Caleb's Crossing

[Linda]

Just finished Caleb's Crossing written by Geraldine Brooks. Brooks is an awesome writer, she tells an engaging story about people from the early 1600, which is present day Martha's Vineyard. The story is told from the point of view of the main character, Bethia. Bethia details her struggles with family, Indians, love life and growing up during this time period.

[Jen]

As a history buff, she did an excellent job though sometimes I had to suspend my disbelief of such a strong femal character. As some one who has read Geraldine Brooks books, I enjoyed it emensly. Though this tale is tragic at every turn, it gave one a true sense of the early colonial years and the hardships they endured daily. One also gets a true feeling for the religious convictions of the early colonists. Geraldine Brooks researches the time period thoroughly and it shows throughout the book. She also tells a riveting story that draws you into the colonists world of nature and daily travail.

[Karole]

Really enjoyed this book and learned alot as well. Well drawn characters and moved well with a satisfying conclusion.

[Marianne]

Geraldine Brooks has me reading about things I would never think could interest me, and she always has me devouring the facts with the fiction. Her books (even the non-fiction) are always a must for me.

[J.f.]

Artful prose from beginning to end. Beautiful settings that can easily be pictured if one should travel to the islands off the Cape or to Harvard (stand on the Charles River to picture it better). I don't usually read stories from a female perspective, but am glad that I read this gem of historical fiction. Brilliant perspective of 17th century Massachusetts and the interaction of the cultures that clashed and the domination of so-called Christian men.

[Jerilyn]

Agree with all of you completely. Geraldine Brooks has a gift for bringing history to life with her fiction.

[Tina]

I was lucky enough to attend a book breakfast (Reading Across Rhode Island)this morning where Geraldine Brooks spoke about her inspiration in writing Caleb's Crossing. She gave a great talk!

[David]

Tina wrote: "I was lucky enough to attend a book breakfast (Reading Across Rhode Island)this morning where Geraldine Brooks spoke about her inspiration in writing Caleb's Crossing. She gave a great talk!"

I was at that breakfast too. She was amazing. My favorite part was when she said she was going to make coffee milk and johnnycakes part of her family diet. I was shocked when she said that one of her family ancestors almost certainly knew the real Caleb. Makes you think this book was meant to be. Caleb's Crossing was my favorite book of the last year.

[☯Emily]

Just finished reading this great book. I am very familiar with the history of this time period. I thought it was historically accurate. I did question the freedom Bethia had as a young girl to just disappear quite often to meet Caleb. Other than that, I felt as if I had traveled back in time and got an accurate picture of the Colonial period.

[Valerie]

This is one of my favorites.

[Robert]

Anybody wanting to give a serious read to "Caleb's Crossing" might also want to read "Mayflower" by Nathaniel Philbrick. It's an account of the early history of Plymouth from the preparation and voyage on into the early years of the colony. It continues on through King Phillip's War between the Pilgrims and the Indians. It is all factual and very clearly written. The maps and pictured artifacts as well as the conditions of living in present day Massachusetts between 1620 and the 1670's provide an excellent background to understanding the cultural background for the Geraldine Brooks' story. Here's a Wikipedia link to King Phillip's War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Phi...

[☯Emily]

Thanks for the suggestion. I had read Mayflower several years ago and it is clearly written, just as you said. It gives a balanced view of the events in Massachusetts in the early years of settlement.

[Robert]

☯Emily wrote: "Thanks for the suggestion. I had read Mayflower several years ago and it is clearly written, just as you said. It gives a balanced view of the events in Massachusetts in the early years of settle..."

I went to your profile, and I see that you are quite a reader and a highly organized shelf creator. I browsed some of your books and added Gaskell's "North South" to my "Want to Read" shelf. I like history, and I liked the Sherlock Holmes stories and novellas. I guess I like mysteries, but the story and the characters always come first. I have to find the characters engaging in order to care enough to stay with the story. I haven't managed in a couple of tries at "Bonfire of the Vanities." I just didn't care what happened to those people enough to plow on although I got to 100-150 pages or so in the two times I tried. If you like history, you might try "The Armada," by Garrett Mattingly. It's really about the culminating political and military campaign of the counter reformation, and as such, much more about the politics of the sixteenth century than simply a story of a sea battle or the vanity of kings.

[☯Emily]

Elizabeth Gaskell wrote two novels that dealt with the English Industrial Revolution and its affect on the poor factory workers. Those books are North and South and Mary Barton.

[Sue]

Tina wrote: "I was lucky enough to attend a book breakfast (Reading Across Rhode Island)this morning where Geraldine Brooks spoke about her inspiration in writing Caleb's Crossing. She gave a great talk!"

This novel was nominated for my town's "community read" but sadly was not chosen. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. So jealous you got to hear Geraldine :-)

[Becky]

I really enjoyed this book. As someone else commented, it's amazing how Geraldine Brooks can switch continents and eras yet make each of her stories sound authentic. I'm really looking forward to her next novel!

[Sherry]

I just finished listening to the audio book. I could not put it down. I love Geraldine Brook's character development. I mourned every character loss like it was my family. I have not read Mayflower but it is ironically on the top of one of my book stacks. I will pick it up soon. Thanks for the recommendations.