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Jennifer Potter
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The Jamestown Brides: The Story of England's "Maids for Virginia" Illustrated Edition, Kindle Edition

by Jennifer Potter (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 195 ratings
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Jamestown, England's first real foothold in the New World, was fraught with danger -- from starvation and disease to violent skirmishes between colonists and the native populations. Mortality rates were impossibly high: Six out of seven settlers died within the first few years. How clear these and other perils were made to the fifty-six young women who left their homes and boarded ships in England in 1621, nearly fifteen years after Jamestown's founding, is not known. But we do know who they were. Their ages ranged from sixteen to twenty-eight, and they were deemed "young and uncorrupt." Each had a bride price of 150 pounds of tobacco set by the Virginia Company, which funded their voyage. Though the women had all gone of their own free will, they were to be sold into marriage, generating a profit for investors and helping ensure the colony's long-term viability.

Without letters or journals (young women from middling classes had not generally been taught to write), Jennifer Potter turned to the Virginia Company's merchant lists -- which were used as a kind of sales catalog for prospective husbands -- as well as censuses, court records, the minutes of Virginia's General Assemblies, letters to England from their male counterparts, and other such accounts of the everyday life of the early colonists. In The Jamestown Brides, she spins a fascinating tale of courage and survival, exploring the women's lives in England before their departure and their experiences in Jamestown. Some were married before the ships left harbor. Some were killed in an attack by the native population only months after their arrival. A few never married at all. In telling the story of these "Maids for Virginia" Potter sheds light on life for women in early modern England and in the New World.
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  1. ISBN-13
    978-0190942632
  2. Edition
    Illustrated
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  5. Publication date
    May 3, 2019
  6. Language
    English
  7. File size
    6691 KB
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

''I love this kind of historical writing, with the stitching showing. There is a story here, but it is Potter's skillful guidance through the disparate sources that makes it work. Engaged and thoughtful, she has given her women an existence they would recognize.'' --Literary Review

''With extraordinary scholarship and painstaking use of contemporary texts, Potter succeeds in her professed task of bearing witness to the lives of young women unknown to history...Full of sensational material.''-- Times Literary Supplement (London)

''Compelling... A pleasure to read.'' --BBC History Magazine

''An evocative and painstakingly researched account of these early female settlers, who have lacked a voice, an identity, even a name, until now. From 400 years ago, they step from these pages and speak to us.'' --The Tablet, a Book of the Year selection

About the Author

Jennifer Potter is author of four novels and five works of nonfiction, most recently Strange Blooms, The Rose: A True History, and Seven Flowers. As Royal Literary Fund (RFL) Consultant Fellow, she inspires good writing among doctoral students and younger academics, and she was recently appointed one of the first RLF Fellows at the British Library.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07RCJSQZC
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; Illustrated edition (May 3, 2019)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 3, 2019
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 6691 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 195 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Jennifer Potter

Jennifer Potter

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Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Jennifer Potter is a professional photographer born in Wales, United Kingdom. She has a vegan artisan business called Rock Chocs.

The Germs Invasion is the first of so many books to come from her and she is currently working on completing her other books with characters created from her first book .

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
195 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Cynthia
5.0 out of 5 stars different than usual view presented
Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2023
Verified Purchase
I read this after visiting Jamestown (both museum locations). The settlement certainly wasn't about freedom, adventure, or an easier life for these young women who went or were sent mostly due to lack of money and opportunity at home and then found themselves still to be in unfortunate circumstances. The book shows the greed of those backing the settlement hoping to profit from the work of others, people who suffered from a poorly thought-out plan that, of course, didn't go smoothly and cost many women (and men) their lives from disease, starvation, and murder. The author researched well. I think you'll enjoy this book.
5 people found this helpful
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Paul Renfroe
4.0 out of 5 stars Very Interesting History Good Read
Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2023
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The history here is great! The book is very readable, and it gives a view of our early colonization and what it took to start a colony in the 17th century. I could see and feel so much!
2 people found this helpful
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texasquilter
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful condition
Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2023
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Book arrived quickly from over the pond and in wonderful condition.
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Massengale
3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed reaction
Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2019
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The author of this book has clearly done the research, and puts a human face on historic Jamestowne. For this I applaud her efforts! The book is a useful addition to the existing literature. That said, the writing is regrettably poor. As a retired writer and editor, I found that the lack of organization, the frequent digressions and repetitions, and the maddening use of run-on sentences detract from the readability of this book!
28 people found this helpful
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Ida Ruth Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, extensively researched book.
Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2021
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This book was personal as one of the women was my ancestor. This book was enlightening as one felt the forces of the time and understood more deeply how and why this historical event happened. This book was full of facts, but the facts were presented in an easy to read way with clear documentation. In short I loved it and will place this book on the shelf with the books which I plan to reread for better understanding.
17 people found this helpful
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History Fan
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read about the women of Jamestown
Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2020
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I had a special interest in the subject, since one of these brides is my ancestress. It did a great job of telling both the general background of the story, as well as any details known about each of the individual women. The author did a very good job of using known facts, and being careful not to speculate too much about the unknown. Chapters about the ones whose lives are known somewhat after arrival, including Audria Hoare, my 11th great grandmother, was done very well, to tell the rest of the story. Great read, and I highly recommend.
26 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Good historical detail.
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2021
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This is a good book and one can trek the author did a lot of research. It isn't one of those books you can sit and read straight through because of all the detail, at least for me. Would recommend.

the detail.
5 people found this helpful
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F. Tull
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book for History and Genealogy Buffs
Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2021
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The Jamestown Brides: The Bartered Wives of the New World is well researched and documented. It is a great chronicle of the first English women in North America, Although it is heavily documented, it is an easy read, as it reads more like a novel than a history book. I highly recommend it.
10 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Lily
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent condition
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 20, 2023
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Very pleased with book
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bugware
4.0 out of 5 stars A genuine reflection of harsh times. Tough read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 8, 2020
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A great source of background information for the tv series Jamestown. The book provides many examples of the harshness of life at the time and the circumstances that lead to the fate of the subjects.

The style of writing reflects the dialect in the 17th century and so takes some concentration for the modern reader.

Overall a reflection of a harsh time in history that started the confident migration to America.
One person found this helpful
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E. W. Sharman
5.0 out of 5 stars very good quality book.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 21, 2019
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A quick service book in good condition.
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ChristinaBroa
1.0 out of 5 stars Did you ever wonder why people say it was like watching paint dry?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 3, 2020
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If you like long interesting lists of people, places and dates that aren’t presented to you in an even remotely interesting way then boy is this book for you. Your in a for a Thrill ride. If you think it takes more to make a book interesting avoid like the plague, not coronavirus coz apparently we don’t avoid that we run head first at it screaming about 5g.
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