Flight of the Sparrow

“An authentic drama of Indian captivity…A compelling, emotionally gripping tale.”—Eliot Pattison, author of the Mystery of Colonial America series

She suspects that she has changed too much to ever fit easily into English society again. The wilderness has now become her home. She can interpret the cries of birds. She has seen vistas that have stolen away her breath. She has learned to live in a new, free way.... 

Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1676. Even before Mary Rowlandson was captured by Indians on a winter day of violence and terror, she sometimes found herself in conflict with her rigid Puritan community. Now, her home destroyed, her children lost to her, she has been sold into the service of a powerful woman tribal leader, made a pawn in the ongoing bloody struggle between English settlers and native people. Battling cold, hunger, and exhaustion, Mary witnesses harrowing brutality but also unexpected kindness. To her confused surprise, she is drawn to her captors open and straightforward way of life, a feeling further complicated by her attraction to a generous, protective English-speaking native known as James Printer. All her life, Mary has been taught to fear God, submit to her husband, and abhor Indians. Now, having lived on the other side of the forest, she begins to question the edicts that have guided her, torn between the life she knew and the wisdom the natives have shown her.

Based on the compelling true narrative of Mary Rowlandson, Flight of the Sparrow is an evocative tale that transports the reader to a little-known time in early America and explores the real meanings of freedom, faith, and acceptance.

READERS GUIDE INCLUDED

“A mesmerizing tale of survival and awakening…reminded me of Calebs Crossing.”—Donna Thorland, Author of The Rebel Pirate

PRAISE FOR MR. EMERSONS WIFE

"Amy Belding Brown has brought her back to life in a novel that glitters with intelligence and authenticity."—Geraldine Brooks, author of March

"In this extraordinary book, Amy Belding Brown has brought the nineteenth century to life...A soaring imaginative leap, this book combines detailed history with a page-turning illicit love story. Its a look at a rich moment in American history and a great read, a rare combination."—Susan Cheever, author of My Name Is Bill and Note Found in a Bottle

"A beautiful work...It is quite refreshing to see that ambition backed up with a quality of writing that bears up to the weight of its subject matter."—Bret Lott, author of Jewel and A Song I Knew by Heart

"Mr. Emerson's Wife engages with intelligence and passion the mind of Lidian Emerson, and what is found are the staggering daily compromises and frustrations of an intellectual nineteenth-century woman...A robust novel that situates itself in grace and struggle in feminine consciousness among the Concord men."—Victoria Redel, author of Loverboy

"Where historians dare not go, Amy Belding Brown's imagination takes us...I don't know who to celebrate more—the resurrection of Lidian Emerson or Amy Belding Brown's ascent to the first ranks of historical fiction."—Wallace Kaufman, author of Coming out of the Woods

“Brown's writing is graceful, at times giving Lidian a poetic voice. . . . In an age when scholarly biographers meticulously document every detail in the actions and settings of their subjects, Brown has escaped to the freedom of fiction to suppose ‘what might have been."—Ruth Johnstone Wales, The Christian Science Monitor

“[Brown's] writing is exceptional...Throughout the book are multiple unobtrusive reminders that this author is a poet as well as a novelist and biographer.”—Ann M. Woodlief, American Transcendental Web

"Breathes life into a vital but oft-neglected chapter of our history. Amy Belding Brown has turned an authentic drama of Indian captivity into a compelling, emotionally gripping tale that is at once wrenching and soulful." —Eliot Pattison, author of the Mystery of Colonial America series

“A mesmerizing tale of survival and awakening…The deftly depicted cross cultural friendship reminded me of Caleb's Crossing and the fast-paced story kept me up turning pages.” —Donna Thorland, author of The Turncoat and The Rebel Pirate

“Brown's voice transforms a remote period into a fresh and immediate world and, in Mary, gives us a heroine who is broken by sorrow but determined to survive. This is a novel about the true meaning of faith and freedom."—Kelly O'Connor McNees, author of The Island of Doves and The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott

“The story of Mary Rowlandson is the story of one of the darkest episodes in our nations history, and yet Amy Belding Brown manages to turn it into a soaring tale of light and hope…The Flight of the Sparrow reminds us of the promise of America and that the fulfillment of that promise relies on every human heart.”—Sally Cabot Gunning, author of Benjamin Franklins Bastard, The Widows War, Bound, and The Rebellion of Jane Clarke.

Praise for Mr. Emersons Wife

"Amy Belding Brown has brought her back to life in a novel that glitters with intelligence and authenticity."—Geraldine Brooks, author of March

"In this extraordinary book, Amy Belding Brown has brought the nineteenth century to life...A soaring imaginative leap, this book combines detailed history with a page-turning illicit love story. Its a look at a rich moment in American history and a great read, a rare combination."—Susan Cheever, author of My Name Is Bill and Note Found in a Bottle

"A beautiful work...It is quite refreshing to see that ambition backed up with a quality of writing that bears up to the weight of its subject matter."—Bret Lott, author of Jewel and A Song I Knew by Heart

Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1676. Even before Mary Rowlandson was captured by Indians on a winter day of violence and terror, she sometimes found herself in conflict with her rigid Puritan community. Now, her home destroyed, her children lost to her, she has been sold into the service of a powerful woman tribal leader, made a pawn in the ongoing bloody struggle between English settlers and native people.

Battling cold, hunger, and exhaustion, Mary witnesses harrowing brutality but also unexpected kindness. To her confused surprise, she is drawn to her captors' open and straightforward way of life, a feeling further complicated by her attraction to a generous, protective English-speaking native known as James Printer. All her life, Mary has been taught to fear God, submit to her husband, and abhor Indians. Now, having lived on the other side of the forest, she begins to question the edicts that have guided her, torn between the life she knew and the wisdom the natives have shown her.

Based on the compelling true narrative of Mary Rowlandson, Flight of the Sparrow is an evocative tale that transports the reader to a little-known time in early America and explores the real meanings of freedom, faith, and acceptance.

READERS GUIDE INCLUDED