Daughter of Anne-Hoeck
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?
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.
