'Caleb's Crossing' means well, misses the mark

By Deirdre Donahue, USA TODAY

Before purchasing this new historical novel by the esteemed writer Geraldine Brooks, pause to read the first chapter. Caleb's Crossing has received strong advance reviews, and Brooks won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel March. Her intentions are good, her language authentic to 17th-century Massachusetts, her research detailed and plentiful.

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  Caleb's Crossing imagines the life of Caleb Cheeshahteaumauk, an Indian who graduated from Harvard in 1665.

Caleb's Crossing imagines the life of Caleb Cheeshahteaumauk, an Indian who graduated from Harvard in 1665.

The novel was "inspired" by Caleb Cheeshahteaumauk, who in 1665 became the first Native American Harvard graduate.

Unfortunately, while Caleb's Crossing is beautifully written, it reads like a puritanical mash-up of Avatar meets Dances With Wolves.

Instead of immersing the reader in the complexity of the past, it features predictable themes like gender inequality (bad), religious intolerance (bad), racism (bad), Native American wisdom (good) and evil white men (guess).

The real focus of the book is narrator Bethia Mayfield, yet another brave, kind, brilliant heroine rebelling against a patriarchal society and religion. Bethia resists domestic imprisonment because she craves learning like a junkie craves heroin.

Bethia, a fictional character, lives on what is now Martha's Vineyard, where her father is a minister trying to convert the Native Americans. The bane of her existence: her slow-witted, evil, jealous older brother Makepeace.

Bethia and the handsome, sensitive, brilliant chieftain's son Caleb meet in early adolescence and become secret friends. He reveals the wonders of nature to her and she gives him books: eventually her father tutors him. While Caleb calls Bethia "Storm Eyes," don't get your hopes up, romance fans.

Title: Caleb's Crossing

Author:By Geraldine Brooks

Publisher/price: Viking, 306 pp., $26.95

Bethia ends up as an indentured servant in Cambridge before marriage, while Caleb graduates from Harvard College. The plot centers on the discrimination and trouble these gifted and talented non-conformists face.

Brooks opens the novel by noting she wrote it "in the hope of honoring the struggle, sacrifice and achievement of this remarkable young scholar." A worthwhile goal in non-fiction, but fatal to compelling fiction.

Caleb's Crossing is so earnestly determined to improve and instruct the reader, you'd think John Calvin had a hand in writing it.

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