Caleb's Crossing

Caleb’s Crossing (2011) is a historical fiction novel based on the real life figure of Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck, the first Native American to graduate from Harvard University in 1665. Born into the Wampanoag tribe on an island near Cape Cod, the historical Cheeshahteaumuck converted to Christianity and attended a preparatory school before enrolling in Harvard.

In her novel, Pulitzer Prize winning author Geraldine Brooks tells a fictionalized version of Caleb’s story in the form of a bildungsroman (or a coming of age narrative) told through the perspective of Bethia Mayfield, a minister’s daughter in a series of informal journal entries. Bethia’s perspective adds to this story by comparing multiple excluded groups in 17th century New England, including women, Native Americans, and some sects of Puritans.

This guide uses the 2012 Penguin Publishing edition of the novel.

Plot Summary

Bethia is the daughter of two English settlers in what is now Martha’s Vineyard. They have come from England along with other Puritans to escape religious persecution. Bethia, somewhat disobedient of the rigidly constrained gender roles of her settlement, roams alone in the nearby reaches of the island. There she encounters Cheeshahteaumuck.