In 1703, a war party of French soldiers and Abenaki warriorsraided the village of seven-year-old Puritan girl EstherWheelwright, taking thirty-nine captives and killing a handfulof men, women and children. That Esther managed to survivethe 200-mile journey by foot through swamps and forests to aJesuit mission in New France is astonishing. That she was adopted,quite happily, into a family of her Abenaki captors, isequally amazing. But for the Wheelwright family, who waitedyears before they had word that Esther had even survived theraid, this was a tragedy.

When Esther’s release from her Abenaki family was finallynegotiated through a French Jesuit who took her to the city ofQuebec, it was too late. At the age of fourteen, Esther brokeher parents’ hearts by refusing to go home; they never saw heragain. Instead, she remained in Quebec, the capital of NewFrance, where, against all odds, she rose through the ranks tobecome Mother Superior—and a pivotal figure after the siegeof Quebec in 1759.

Written by Esther’s descendant, Julie Wheelwright, Estheris a spiritual and an emotional journey of survival, and of thehuman capacity for transformation.

JULIE WHEELWRIGHT, born in England and raised in Canada, is the author of a biography of Mata Hari, The Fatal Lover, as well as the book Amazons and Military Maids. A prolific journalist, she has also produced documentaries for radio and television. Wheelwright lives with her two daughters in London, England, where she runs an MA program in non-fiction writing at City University London.

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