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In 1665, a young man from Martha's Vineyard became the first Native American graduate of Harvard College. Geraldine Brooks takes the few facts that survive of his extraordinary life and works this little-known shard of history into a luminous tale of passion and belief, magic and adventure.
The voice of Caleb's Crossing belongs to Bethia Mayfield, growing up in the tiny island settlement of Great Harbor, where her father is minister. While he feels called to convert the Wampanoag to his own English Puritanism, Bethia is possessed of a restless spirit and a curious mind, slipping the bounds of her rigid society to explore the island's glistening beaches and observe its native inhabitants. At twelve, she meets Caleb, the young son of a chieftain, and the two forge a secret bond that draws each into the alien world of the other.
Caleb becomes a prize in a high-stakes contest between old ways and new, eventually taking his place at Harvard alongside the colonial elite. Bethia finds herself in Cambridge, where she must fight for a voice in a society that requires her silence. What becomes of these characters - the triumphs and turmoil they endure in navigating the intellectual and cultural shoals that divide them - is the subject of this riveting and intensely observed novel. From the sparkling harbours of Martha's Vineyard to the mean, drafty dormitories of early Harvard, Brooks weaves a rich narrative with the fascinating and meticulously researched detail that has brought her legions of readers and a Pulitzer Prize.
The voice of Caleb's Crossing belongs to Bethia Mayfield, growing up in the tiny island settlement of Great Harbor, where her father is minister. While he feels called to convert the Wampanoag to his own English Puritanism, Bethia is possessed of a restless spirit and a curious mind, slipping the bounds of her rigid society to explore the island's glistening beaches and observe its native inhabitants. At twelve, she meets Caleb, the young son of a chieftain, and the two forge a secret bond that draws each into the alien world of the other.
Caleb becomes a prize in a high-stakes contest between old ways and new, eventually taking his place at Harvard alongside the colonial elite. Bethia finds herself in Cambridge, where she must fight for a voice in a society that requires her silence. What becomes of these characters - the triumphs and turmoil they endure in navigating the intellectual and cultural shoals that divide them - is the subject of this riveting and intensely observed novel. From the sparkling harbours of Martha's Vineyard to the mean, drafty dormitories of early Harvard, Brooks weaves a rich narrative with the fascinating and meticulously researched detail that has brought her legions of readers and a Pulitzer Prize.