A richly imagined new novel from the author of the New York Times bestseller, People of the Book.
Once again, Gerald... read full description
Once again, Gerald... read full description
reviews
Oct 25, 2011
Jeanette
rated it: 
BETHIA'S CROSSING would be a title more indicative 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 eavesdropping.
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 eavesdropping.
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May 05, 2011
Jill
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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 w More...
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 w More...
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(24 people liked it)
Jun 02, 2011
Barbara
rated it: 
OK, I was just adding a few things to the review that I posted yesterday, and somehow I deleted the whole review (except the last two short paragraphs!!!!!) Well, it's okay, because I really loved this book, but I felt that my review wasn't strong enough, so now I have to start from scratch and rewrite the entire review. For now, I have to get back to work, so I'll be back later or tomorrow to write another review.
I absolutely loved "Caleb's Crossing" and I strongly recomm More...
I absolutely loved "Caleb's Crossing" and I strongly recomm More...
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(7 people liked it)
May 10, 2011
Juliana
rated it:
Deeply affecting novel (4.5 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 p More...
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 p More...
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(15 people liked it)
Sep 24, 2011
Sisimka
rated it:
The language of this book is simply astounding. I have found myself enthralled by Geraldine Brooks' writing before, but she attained a new level here. When I think of the research required for her to voice Bethia so authentically, and then render it in a way that makes sense to a modern reader, I am properly impressed.
Entwined with the study of language, fictional and real, is the story of two young people from very different worlds who each look to learn about the other with varying More...
Entwined with the study of language, fictional and real, is the story of two young people from very different worlds who each look to learn about the other with varying More...
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(6 people liked it)
Jul 15, 2011
Julie
rated it: 
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. Bu
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May 12, 2011
Christina
rated it:
4.5 STARS! Wow!
I must say that I have not been the biggest fan of historical fiction, but I may be now. I started this book slowly, struggling with the flow of language used back in the 1600's. Then it was like I entered a time machine and I was right there. I would close the book literally thinking thoughts in that same form of speech an hour after! I cried at the end and I can tell I will be thinking of the characters for a long time to come. I am native and was born and raise More...
I must say that I have not been the biggest fan of historical fiction, but I may be now. I started this book slowly, struggling with the flow of language used back in the 1600's. Then it was like I entered a time machine and I was right there. I would close the book literally thinking thoughts in that same form of speech an hour after! I cried at the end and I can tell I will be thinking of the characters for a long time to come. I am native and was born and raise More...
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(5 people liked it)
Jul 16, 2011
Fiona
rated it: 
I ended Geraldine Brooks novel with regret which I was surprised to find. At first I wondered if I would become as engaged with it as I'd hoped, having enjoyed People of the Book, March so much. However after remonstrating with myself a little, I was rewarded.
In Caleb's Crossing Ms Brooks comes nearer to Margaret Atwood's greatest literary achievements than Margaret Atwood has managed in several of her own more recent novels and I think it's fair to draw the comparison for many reason More...
In Caleb's Crossing Ms Brooks comes nearer to Margaret Atwood's greatest literary achievements than Margaret Atwood has managed in several of her own more recent novels and I think it's fair to draw the comparison for many reason More...
Jun 26, 2011
Schmacko
rated it:
Geraldine Brooks has a way with history, making it a powerful force in her fiction.
After her luminous Pulitzer-Prize-winning March, she in on that list of authors I will always read. March told the “lost” story of Little Women: the father who went into the Civil War as a pacifist minister and abolitionist and came back home (in Alcott’s words) “haunted.” Brook’s People of the Book was about a haggadah, an ancient Jewish holy book, and its extravagant history. These books (I haven’t More...
After her luminous Pulitzer-Prize-winning March, she in on that list of authors I will always read. March told the “lost” story of Little Women: the father who went into the Civil War as a pacifist minister and abolitionist and came back home (in Alcott’s words) “haunted.” Brook’s People of the Book was about a haggadah, an ancient Jewish holy book, and its extravagant history. These books (I haven’t More...
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(3 people liked it)
Jun 05, 2011
Karen
rated it:
Brooks takes scant information about the first native American to graduate from Harvard and expands it into a novel-length work about the struggles of people crossing from one world to another--and being stuck in between.
As other reviewers have noted, the novel really focuses more on the narrator, Bethia, who is also from Martha's Vineyard, except that she is of English ancestry. Bethia also yearns for education, but as a woman, she is denied full access to the opportunities that he More...
As other reviewers have noted, the novel really focuses more on the narrator, Bethia, who is also from Martha's Vineyard, except that she is of English ancestry. Bethia also yearns for education, but as a woman, she is denied full access to the opportunities that he More...
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(4 people liked it)
Nov 02, 2011
Kim
rated it:
Have heard some comments by fellow book clubbers that they don't enjoy the way this is written; in language dating back to 1665 of English Puritans of the region that is now called Martha's Vineyard today.
It starts out by the viewpoint of the young daughter of a Puritan family, whose father is ministering strict Calvinism to the local Native tribes.
The book is a historical fiction account of the original first Native American to graduate Harvard.
After finish More...
It starts out by the viewpoint of the young daughter of a Puritan family, whose father is ministering strict Calvinism to the local Native tribes.
The book is a historical fiction account of the original first Native American to graduate Harvard.
After finish More...
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(2 people liked it)
May 12, 2011
Elizabeth
rated it:
Oh.
Em.
Gee.
I am hooked and I am only on page 27...
Finished this absorbing story last night. Thoughtful and SO closely observed. Stunning writing. Wonderful narrator. Goodness. LOVED IT.
Em.
Gee.
I am hooked and I am only on page 27...
Finished this absorbing story last night. Thoughtful and SO closely observed. Stunning writing. Wonderful narrator. Goodness. LOVED IT.
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(4 people liked it)
Jun 22, 2011
Jean
rated it:
In 1665, Caleb, an American Indian becomes the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College. Geraldine Brooks takes this scant piece of factual information and weaves a great historical novel of Caleb and a group of fictional charcaters through the ups and down of Caleb's journey. The journey is as much Bethis's, the narrator, as it is Caleb's. Bethia, is a strong-willed girl and she and Caleb watch each others backs.. A more than pleasant read.
17 comments
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Feb 14, 2012
Susan
rated it:
I postponed reading Brooks's latest novel because I am a huge fan of her writing and wanted the appropriate moment to savor her work. I wasn't disappointed. Her richly imagined tale of Bethia Mayfield and the Wampanoag lad Caleb was so detailed, so well-wrought, that it served as both an entertainment and a history lesson. Ah, but there I struggled a bit. As it happens, I am well-versed in the early history of Martha's Vineyard. Brooks's transmogrification of names, events and even geograph
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Feb 11, 2012
Debbi
rated it:
I've read (and enjoyed) every book that Geraldine Brooks has written, and while this is not my favorite one, its very interesting.
I thought (from the title) that the book was about Caleb, the first Native American to attend Harvard. Instead, its told from the point of view of Bethia, a young girl who lives on what is today Martha's Vineyard, as part of a religious community that did not want to be part of the "mainland". Bethis's life is a hard one, very constricted by the m More...
I thought (from the title) that the book was about Caleb, the first Native American to attend Harvard. Instead, its told from the point of view of Bethia, a young girl who lives on what is today Martha's Vineyard, as part of a religious community that did not want to be part of the "mainland". Bethis's life is a hard one, very constricted by the m More...
Feb 08, 2012
Gina
rated it:
Geraldine Brooks has a unique talent to take small bits and pieces of history and through painstaking research and an inventive imagination turn them into a compelling story. In Caleb's Crossing she takes the fact that in 1665 Caleb Cheeshahteamauk was the first Native American to graduate from Harvard. This is virtually the only fact known about Caleb but from that small nugget of information Brooks creates a believable story of how Caleb crossed from the Native American culture to that of the
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Feb 06, 2012
Robert
rated it:
Brooks is a gymnastic writer using a range of early colonial voices to paint the small world of the story set on the island of what we call Martha's Vineyard. Historical ficiton allows a writer either to embellish or omit what is convenient or worthy of the story's drama and in this genre, Brooks does both. Personally, I found the plot, settings, and characters wonderfully compelling. The narrator's maturity moves along the plot's development by moving the diction and syntax along a line from si
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Jan 19, 2012
Sidna
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jan 18, 2012
Laura
rated it:
This extremely well-written and fascinating book is narrated by a feisty pilgrim girl in the early years of the colonies and tells the story of Caleb, the first Native American to graduate from Harvard.
Brooks always manages to convey a palpable sense of space in her historical fiction, and this is no different: I was charmed by what would later be known as Martha's Vineyard but which is only ever called "the island" in the book. The narrator, Bethia, is an fully rounded ch More...
Brooks always manages to convey a palpable sense of space in her historical fiction, and this is no different: I was charmed by what would later be known as Martha's Vineyard but which is only ever called "the island" in the book. The narrator, Bethia, is an fully rounded ch More...
Jan 15, 2012
Elizabeth
rated it:
Extract: "For the novel’s strengths, I look to the narrator Bethia, the portrayal of early settlement life in America, the previously unknown (to me) story of the first indigenous scholar of Harvard University, the tensions between Bethia’s book-loving character and her role as a woman growing up under a religious patriarchy, as well as Brooks’ depiction of the devastation brought to the Wopanaak tribe of Noepe (now Martha’s Vineyard) of European settlement. In terms of my enjoyment of the
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Jan 12, 2012
Sharon
rated it:
The focus of this book is on Caleb, a historical Native American (Wampanoag) known for being the first to graduate from Harvard three and a half centuries ago, but seen through the eyes of a (fictional) young woman. Based on a few spare details, you have a chance to see a rare moment in American history when Native and immigrant Americans managed a peace, despite the constant and annoying evangelical efforts of the English.
I wanted to love this book so much more than I did. It is we More...
I wanted to love this book so much more than I did. It is we More...
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Jan 10, 2012
Susy
rated it:
I loved this novel far more than I expected. Unlike People of the Book which changes characters with different generations of citizens who lives intersected with The Book (the Hagaddah), this novel is based on a shard of history about the first person from a native American tribe, the Wopanaak of what we now call Martha's Vineyard, to graduate from Harvard in the 17th century. I hesitate to even refer to Caleb as a native American since the land where the story takes place was a colony of Engl
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Jan 10, 2012
Gwen
rated it:
Geraldine Brooks’s latest novel is presented as the journal of Bethia Mayfield. The Mayfield family cultivates a small farm in the seventeenth century Puritan settlement of Great Harbor on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, which is home to the Wampanoag tribe. Although Bethia is denied the Latin education her older brother receives as he prepares for a clerical career, she learns as much as she can by listening in on his lessons while she completes her daily chores. Ever curious, twelve-year-ol
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Jan 05, 2012
Marlyn
rated it:
In 1665, a young Wampanoag man from what is now known as Martha's Vineyard became the first Native American to graduate from Harvard. Geraldine Brooks takes this fact and builds a novel around it.
The story is told from the point of view of (fictional) Bethia Mayfield, a Puritan girl growing up on the island, part of a splinter group of Puritans who are not quite as strict as most. Intelligent and fond of learning, Bethia is disappointed when her father tells her she is too old to con More...
The story is told from the point of view of (fictional) Bethia Mayfield, a Puritan girl growing up on the island, part of a splinter group of Puritans who are not quite as strict as most. Intelligent and fond of learning, Bethia is disappointed when her father tells her she is too old to con More...
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Jan 01, 2012
Deborah
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This is a fantastic book by an author I had not previously been exposed to, Ms. Brooks has clearly taken the time to examine not only primary sources, but has also captured the sense of place, gender roles and a believable day-to-day experience for 17th and 18th century inhabitants of Cambridge, Boston and Martha's Vineyard. Here she weaves the story of Caleb Cheeshahteaumauk, the first member of the Wopanaak tribe to graduate from Harvard University through the eyes of a young woman who comes t
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Dec 26, 2011
Jill
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This was one of my favorite books of 2011. I heard the author interviewed on NPR, so when the book was available for electronic loan at the library, I decided to give it a try.
The novel is told through the journal entries of a young girl, Bethia, who is growing up on Martha's Vineyard in the mid 1650's. She is the daughter of a minister/missionary and his wife, who are making a difficult life for themselves on the island. Bethia is a sharp girl and apt pupil who is denied an educat More...
The novel is told through the journal entries of a young girl, Bethia, who is growing up on Martha's Vineyard in the mid 1650's. She is the daughter of a minister/missionary and his wife, who are making a difficult life for themselves on the island. Bethia is a sharp girl and apt pupil who is denied an educat More...
Dec 17, 2011
Beth
rated it:
Historical fiction based on scantlydocumented history, the book is written in language of the 1600's. At first, this effects slow going, but in time one begins to move along. Bethia lives on Martha's Vineyard and in being herself, not a proper girl of the time, who is seen and not heard, she wanders along beaches and into woods, finally coming upon an indian whom she calls Caleb. The two of them enjoy sharing knowledge of their own culture for some years. and eventually, that means that Cale
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Dec 06, 2011
Andi
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I'm obsessed with Brooks. I was fortunate enough to see her speak at Martha's Vineyard (her home) about this book and her life. She is phenomenal in every way. This book may not be as good as "People of the Book" or "Year of Wonder" but it is right up there. It is about the first Wampanag Indian, who happens to live on Martha's Vineyard, to graduate from Harvard. That is a true fact-- the story, however, is fiction. Brooks does such an amazing job of transporting the reader t
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Nov 05, 2011
Barbara
rated it:
I'm a fan of Geraldine Brooks, so was really looking forward to reading this book. However, I thought the book was mis-named since there was so little of the story that actually addressed Caleb. As she did in Year of Wonder, Brooks narrates the story through the eyes of a young girl, this time named Bethia, who is unusually bright and desires the education that is denied her because of her gender. The story focuses more on the life of Bethia than Caleb. Brooks' research is impeccable and in the
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Oct 31, 2011
Louise at The Reading Experiment
rated it:
Don’t be misled by the title and jacket description of this book.
They will have you believe that Caleb’s Crossing is about the first Native American to graduate from Harvard University in 1665.
Don’t get me wrong – this is central to the story and is the reason Geraldine Brooks wrote this book.
However, alongside it is the equally powerful story of the book’s narrator, Bethia Mayfield, and her detailed account of life as a woman in the mid-17th Century.
I lo More...
They will have you believe that Caleb’s Crossing is about the first Native American to graduate from Harvard University in 1665.
Don’t get me wrong – this is central to the story and is the reason Geraldine Brooks wrote this book.
However, alongside it is the equally powerful story of the book’s narrator, Bethia Mayfield, and her detailed account of life as a woman in the mid-17th Century.
I lo More...
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