Why read The Sovereignty and Goodness of God?

Book cover of The Sovereignty and Goodness of God: A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson

Book description

Considered the first American "bestseller", this early captivity narrative follows Mary Rowlandson's three month holding by the American Algonquian Indians. The first by an Anglo-American woman, Mrs. Rowlandson's "Narrative" remains a classic. Captivating to readers since its initial publication in 1682, this account presents a unique perspective on transcultural interaction…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Sovereignty and Goodness of God as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Amy Belding Brown

Author

Mary Rowlandson’s narrative of her captivity experience with Native Americans during King Philip’s War was one of the first bestsellers in the English colonies. And it’s the first published “captivity narrative” in what was to become a popular American literary genre. Rowlandson’s book is a fast-moving and dramatic account that describes in detail the attack that destroyed her home and culminated in her capture. She includes a harrowing account of carrying her fatally wounded daughter on an arduous journey, her despair when her daughter dies, her struggles to survive among people she’s been taught to revile, and her eventual ransom…

From Amy's list on The best books on New England’s forgotten conflict.