, and I’m agnostic. Simply put, this book is a shining example of religious historical fiction.”

Thank you!

https://carmelreviewsthings.wordpress.com/2017/12/31/top-10-books-ive-read-in-2017/

And two reviews:

“Exceptionally researched, beautifully written. Carol Bradley has given flesh and blood to the Babylonian exile, its characters and emotions. It is easy to imagine what it may have been like for them to leave their homeland and settle as a conquered people in a new country. She brings the prophet Daniel to life in a marvelous way – showing his majesty as a prophet, but also his humanity as a real person. I highly recommend this book!”

“Well written and researched. This sequel to “Light of the Candle”, allowed me to see into the past and feel what it might have been like to live in the time of Daniel, to get a sense of the perilous nature of living in King Nebuchadnezzar’s court, and to grow old in a foreign land knowing you are not likely to ever see the land of your birth again. Ms. Bradley has taken someone who was not much more than a name in the Bible and made him live. Well done!”