Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks, read by Jennifer Ehle

★★★★ // ★★★★★

♫♪ // ♫♫♫♫♫
[12 hours, 10 mins)

Based on the story of the first Native American to go to Harvard through the eyes of a secret childhood friend - a puritan woman and the daughter of a minister. Wonderfully constructed. A story of one woman's quest for knowledge in a society that forbid it to her. Touches on a number of powerful themes: religion, the nature of sin, ethnocentrism, feminism, colonization. This book would have been a wonderful choice for someone to analyze with post-colonial theory for a literary theory class. It would also have fit well in a history class focusing on the settlement of the Americas. This novel tells the story of colonization from a contemporary perspective, one that brings up all the right misgivings, hypocracies, and ethical dilemmas surrounding this period of American history, and does so with heart, by telling a story that matters. 


recommended for: fans of historical fiction & early american history, general readers


While the story seemed to lend itself well to an oral interpretation, Jennifer Ehle over-enunciates her words. It comes off as unnatural and disjointed. She also uses D instead of T in certain places. I am unfamiliar with her other work and do not know if this is typical of her reading.  However, I pushed through and it became less noticeable over time. I would definitely sample this book before buying it outright. Determine your level of comfort with the language - though this book is contemporary, it takes place in the 1600s and Brooks' research into the language reflects that. Also, decide if Ehle's pronunciation, which I'm assuming is also a reference to that time period, is too off-putting to listen to for 12 hours and 10 minutes.