Book Title: ANNEKE JANS IN THE NEW WORLD
Character Name: Marritje Jans
How would you describe your family or your childhood?
I don’t remember my father, but my mother, Tryn Jonas, was the first midwife in New Amsterdam. Tough as nails, she’s the one that talked my sister Anneke and me into upping stakes and trying our luck in the New World.
What was your greatest talent?
I’m cheerful to a fault. I also know a way to keep from having babies every eighteen months if that’s of interest to you.
Significant other?
I’ve had three husbands. Tymen Jansen was my favorite. He was the chief shipwright here. When he died, I married another carpenter, but he accidentally swung an adze into his leg, so then I married Govert. My sister Anneke said some harsh things about him, called him a murderer and whatnot, but since he was the richest man in town, I didn’t much care.
Biggest challenge in relationships?
Men die so young.
Where do you live?
I used to live in New Amsterdam, but then the English invaded, so now I live in New York. Govert and I built ourselves a mansion fit for a pirate here on the strand.
Do you have any enemies?
Yes! My stepdaughters and their wretched husbands are trying to cheat me out of my inheritance.
How do you feel about the place where you are now? Is there something you are particularly attached to, or particularly repelled by, in this place?
Well, it’s not Europe, but if I’d stayed in Europe, I’d probably still be poor, so I guess it’s all right.
Do you have children, pets, both, or neither?
I’ve given each husband a child, and I think that’s enough. Animals belong in the farmyard.
What do you do for a living?
Well, it wasn’t a living, but for a while when my stepdaughters were unmarried, we roasted Java beans and sold coffee wine in our front parlor. It was quite novel, and some of the best people, especially the younger ones like Stuyvesant’s nephews, used to come to our place all the time for conversation and coffee.
Greatest disappointment?
My stepdaughters. They were still in Europe and very young when their mother died, and I was so excited when Govert went to fetch them because I thought they would love me.
Greatest source of joy?
I’m still alive.
What do you do to entertain yourself or have fun?
Oh, I love a good wedding or a funeral. I just love dancing.
What is your greatest personal failing, in your view?
I talk too much. Anneke used to say I was flippant, but I think she was just being catty.
What keeps you awake at night?
Indigestion.
What is the most pressing problem you have at the moment?
My stepdaughters are trying to dispossess me.
Is there something that you need or want that you don’t have? For yourself or for someone important to you?
Now that’s a hard one. We are taught that everything in this world and the next is preordained, but if I could, I would turn back the clock to when Anneke and I first came to this world. Everything seemed so unspoiled and full of promise back then when no gun had been fired and no blood shed, but it’s a sin to complain, so I won’t.
Why don’t you have it? What is in the way?
It’s just the way things are.
ANNEKE JANS IN THE NEW WORLD by Sandra Freels
Timed perfectly to publish just as New York celebrates its 400th birthday, a riveting story of a spirited young mother who faces the unknowns of seventeenth-century New Amsterdam after fleeing the Old World in search of a better life.It’s 1630, and Anneke Jans has just arrived in the fledgling colony of New Netherland with her husband, Roelof, and their two young daughters to create a new life for herself and her family. One of very few women in the colony, Anneke quickly realizes that she will need to make her own rules if she is to survive.When Roelof dies, Anneke marries Everardus Bogardus, the flamboyant minister of the Dutch Reformed Church. With this marriage, Anneke joins the elites of the colony—but when the colony’s new director provokes war with the region’s American Indians and her new husband emerges as the head of the anti-war opposition, she also finds herself in the midst of political turmoil. As difficulties mount, she must rely more than ever on her quick wits to protect herself and her growing family.Based on real events, Anneke Jans in the New World tells the story of an ordinary woman who lived an extraordinary life.
Literature and Fiction | Women’s Fiction Historical [ She Writes Press, On Sale: January 6, 2026, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9798896360322 / eISBN: 9798896360339 ]
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About Sandra Freels
Sandra Freels majored in Russian at Indiana University and completed a PhD in Slavic Languages and Literatures at Stanford University. The author of three textbooks, she headed the Russian program at Portland State University for many years. An interest in genealogy led her to the Council Records of New Netherland and the delicious stories of the people who once lived there. She claims descent from Anneke Jans and sixteen other major and minor characters in Anneke Jans in the New World. At present, Sandra lives with her husband Joel and their two cats in Portland, Oregon.
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