Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Q&A with Geraldine Brooks, Author of Caleb's Crossing, and Giveaway

Geraldine Brooks' newest book, Caleb's Crossing, came out yesterday! This historical fiction novel takes place in Martha's Vineyard in 1665 and is about a lesser-known, yet still quite interesting, figure in colonial American history. Here's the publisher's blurb about the book: The narrator of Caleb's Crossing is Bethia Mayfield, growing up in the tiny settlement of Great Harbor amid a small band of pioneers and Puritans. Restless and curious, she yearns after an education that is closed to her by her sex. As often as she can, she slips away to explore the island's glistening beaches and observe its native Wampanoag inhabitants. At twelve, she encounters Caleb, the young son of a chieftain, and the two forge a tentative secret friendship that draws each into the alien world of the other. Bethia's minister father tries to convert the Wampanoag, awakening the wrath of the tribe's shaman, against whose magic he must test his own beliefs. One of his projects becomes the education of Caleb, and a year later, Caleb is in Cambridge, studying Latin and Greek among the colonial elite. There, Bethia finds herself reluctantly indentured as a housekeeper and can closely observe Caleb's crossing of cultures.


And now for a Q&A with author Geraldine Brooks:


Caleb Cheeshahteamauk is an extraordinary figure in Native American history. How did you first discover him? What was involved in learning more about his life?

The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head/Aquinnah are proud custodians of their history, and it was in materials prepared by the Tribe that I first learned of its illustrious young scholar. To find out more about him I talked with tribal members, read translations of early documents in the Wopanaak language, then delved into the archives of Harvard and the Massachusetts Bay Colony, especially the correspondence between colonial leaders and benefactors in England who donated substantial funds for the education and conversion to Christianity of Indians in the 17th century.   There are also writings by members of the Mayhew family, who were prominent missionaries and magistrates on the island, and John Cotton, Jr., who came here as a missionary and kept a detailed journal.


There is little documentation on Caleb’s actual life. What parts of his life did you imagine? Do you feel you know him better after writing this book, or is he still a mystery?

The facts about Caleb are sadly scant.  We know he was the son of a minor sachem from the part of the Vineyard now known as West Chop, and that he left the island to attend prep school, successfully completed the rigorous course of study at Harvard and was living with Thomas Danforth, a noted jurist and colonial leader, when disease claimed his life.  Everything else about him in my novel is imagined.  The real young man—what he thought and felt—remains an enigma.


Bethia Mayfield is truly a woman ahead of her time. If she were alive today, what would she be doing? What would her life be like with no restrictions?

There were more than a few 17th century women like Bethia, who thirsted for education and for a voice in a society that demanded their silence.  You can find some of them being dragged to the meeting house to confess their “sins” or defending their unconventional views in court.   If Bethia was alive today she would probably be president of Harvard or Brown, Princeton or UPenn.


The novel is told through Bethia’s point of view. What is the advantage to telling this story through her eyes? How would the book be different if Caleb were the narrator?

I wanted the novel to be about crossings between cultures.  So as Caleb is drawn into the English world, I wanted to create an English character who would be equally drawn to and compelled by his world.   I prefer to write with a female narrator when I can, and I wanted to explore issues of marginalization in gender as well as race.


Much of the book is set on Martha’s Vineyard, which is also your home. Did you already know about the island’s early history, or did you do additional research?

I was always intrigued by what brought English settlers to the island so early in the colonial period...they settled here in the 1640s.   Living on an island is inconvenient enough even today; what prompted the Mayhews and their followers to put seven miles of treacherous ocean currents between them and the other English—to choose to live in a tiny settlement surrounded by some three thousand Wampanoags?  The answer was unexpected and led me into a deeper exploration of island history.


You bring Harvard College to life in vivid, often unpleasant detail. What surprised you most about this prestigious university’s beginnings?

For one thing, I hadn't been aware Harvard was founded so early.  The English had barely landed before they started building a college. And the Indian College—a substantial building—went up not long after, signifying an attitude of mind that alas did not prevail for very long.  It was fun to learn how very different early Harvard was from the well endowed institution of today.  Life was hand to mouth, all conversation was in Latin, the boys (only boys) were often quite young when they matriculated.   But the course of study was surprisingly broad and rigorous—a true exploration of liberal arts, languages, and literature that went far beyond my stereotype of what Puritans might have considered fit subjects for scholarship.


As with your previous books, you’ve managed to capture the voice of the period. You get the idiom, dialect, and cadence of the language of the day on paper. How did you do your research?

I find the best way to get a feel for language and period is to read first person accounts—journals, letters, court transcripts.  Eventually you start to hear voices in your head: patterns of speech, a different manner of thinking.  My son once said, Mom talks to ghosts.  And in a way I do.


May 2011, Tiffany Smalley will follow in Caleb’s footsteps and become only the second Vineyard Wampanoag to graduate from Harvard. Do you know if this will be celebrated?

In May Tiffany Smalley will become the first Vineyard Wampanoag since Caleb to receive an undergrad degree from Harvard College.  (Others have received advanced degrees from the university’s Kennedy school etc.)  I’m not sure what Harvard has decided to do at this year's commencement, but I am hoping they will use the occasion to honor Caleb’s fellow Wampanoag classmate, Joel Iacoomis, who completed the work for his degree but was murdered before he could attended the 1665 commencement ceremony.


Giveaway: The publisher, Penguin Books, has generously offered two copies of Caleb's Crossing for a giveaway! To enter, simply leave a comment with your e-mail address. Extra entries for new and old followers, just note which one in your comment. US only (UPDATE: and Canada!), and the giveaway ends in two weeks, on May 18.

29 comments:

  1. Oh I've heard so many great things about this book and am looking so forward to it!! Thank you for the great interview!!!
    shannonjean14(at)gmail(dot)com

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  2. oh sorry so excited about the book!!
    old follower GFC Shannon Johnson

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  3. Hi there. I'm a big fan of Geraldine Brooks and would love to receive a copy of her latest book. Thanks!
    Mark: freebs59@sbcglobal.net

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  4. I follow new thanks lisapeters at yahoo cot com

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  5. I would love to win this book it sounds like my kind of reading!
    amhengst@verizon.net

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  6. I would love to read this. I've enjoyed other books I've read by Brooks, and I think I'll like this one too. Thanks!

    melydia@hotmail.com
    New GFC follower.

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  7. Thanks for the interview! I'd love to read this book. flj52452 at yahoo.com (new follower)

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  8. This looks like a great book!
    I'm following you publicly on Google Friend Connect as Tethered Mommy. - new follower

    Maggie at tethered mommy dot com

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  9. New GFC Follower: SpadesHighReads

    Thanks for hosting this giveaway also to Penguin!!
    TValeros18 @ gmail [dot] com

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  10. This is on my wishlist! Thanks for the giveaway.

    lizzi0915 at aol dot com

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  11. Yay for Canada being added :)

    thanks for the giveaway!

    quixoticdreamer(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  12. Ooh, pick me! ;) I'm dying to read this!

    afewmorepages[at]gmail[dot]com

    I'm a new GFC follower too.

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  13. I have read some great reviews on this book. Thanks for the opportunity to win.

    lag110 at mchsi dot com

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  14. new follower via GFC

    lag110 at mchsi dot com

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  15. old follower gfc rlrlaney
    rlrlaney@yahoo.com

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  16. I'd love to read this! I love this period in history, and am interested in his scholarly career.

    meredithfl at gmail dot com

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  17. Old GFC follower

    meredithfl at gmail dot com

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  18. So excited for the book, sounds amazing!!
    makayla.bailey@hotmail.com

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  19. Love the q&a -- I really want to read Caleb's Crossing! Thank you for the giveaway opportunity.

    I'm also a new GFC follower (as Jessica M.)

    Jessica
    jmartinez0415 [at] gmail [dot] com

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  20. I'd love to win this!

    nbmars AT yahoo DOT com

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  21. I loved People of the Book by the same author. I'm a new follower!

    ~Dorothy
    The Kindled Scholar
    thekindledscholarATgmailDOTcom

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  22. New follower. The book sounds so interesting.

    jcovell84@gmail.com

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  23. I'm a new follower. My email address is haleydhiggins@gmail.com

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  24. I'm a new follower. This interview has really sparked my interest in this book. aroseperry@gmail.com

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  25. I love everything I've read by Ms Brooks. I'd love to win this one!
    susan.meek@aaaok.org

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  26. Great interview! I really want to read this.
    I'm new to your blog.
    Lizallrich2(at)gmail(dot)com

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  27. '"Caleb Crossing" could not have been more enlightening and involving. Beautifully written from beginning to end, it reconfirms Geraldine Brook's reputation as one of our most supple and insightful novelists.' So said Jane Smiley at the end of her Times review. Having read that I wanted to ask Ms. Brooks, via Facebook, about her reaction, more specifically: "When does praise like this, for an author of your stature, cease to thrill and become more like a visit from a favored aunt, a kindly uncle, someone you like but are not particularly excited to see again?" A question not answered or posed, for like other august authors of a certain age, she has no wall to post upon.

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  28. This is a new author for me and I'd love to "taste" her work. info @ bookfaerie.com

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  29. New follower.

    I would love to get a chance to win this thanks!

    bookflamereviews@gmail.com

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