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The Empresario’s Wife
The Woman at the Center of the Texas Revolution
Sarah’s journey from St. Louis to Texas catches her up in a love triangle, forces her into a struggle for her family’s survival, and pitches her headlong into the whirlwind of war.
It is 1827 and Sarah Seely DeWitt finds herself at the center of Texas history in its earliest and bloodiest period.
Based on actual events leading up to the 1836 Texas Revolution, The Empresario’s Wife chronicles the struggles of a young American Everywoman and the events that change her and the nation forever.
Cover by Michelle Bushneff.
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Kirkus Review
“Seeber’s novel is prodigiously researched and richly detailed (the narrative contains a wealth of historical nuggets), a textured and atmospheric recreation of time and place with a vividly drawn female lead. Through Sarah’s personal struggles and development, readers are viscerally brought into a piece of history that is traditionally dominated by accounts of the military battles. This is a story of female grit and determination in the face of overwhelming challenges.” – Kirkus Reviews
Readers’ Favorite
“Author Barbara H. Seeber offers readers a compelling, character-driven narrative that captures the personal costs of war and the power of one woman’s choices perfectly, and it is an inspiring tale. Sarah Seely DeWitt is a compelling and courageous heroine, making history feel deeply personal thanks to the close narrative viewpoint that Seeber gives her and the emotional weight of her thoughts and dialogue.” – Readers’ Favorite
The Come and Take It Flag
Sarah Seely DeWitt created, with her children, the original “Come and Take It” flag out of her daughter’s wedding dress. Discover the story behind the birth of this enduring Texas icon.
About the Author
Barbara H. Seeber is a fiction and nonfiction writer who has produced many books for The National Geographic Society.
Her novel, The Empresario’s Wife, tells the story of a remarkable woman who helped shape the earliest beginnings of Texas. The novel reflects the author’s consuming interest in history.
What People Are Saying
This is early Texas history as it has never been told, the tale of how women carried the burden and played a critical role in the founding of the state. The Empresario’s Wife is a very important novel, a groundbreaker.
— Kathryn Johnson, Author of The Gentleman Poet and other historical novels
Barbara Seeber has written women into Texas history — it’s about time!
— Francine Edson, Texas Reader
My only exposure to Texas history was the books by Cormac McCarthy, and they gave me a taste for learning more about that part of the country. The Empresario’s Wife is just as compelling as McCarthy’s books, and I learned a lot more about a period that was a complete blank for me.
— David Katz, Professor of History, Brandeis University
The research and imagination displayed in scene after compelling scene of this novel is staggering. The story closely follows the actual historical events with a lean prose style and straightforward storytelling that illuminate the history of the nation.
— Peter Molin, Associate Professor of English, Rutgers University
In this epic family tale, part history, part legend, gifted storyteller Barbara Seeber ventures into the Texas of the 1820s and 30s, a wild sometimes brutal land, but a land of freedom and opportunity. Feisty Sarah Seeley DeWitt, Seeber’s four-time great grandmother, meets it head on.
— Barbara Brownell Grogan, Former Editor-in-Chief, National Geographic Books; President, Rivanna Publishing Ventures
She is wife of Green DeWitt, one of the state’s founding fathers, or empresarios, along with fabled Stephen F. Austin. With heart and guts she guides her family through a tenuous settlement, cholera, attack, loss, and deep loves—of her children, her new nation, and a longtime childhood friend with whom she might have shared her life. Determined, committed, Sarah’s character is real, timeless, and page-turning.
Seeber’s insightful research takes us into places and events little known but vital to the Texas and American story. Among other acts of courage and dedication Sarah and her children fashion the Texas “Come and Take It Flag” that flies in the first battle of the Texas Revolution in 1835—and she witnesses the fight. For Seeber to have re-discovered Sarah and brought her to life through dynamic, uplifting prose, is a gift to her family, to Texas, to all her revere the story of America, and especially to women. Here is a hero.
Map of Southeastern Texas Circa 1836
Bold Story Press
The Empresario’s Wife is published by Bold Story Press, whose mission is to empower women to create narratives, break barriers, and shape the world through their voices. When women’s voices are heard, the world becomes a better place.