The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks
15 November 2015 
The Secret Chord is Geraldine Brooks latest story and brings to us a fresh look at King David. I confess that I know very little of King David – apart from the very well know episode of David and Goliath of course – and this is a retelling of history and myth that is really intriguing to read told by an author who is an expert at delivering a well told tale.
The story begins with David, as an older man, sending Natan (his prophet) out to meet people from his life to record his story and so we begin with David’s mother and move on from there. As I mentioned above this is a story that I really knew very little about although I believe David’s life is well documented and this is a retelling of those events.
This is a bit of a step away from my usual type of read as it contains no fantasy or sci fi elements but is a very creative reimagining of David’s life. Told through the eyes of Nathan, David’s prophet, who became so at a young age, after he witnessed the massacre of his family at the hands of David and his men. Being a prophet Nathan was greatly feared, some believed him to be a sham, others avoided him like the plague, his life revolved around David but apart from that he seems to have been the one man who could deliver the truth, even if nobody wanted to hear it.
I think Geraldine Brooks is a master of storytelling. She could probably make a shopping list fascinating to read and so in that respect this is a compelling read. Although, I will just mention at this point that this is in parts a violent book. This is definitely an age of little or no remorse in the face of death, in fact reading this the one thing that really stood out was that life seemed incredibly cheap and to be honest David was not without taint in that respect. There are scenes of battle, murder and rape and although these are not sensationalist they may be upsetting for some readers so bear that in mind.
What Brooks does here is show a side to David that is new. He has a fairly sad start until he is anointed as the chosen one. He is then greatly beloved for his heroics in battle until King Saul becomes jealous of him and he of necessity undertakes the life of a fugitive. From there things move on – but I won’t document everything here.
The absolute winning element to this story is the writing. I admit that as I started reading I did wonder if I would get on with this book and then before I knew it I was glued to the pages. Of course, David had a fascinating life and the story unfolds here in a compelling manner, the scenery is set so well, and we see a side to David that is maybe not quite so endearing. At the end of the day these were not easy times to live in with much warfare and bloodshed.
In terms of criticisms – well, I can’t really say that any of the characters were particularly endearing to read about. Well, the main characters are clearly Natan and David and neither of them are easy to like in some respects. Natan is very solitary and a bit abrasive. David, well, he certainly doesn’t come across endearing here. Okay, he has the ability to be likable and fair but to counterbalance that he also appears vain, difficult, a pretty dreadful husband and father and not always the best judge of his own actions.
I enjoyed The Secret Chord, maybe not as much as some as Brook’s other work but still thought it was a compelling and quite fascinating read.
I received a copy of this courtesy of the publishers through Netgalley for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
Just finished reading Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks which tells us the story of Caleb and Bethia. Caleb is a native American from the Island of Martha’s Vineyard and Bethia the daugher of a Minister to a flock of early Puritan settlers.
Although this novel is described as telling the story of Caleb, one of the first Native American’s to attend and graduate from Harvard College in 1666 it centres mainly on Bethia who tells her tale, a part of which is the forbidden friendship that grows between herself and Caleb after a chance when she is out looking for clams.
I enjoy the writing of Geraldine Brooks, she manages to take a subject and with a few brief facts from a certain historical period, weave a story rich with detail. Clearly she must undertake extensive research as her novels always seem to vividly recreate the time and the people from whatever era she is writing about and more to the point she makes you care about her characters. She also seems to take a story that more often than not I begin by thinking I won’t enjoy but then manages to convince me that I will.
Once again this is a wonderful historical novel. It manages to portray the struggles of both characters very well. It depicts the struggles that women of that era faced and it depicts the prejudices faced by the native Americans. We see Bethia change from a young and relatively carefree young girl who has the opportunity to explore the island (whilst under the guise of gathering food for the family) to become an intelligent young woman who has to hide her wit. We also see Caleb develop into a young man of strong will and commitment. Torn between his own tribe and family and his desire to prove himself. The early friendship the two developed as youngsters continues throughout the novel with the two lending each other support in times of need. And support is surely needed for the trials the two of them will go through.
I enjoyed this book although will admit not as much as the two novels I’ve read previously. Don’t misunderstand me, I think the writing is wonderful and the voice of Bethia is compelling but for me personally it lacked something to make it totally absorbing and I can’t quite put my finger on what the missing ingredient is. I enjoyed the first half of the book where we meet Bethia and Caleb and watch them carry out their strange and secret relationship – however, I thought the story really started to come into it’s own as Bethia’s struggles increased. She suffered hardship and loss followed by indenture and prejudice to the extent that I was quite exasperated! But it was intriguing to read about. Caleb at this point however seemed to fade into the background and we lost quite a bit of his story – he became more of a peripheral character just occasionally popping into the story to help carry a particular element of the plot. I thought that was a bit of a shame but as the story is told by Bethia I guess it was inevitable. So, I didn’t love this, but, I thought it was a well written and interesting read. Would I recommend it – yes. As an historical novel it really is a great book but I think personally Year or Wonders and People of the Book stand out more in my mind.
In terms of criticism – it felt like the book came to a very abrupt ending. One moment I was reading Bethia’s reflections. The next moment I started the following chapter and Bethia was dying, of old age! For one moment I thought I’d skipped some pages and had to backtrack to see what was going on. Having said that I must give credit where it’s due. I suppose it would have been a very long story to hear of Bethias complete life story and I guess what we were being given was a snapshot in time to demonstrate the effect that the two had on each other’s lives. We were then left to reflect on whether their frienship had helped or hindered them.
On the whole a very enjoyable historical novel which I’m glad to have read and would certainly recommend.
Caleb's Crossing
Books and travelling with Lynn 