"Caleb's Crossing" by Geraldine Brooks

Bethia is an inquisitive young woman who yearns for more than her station in life typically allows. But she continues to find creative ways to satisfy her hunger for knowledge while still fitting within the bounds of proper society – most of the time.

Geraldine Brooks’ new novel “Caleb’s Crossing” is brim-full of historical context in colonial Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts and early Harvard University in Cambridge on the Massachusetts mainland. The storyteller, Bethia, is the daughter of a caring Puritan missionary who has settled on the island primarily with the objective to convert its native Wampanoag people to Christianity. Although a Puritan minister, Bethia’s father is more open-minded and kindly than many in the church community and it becomes evident that their relative isolation on the island affords them less contact with the religious and political conflicts that predominate on the mainland.

Bethia’s natural curiosity leads her to explorations of the breathtakingly beautiful natural world on the island and to an encounter with Cheeshahteaumauck, the young nephew of a powerful native priest. Their friendship soon affords Bethia opportunities to learn much from her native friend about the natural environment of the island while they both clearly understand the need to keep their association a secret from their families. Soon Bethia’s sense of adventure even leads her to secretly witness and appreciate native ceremonies – an act for which she feels immediate guilt, even blaming herself for her mother’s death in childbirth because of this “transgression.”

The courageous kindness of Bethia’s missionary father leads to Cheeshahteaumauck’s conversion to Christianity and his grooming for a classical education at Harvard along with Bethia’s bother, Makepeace. Soon Bethia’s childhood friend is re-named Caleb and he applies himself with fervor to learning with the ‘long coats.’ Bethia is indentured to the Indian college at Harvard to repay a family debt and, while a very difficult personal circumstance for her, this allows Bethia to follow the scholastic advancement of her brother and her friend Caleb. At the same time, Bethia is able to soak up much of the educational herself since she deftly positions her duties so that she can overhear the lectures.

While the novel primarily tells the story of Caleb through Bethia’s eyes, the over-arching tale contains much more than the primary storyline. “Caleb’s Crossing” relates the story of a high-spirited and inquisitive young man who is persuaded to abandon his culture and native religion to take on the Puritan culture and its prized classical education. Ultimately, Caleb becomes an outstanding student and the first Native American to graduate from Harvard. But the dark side of the tale also speaks of the tremendous physical and spiritual toll caused by separation from a person’s cultural foundation and heritage. While it can be done, should it be done? And, if so, the cost is significant – perhaps even tragic.

Geraldine Brooks, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2006 for ‘March’ is also the author of “Age of Wonders” and “People of the Book.” “Caleb’s Crossing” is another wonderfully written novel set in a fascinating historical period with resonance for today. I highly recommend it to you.