First Lady of America

An engrossing biography of the Native American heroine, Pocahontas.

Will appeal to readers of Allan W. Eckert, James P.P. Horn and Nathaniel Philbrick.

The only daughter of Powhatan, the great warrior and ruler of the Chickahominy Confederation, Pocahontas enjoyed a privileged upbringing. Yet she defied many of the customs of her tribe by accompanying her brothers on hunting expeditions, and could be as fiercely competitive as any brave.

It was her remarkable ability to adapt to new ways of life and situations alien to her that so amazed all who knew her and secured her place in American history. Captured by English colonialists during hostilities in 1611 and removed to the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia, she displayed an incredible resourcefulness, learning to read and write, converting to Christianity and marrying an Englishman, John Rolfe.

She was the first member of her nation to cross the Atlantic Ocean, reaching England in 1616, where her charm, intelligence and wit made her the toast of London society, and she soon became a regular at the royal court of King James I and Queen Anne.

Drawing on a range of contemporary accounts, Noel B. Gerson sifts fact from fiction to present the life of a remarkable woman who was able to make her way in three different worlds - her Native American homeland, the colonial settlement of Jamestown, and seventeenth-century England.