First Lady of Detroit

The Story of Marie-Thérèse Guyon, Mme Cadillac

By Karen Elizabeth Bush

Cloth - 9780814329832 (Out-Of-Print)

Paper - 9780814329849 (Out-Of-Print)


Published 2001
Size: 5.5 X 9, Pages: 192

Subjects: Regional Studies: Young Readers

Series: Detroit Biography Series for Young Readers


Description

First Lady of Detroit is the spirited tale of an adventurous girl who grew up to commission and equip her own expedition to le Detroit, joining her husband there in the fall of 1700 —less than a dozen weeks after Fort Pontchartrain was carved out of the Michigan wilderness. Born in 1671, Marie-Thérèse Guyon was educated in Quebec by Ursuline nuns. Although she was schooled to be a lady, her life was filled with excitement. She married the dashing and ambitious Antoine Laumet de Lamothe Cadillac just a month after they met. They would have thirteen children. Marie Thérèse took life in stride —whether it included fire, an escape into the forest, kidnapping by a Spanish privateer, or just the need to purchase supplies for her husband's troops. First Lady of Detroit is designed to appeal to older children, but readers of all ages are sure to find this a fascinating look at life in Nouvelle France

Published by Wayne State University Press

Author(s)

Other Books by Karen Elizabeth Bush: Willie Horton: Detroit’s Own Willie the Wonder,

Reviews

"[A] fascinating biography of a rebellious girl from Quebec City.  Instead of becoming a nun, she marries the dashing and dangerous founder of le Detroit, Antoine Laumet de la Mothe Cadillac . . . enjoy the lively story set on the Great Lakes of the late 1690's."

— Detroit Free Press


"K. E. Bush has turned a smattering of clues and hints taken from various correspondence and official records of the time into a rare look inside the life of an extraordinarily brave and tenacious woman. The First Lady of Detroit has never been in such good hands. Ms. Bush is a consummate story-teller who knows how to breathe life into dusty archives. She weaves them with imagination and flair into a fascinating and thrilling historical fiction. Mme Cadillac never seemed so alive."

— Dominique Banoun, Canadian filmmaker and Cadillac historian