I'm so excited to host another giveaway today. The Penguin Group has graciously offered to give two of my readers a galley of Geraldine Brooks' upcoming novel Caleb's Crossing.
CALEB’S CROSSING is inspired by the life of Caleb Cheeshahteaumauk, the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College in 1665. Brooks first learned about him during her time as a Radcliffe fellow at Harvard in 2006. Caleb was from the Wampanoag tribe of Native Americans who lived on Martha’s Vineyard and this year Tiffany Smalley will become the second Vineyard Wampanoag to graduate from Harvard. There is little official information on Caleb’s life and Brooks’s novel is an informed imagining of what he might have gone through.
What makes this novel truly special is its narrator, Bethia Mayfield. Bethia is the strong-willed daughter of a preacher who lives in the settlement of Great Harbor on Martha’s Vineyard. She struggles with the restrictions placed on her—namely, that she is denied the education freely given to her brother. Bethia finds respite in the wild landscape of her home and it is while clamming one day that she meets Caleb, the son of a local chieftain. They form a secret friendship that, in time, leads to Caleb coming to live with the Mayfields. Bethia’s father eagerly takes Caleb under his wing, determined not only to convert him to Christianity, but also to groom him for matriculation to Cambridge and eventually, Harvard.
The harsh realities of life for both women and Native Americans are fully confronted in CALEB’S CROSSING. It is a story of difficult friendships, cultural transitions, and facing injustices.
I will be randomly choosing two names from people who comment on today's blog by midnight, Thursday March 17th. Please make sure you include contact information in your post.
At our senior center bookclub on Tuesday we discussed the fact that women were often thought not to be worthy of a college education that was given freely to men. I am very interested in reading Caleb's Crossing.
ReplyDeleteHelen Kiker
hdkiker@comcast.net
Caleb's Crossing sounds very interesting. I'd love to read it and then pass it on to my granddaughters.
ReplyDeletemittens0831 at aol dot com
I was lucky enough to grow up in a time when my parents expected me to go to college even though I was female. Many of us take these freedoms for granted and books like this one help to remind us of what a tough role women had in the past. I'd love to read this.
ReplyDeletepennyt at hotmail dot com
I had parents that believed that women went to college only to get their 'MRS' and only a generation ago. I'm glad things are getting better for women. Sounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteboots9k at wowway dot com