Esther

In 1703 a war party of French soldiers and Abenaki warriors raided the Puritan village of seven-year-old Esther Wheelwright killing several men women and children and taking twenty-two captives. That Esther managed to survive the 200-mile journey by foot through swamps and forests to a Jesuit mission in New France is astonishing. That she was adopted quite happily into a family of her Abenaki captors is equally amazing. But for the Wheelwright family who waited years before receiving word that Esther had even survived the raid the abduction was a tragedy. Esthers release from her Abenaki family was finally negotiated through a French Jesuit who took her to the city of Qubecbut it was too late. Esther by then twelve years old broke her parents hearts by refusing to go home. They never saw her again. Instead she remained in Qubec the capital of New France where against all odds she went on to become Mother Superior of the Ursulinesand a pivotal figure after the siege of Qubec in 1759.Written by Julie Wheelwright Esthers descendant thisbook is a spiritual and an emotional journey of survival and an awe-inspiring example of the human capacity for transformation.