Caleb's Crossing

Title: Caleb's Crossing
Author: Geraldine Brooks
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 336
Rating (out of 5 stars): ***
Reviewed by: Ben
Description: Bethia Mayfield is a Puritan girl living on Martha's Vineyard in the early 1600's when she meets a young Native American man named Caleb.  Bethia and Caleb secretly meet many times, learning each other's language and customs and gaining an appreciation for the differences between them.  Eventually, Caleb decides to cross over completely into the English world, but the transition is much more difficult than either could have imagined.
Thoughts: There was a lot to like about this book, but for some reason it took me a while to get into it.  If I could, I'd give a separate rating of 2 stars to the first half of the book, and 4 stars to the second half, because I really liked the second half a lot.  It was particularly fascinating for me because a lot of the book is centered on Harvard when it was just starting out, and I really liked reading about how the college worked almost 400 years ago.  Also, it was very interesting to read a bit more about the prejudices that divided the Pilgrims from the Native Americans so strongly, and made it so difficult for them to reach any kind of understanding.  All in all, if you like historical fiction, you would like this book.
Disclaimer: None.