SALT LAKE CITY, April 11, 2019
Carol Pratt Bradley’s newest historical novel, recently under contract with WiDo Publishing™ was a search for her own roots. Bradley was inspired to write the book when she discovered that the early Boston dissident Anne Hutchinson was her ninth great grandmother. The author is a descendent of her daughter Susanna, who survived the massacre that killed her mother and several of her siblings.
Bradley wondered about the girl Susanna Hutchinson, who lived among the Indians from age nine until she was ransomed back and returned to her oldest brother about 1649. She knew that exploring her ancestor’s story could strengthen her in her own life experiences. She also hopes the book can do the same for others.
The story of Susanna Hutchinson is Bradley’s fourth historical novel, all published with WiDo. “The people of the WiDo family have been good to me,” Bradley says, “and I’m thankful to be part of them.”
When asked which of her books is her favorite, the author couldn’t say. “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 treasure all that I have learned from them.”
Bradley does extensive research for her novels. For the newest one, she 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. She states, “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?”
The author combed John Winthrop’s journals, read the transcript of Anne Hutchinson’s two trials, and studied the preachers and magistrates who opposed her. She also searched for 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 the book. Midwives were looked on with suspicion by the authorities, who were ever watchful for signs that they used witchcraft. It was hinted at during Anne’s trials. One midwife was hung for it.
Bradley studied the Indian tribes who lived in the New York area, and explored Susanna’s possible experiences as she lived with them, and the language they spoke. While researching how the Indian natives were treated by the colonists, she 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.
The author 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. Bradley imagined what Susanna could have faced after she returned from living with the Indians.
Carol Pratt Bradley describes her philosophy about story-telling with truth and clarity: “A good story teaches us about our nature as human beings, giving 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, coming 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.”
“Carol’s books are wonderfully told stories, and thoroughly researched as all historical fiction should be,” says WiDo’s owner and Managing Editor, Karen Gowen. “We are so pleased to publish another one of her excellent books.”
Carol Pratt Bradley is a historical novelist with a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. Her interests currently include the Ancient Near Eastern world, Reformation England, and 17th century America. She has been married to her wonderful husband Bryan for over three decades. Their three daughters and one son have grown and left their parents to survive on their own. They have a Yorkie named Ozzie, who sleeps beside Carol on the couch while she writes.