Calebs Crossing

A richly imagined new novel from the author of the New York Times bestseller, People of the Book Once again, Geraldine Brooks takes a remarkable shard of history and brings it to vivid life In 1665, a young man from Martha s Vineyard became the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College Upon this slender factual scaffold, Brooks has created a luminous tale of love and faith, magic and adventure The narrator of Caleb s Crossing is Bethia Mayfield, growing up in the tiny settlement of Great Harbor amid a small band of pioneers and Puritans Restless and curious, she yearns after an education that is closed to her by her sex As often as she can, she slips away to explore the island s glistening beaches and observe its native Wampanoag inhabitants At twelve, she encounters Caleb, the young son of a chieftain, and the two forge a tentative secret friendship that draws each into the alien world of the other Bethia s minister father tries to convert the Wampanoag, awakening the wrath of the tribe s shaman, against whose magic he must test his own beliefs One of his projects becomes the education of Caleb, and a year later, Caleb is in Cambridge, studying Latin and Greek among the colonial elite There, Bethia finds herself reluctantly indentured as a housekeeper and can closely observe Caleb s crossing of cultures Like Brooks s beloved narrator Anna in Year of Wonders, Bethia proves an emotionally irresistible guide to the wilds of Martha s Vineyard and the intimate spaces of the human heart Evocative and utterly absorbing, Caleb s Crossing further establishes Brooks s place as one of our most acclaimed novelists.Watch a Video Read Calebs Crossing – kino-fada.fr BETHIA S CROSSING would be a titleindicative of the book s contents Caleb is mostly a peripheral character Feisty Puritan girl finds devious ways of gaining the knowledge she craves but is denied simply because she is a female First I ever heard of someone getting a college education via ...What becomes of those who independently and courageously navigate the intellectual and cultural shoals that divide cultures Is it truly possible to make those crossings without relinquishing one s very identity Geraldine Brooks poignantly explores these questions in her latest novel, Caleb s Crossing The story is based on sketchy knowledge of the life of Caleb Cheeshahteaumauk the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College and a member of the Wampanoag tribe in what is now Mar What becomes of those who independently and courageously navigate the intellectual and cultural shoals that divide cultures Is it truly possible to make those crossings without relinquishing one s very identity Geraldine Brooks poignantly explores these questions in her latest novel, Caleb s Crossing The story is based on sketchy knowledge of the life of Caleb Cheeshahteaumauk the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College and a member of the Wampanoag tribe in what is now Martha s Vineyard.This is truly a work of imagination since the sources on Caleb s brief, tragic, and remarkable life are scant The voice belongs to the fictional Bethia Mayfield, a minister s quick minded daughter who gently and sometimes,...3.5they were clad in Adam s livery, save that their fig leaf was a scrap of hide slung from a tie at their waists. But it was his light temper and his easy laugh that drew me close to him, over time, until I forgot he was a half naked, sassafras scented heathen anointed with raccoon grease He was, quite simply, my dearest friend Bethia makes friends with asalvageyes, with an L , as they are called throughout the book, and names him Caleb , while he calls her Storm Eyes Ge 3.5they were clad in Adam s livery, save that their fig leaf was a scrap of hide slung from a tie at their waists. But it was his light temper and his easy laugh that drew me close to him, over time, until I forgot he was a half naked, sassafras scented heathen anointed with raccoon grease He was, quite simply, my dearest friend Bethia makes friends with asalvageyes, with an L , as they are called throughout the book, and names him Caleb , while he calls her Storm Eyes Geraldine Brooks is one of the best when it comes to plucking her stories straight out of the past You could be forgiven for thinking you are reading a diary or true account of an English American woman of the 1600s Bethia loves the island, which is something she finds she has in common with this native whose home her people have taken over We are ta...This fourth novel by Brooks was quite successful to me at immersing the reader in a 17th century colony on the island of Martha s Vineyard in Massachusetts and bringing to life important issues of the time from a personal perspective It takes place in the golden period of peace with the Indians between the first colony in Plymouth in 1620 and the onset of King Philip s War in 1675, which was covered so well in Philbrick s popular history Mayflower In this period, cooperation worked relativel This fourth novel by Brooks was quite successful to me at immersing the reader in a 17th century colony on the island of Martha s Vineyard in Massachusetts and bringing to life important issues of the time from a personal perspective It takes place in the golden period of peace with the Indians between the first colony in Plymouth in 1620 and the onset of King Philip s War in 1675, which was covered so well in Philbrick s popular history Mayflower In this period, cooperat...Sometimes my words falter, when I try to describe my love for the kind of historical fiction Geraldine Brooks bestows to her readers, for I truly consider them gifts Maybe it s in the way her books completely inhabit a certain era and setting, even assuming the characters language and dialect Maybe it s in the way the inner mind is revealed in each abysmal narrative Maybe it is because of the cultures, important historical timeframes and events rarely mentioned those that are brought to t Sometimes my words falter, when I try to describe my love for the kind of historical fiction Geraldine Brooks bestows to her readers, for I truly consider them gifts Maybe it s in the way her books completely inhabit a certain era and setting, even assuming the characters language and dialect Maybe it s in the way the inner mind is revealed in each abysmal narrative Maybe it is because of the cultures, important historical timeframes and ...I have read nearly all of Geraldine Brooks books fiction and non , and have really enjoyed all that I have read Caleb s Crossing just didn t do it for me I thought it started slow, but then once it got going, I was very much into it enjoying the strong female character who is smart and ahead of her time something I think Brooks has done well in the past I also enjoyed the exploration of the tension created for and between the two main characters by different religious experiences But wh I have read nearly all of Geraldine Brooks books fiction and non , and have really enjoyed all that I have read Caleb s Crossing just...Deeply affecting novel4.5 stars Absolutely stunning book I read from page 63 to the end in one sitting because I just could not put it down Utterly lovely and heartbreaking.Bethia, the narrator, is a strong female voice and beautifully written The other characters are vividly drawn and just as affecting The way Brooks has written the book from three points in Bethia s life, but looking back on what has happened to bring her to that point is very skilfully done and provides a...3.5 sBethia Mayfield was twelve years of age when she met Caleb, one of the local native Wampanoag inhabitants in a jaunt across the beaches of Great Harbor As he taught Bethia the native ways, she knew she had to keep her burgeoning friendship with Caleb a secret Her father was a minister, and the life of a young girl in 1665 was closeted letting him know of her friendship with Caleb was something she knew she could never do.After Bethia s mo...Another wow from Geraldine Brooks There s a level of writing and storytelling that consistently sets the bar high, and Brooks sets this high bar with every stroke of the key She continues to find the obscure thread of history and create a story around it that completely enthralls the reader As with her previous novels, I became ensconced into the time, places, and people of this tale There is always a higher calling to the stories, a David vs Goliath struggle that finds you passionately p Another wow from Geraldine Brooks There s a level of writing and storytelling that consistently s...If you cross The Mill on the Floss with The Last of the Mohicans, add a dash of Dances with Wolves, a pinch of Little House on the Prairie, maybe some The Education of Little Tree , The Scarlet Letter and even Tom Brown s School Days, you ll have a winner and call it Caleb s Crossing It s a good clean cut visit to 17th c Massachusetts, told by a girl named Bethia Her family are Puritans trying to convert the Indians The relationship between Bethia and her brother is very much like that of If you cross The Mill on the Floss with The Last of the Mohicans, add a dash of Dances with Wolves, a pinch of Little House on the Prairie, maybe some The Education of Little Tree , ...

• English
• 08 September 2017
Geraldine Brooks
• Hardcover
• 306 pages
• 0670021040
• Geraldine Brooks
• Calebs Crossing