Hope Leslie: Or, Early Times in the Massachusetts (American Women Writers) - Softcover

Catharine Maria Sedgwick; Mary Kelley

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0813512220 ISBN 13: 9780813512228

Publisher: Rutgers University Press, 1987

Synopsis

Hope Leslie (1827), set in the seventeenth-century New England, is a novel that forced readers to confront the consequences of the Puritans’ subjugation and displacement of the indigenous Indian population at a time when contemporaries were demanding still more land from the Cherokees, the Chickasaws, and the Choctaws.

"This handsome reprint ... makes available after many decades the New Englander's tale of seventeeth-century Puritans, and their relations with the indigenous Indian population." -- Nineteeth-Century Literature

" A splendidly conceived edition of Sedwick's historical romance. Highly recommended." --Choice

"Develop(s) the connections between patriarchal authority within the Puritan state and its policy of dispossessing and exterminating Indians. The different heritage it envisions explicitly link white women and Indians and elaborates a communal concept of liberty at odds with the individualistic concept which predominated in American culture." -- Legacy

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Set in seventeenth-century New England, Hope Leslie (1827) portrays early American life and celebrates the role of women in building the republic. A counterpoint to the novels of James Fenimore Cooper, it challenges the conventional view of Indians tackles interracial marriage and cross-cultural friendship, and claims for women their rightful place in history. At the center of novel are two friends. Hope Leslie, a spirited thinker in a repressive Puritan society, fights for justice for the Indians and asserts the independence of women. Magawisca, the passionate daughter of a Pequot chief, braves her father's wrath to save a white man and risks her freedom to reunite Hope with her long-lost sister, captured as a child by the Pequots and now married to Magawisca's brother. Amply plotted, with unforgettable characters, Hope Leslie is a rich, compelling, deeply satisfying novel.

About the Author:

Catharine Maria Sedgwick was born to a prominent New England family in 1789 and went on to become one of the most celebrated novelists of her time. A proud patriot, Sedgwick chronicled the major social issues of early American society slavery, religious freedom, women's rights, and the ongoing struggle between native and foreign forces with a unique mix of radical and conservative perspectives. She died in 1867.

About this edition

• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Publication date: 1987
• ISBN 10: 0813512220
• ISBN 13: 9780813512228
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 416