Mary Rowlandson

Mary Rowlandson had quite the (mis)adventure.

I found that her narrative about living in "captivity" with the Native Americans was a refreshing look at the time, albeit, no less tragic.

From either point of view - the settlers or the Native Americans, life was a constant struggle. Countless executions to often innocent people was a regularity in the times of Mary Rowlandson.

However, the depiction of her time spend among the Native American people paints two different stories -- one of the Native Americans being cruel and another of them being a resilient and humane people.

I thought that her tale was interesting because it was written first hand. I rarely am able to read first hand narratives about this time period and this was a great way to learn a bit more about both sides of the story. Although it was written by Rowlandson, a white woman, she acknowledges that yes, the Native American people killed most of her family and tried to kill her, as well -- but she also softens in her prose as the story goes on, saying how the Native American people helped her while she was with them.