Praying Town

Praying Town is the story of a brave experiment, a forgotten war, and a historic peace between New World Natives and Old World immigrants. Amid the confusion of colonization, two cultures found a way to live together in harmony and respect in communities that once dotted the landscape of what we now know as New England. They were called Praying Towns.

Author L. Gawenase Johnson is a direct descendant of both those who came over on the Mayflower and those who greeted them with mixed reactions. Digging deep into obscure history, she brings to light an all but forgotten story yearning to be told.

Working from verifiable historic figures and events, Gawenase weaves the story of Damaris and Jacob, Amie and Tispiquin, King Philip and John Sassamon from the peaceful Praying Town of Namasket, through love, murder, war, and ultimately back to a remarkable peace that lasted for almost one hundred years.

Of her work of historical fiction, Gawenase says, “There are shocking, unbelievable moments in the story. Surprisingly, those are all from actual eyewitness accounts. My fiction fills in the day-to-day moments that have been lost to time."