The Many Captivities of Esther Wheelwright

August 22, 2016
In this meticulously researched biography, Little (Abraham in Arms), associate professor of history at Colorado State University, traces the life’s journey of Esther Wheelwright (1696–1780), a New England–born nun who ended up as the mother superior of a French-Canadian Ursuline convent. Wheelwright was captured by Wabanaki Indians at age seven, spending five years immersed in their culture. Little follows Wheelwright’s life among the French-Canadian Ursulines, whose order she joined at age 12 and where she rose to prominence and influence, “the only foreign-born superior in the order’s nearly 400-year history.” Little thoroughly reconstructs the everyday aspects of the era, addressing food, clothing, education, and religion to demonstrate that the English, Wabanaki, and French shared many similarities despite their differences. The book is as much about Wheelwright’s environment and multiple cultures as about the woman herself: a “story of whole communities of women, and how they lived and worked, and suffered and thrived in Early America.” It is also “about families that are formed by choice as well as blood,” and the things that “bind the generations of North American women, one to another across the centuries and down to the present, and beyond.” Though detail-rich and slow going, academically constructed and complicated, Little’s work offers deep insight into the era.

Starred review from August 1, 2016

In August 1703, seven-year-old Esther Wheelwright (1696-1780) was captured by Wabanaki warriors during their attack on the New England frontier town of Wells. Adopted into a native family, the author became known as Mali and converted to Catholicism. At age 12, she moved to Quebec where she was enrolled in a school for native children. By 17, she had assumed the name of Sister Marie-Joseph de L'Enfant-Jesus and joined the Ursulines of Quebec as a choir nun. Her service to the order culminated with election to the post of Mother Superior. Using fragmentary resources, Little (history, Colorado State Univ.; Abraham in Arms) has produced a fascinating biography of an extraordinary woman. Notably, the author deftly details the lives of women who interacted with Esther, including the Protestant women of her early childhood, indentured servants, slaves, Wabanakis, French aristocrats, and nuns. This monograph also provides valuable insights into how Quebec was transformed after its conquest by British forces during the French and Indian War. VERDICT A must-read for anyone interested in colonial North America. Curious readers should also consider John Demos's The Unredeemed Captive.--John R. Burch, Campbellsville Univ. Lib., KY

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