Miriam Willard is the novel’s protagonist. She is a 14-year-old Puritan girl who has been raised in the New England wilds at the beginning of the French and Indian War in the 1750s. Miriam is used to hard work and a difficult life, but she is an exceptional seamstress who uses that skill to survive throughout the novel. She lives with her elder sister, Susanna, and Susanna’s husband James and their children, which is where she is when they are kidnapped by the Abenaki tribe.

Miriam falls immediately in love with Phineas Whitney, but she is captured the night after Phineas confesses his feelings. Miriam’s older sister, Susanna, is one of her most important relationships. Miriam uses Susanna’s firm morals to guide her but begins to learn The Value of Listening to One’s Heart as the novel continues. Miriam becomes independent, shifting from her sister’s charge to her sister’s equal, and she even ensures her family’s survival when Susanna cannot.

Miriam proves she is a loyal and selfless friend when she uses a valuable bolt of fabric to make a wedding dress for her friend Hortense rather than make a dress for herself.