Notes from Feb 2017 group

Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks -  Discussed on Wed Feb. 1, 2017 at Geneseo Public Library

                                                                                                                           

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.

Our group was amazed at the research done by the author.  Readers felt like they were living there at that time period.  The book was very descriptive and full of interesting characters.  We had great discussions on the difficulty of life and travel, social class system even on an remote island, religion, schooling, conflict between native Americans and immigrants, responsibilities of men vs women.  Everyone was drawn into the story and enjoyed this book.