2011 book 101

Geraldine Brooks' Caleb's Crossing
Here are some of the ways I have started to write this entry: "Geraldine Brooks is one of those writers who reliably writes EXCELLENT books" "This is an early contender for my best-of-the-year list" "Brooks has once again written a completely immersive and engaging historical tale" and damn, I just want to tell you all that this book is GOOD. Brooks was inspired by the hazy historical facts of one Caleb Cheeshateaumauk, a Native American who graduated from Harvard back in the 1660s. She takes a good tack here, I think--she tells the story at a bit of a remove, as it's narrated by the local Puritan minister's daughter, who secretly befriended Caleb when they were children. Plus, this adds the awesome element of a super-smart girl thwarted in her intellectual ambitions because she doesn't have a penis (sorry, was that crass? Who cares, I was filled with righteous fury on narrator Bethia's behalf). And Brooks doesn't take the story where one might expect, which I supposed I should have expected, b/c she knows how to write a story. What else can I say, except that I am all punchy after reading this book. In a good way. Love it. A+.