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nancyflanagan 's review for:
Caleb's Crossing
by Geraldine Brooks
Eloquent, thought-provoking, engrossing. And--like most of her novels--based on a fragment of a factual story.
Readers are swiftly pulled into life on Martha's Vineyard (where Brooks now lives) in the 17th century, especially the clash of worldviews between tribal populations and Puritan settlers, out to tame the land and its native peoples. The most intriguing aspects of the first half of the book are the conversations between Caleb and Bethia, as they discuss, point/counterpoint, the English God and the Indian gods--their religious customs and beliefs, their understanding of living in harmony with nature.
Brooks never feels awkward in her handling of language or plot. She has a lot of territory to cover, in the story's arc, and does so gracefully. Some reviewers have complained that it's really Bethia's story--but perhaps the only way we can see what happened to Caleb, how he gained the world and lost his soul, is through other eyes.
An exquisite book.
Readers are swiftly pulled into life on Martha's Vineyard (where Brooks now lives) in the 17th century, especially the clash of worldviews between tribal populations and Puritan settlers, out to tame the land and its native peoples. The most intriguing aspects of the first half of the book are the conversations between Caleb and Bethia, as they discuss, point/counterpoint, the English God and the Indian gods--their religious customs and beliefs, their understanding of living in harmony with nature.
Brooks never feels awkward in her handling of language or plot. She has a lot of territory to cover, in the story's arc, and does so gracefully. Some reviewers have complained that it's really Bethia's story--but perhaps the only way we can see what happened to Caleb, how he gained the world and lost his soul, is through other eyes.
An exquisite book.