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A review by camillalice
The Mayflower: The Families, the Voyage, and the Founding of America by Rebecca Fraser
3.0
The Mayflower aims to tell the story of the families, focusing on the Winslows, that fled to America and founded Plymouth. That’s what the subtitle says (“The Families, the Voyage and the Founding of America”). cover122138-mediumAnd that’s what Rebecca Fraser does for the first half of the book.
The first half of the book is, I believe, excellent. It is extremely detailed and everything is explained: the religious and political situation, why the Pilgrims left, how they got organised, what happened during the journey and how they managed once they arrived in America. It is almost day-to-day history, with details on everyday life and early 17th century ideas.
I think where it got wrong is that after about the halfway mark, Fraser starts explaining what happens later when the colonies are well established. I personally grew a bit bored and skimmed most of the second half. To me, it went beyond the “Founding of America”. While it is relevant to the subject, I think it was way too much. It might just be me, though, as all the other reviews I have read about The Mayflower are 5 stars reviews.
That being said, Rebecca Fraser has obviously done extensive researched and it shows. She knows what she is writing about. I am impressed at how vivid the writing is, which isn’t always the case in non-fiction. I think the book should have been a bit shorter, or maybe we should have had two books. I would have liked some illustrations as well to enliven the text. One thing I particularly appreciated was that the Native Americans were given a voice, it’s not just a one-sided story.
Now, should you check this book out? Absolutely! It is a well-researched, detailed, interesting piece of history writing. Anyone interested in this time period, be in English or American, or even Native American or religious history should have a read. I will definitely look into other books by Rebecca Fraser as a few of them have caught my interest (Charlotte Brontë; The Brontës; Gender, Race and Family in Nineteenth Century America – yes, please!).
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Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
More reviews available on my blog.
The first half of the book is, I believe, excellent. It is extremely detailed and everything is explained: the religious and political situation, why the Pilgrims left, how they got organised, what happened during the journey and how they managed once they arrived in America. It is almost day-to-day history, with details on everyday life and early 17th century ideas.
I think where it got wrong is that after about the halfway mark, Fraser starts explaining what happens later when the colonies are well established. I personally grew a bit bored and skimmed most of the second half. To me, it went beyond the “Founding of America”. While it is relevant to the subject, I think it was way too much. It might just be me, though, as all the other reviews I have read about The Mayflower are 5 stars reviews.
That being said, Rebecca Fraser has obviously done extensive researched and it shows. She knows what she is writing about. I am impressed at how vivid the writing is, which isn’t always the case in non-fiction. I think the book should have been a bit shorter, or maybe we should have had two books. I would have liked some illustrations as well to enliven the text. One thing I particularly appreciated was that the Native Americans were given a voice, it’s not just a one-sided story.
Now, should you check this book out? Absolutely! It is a well-researched, detailed, interesting piece of history writing. Anyone interested in this time period, be in English or American, or even Native American or religious history should have a read. I will definitely look into other books by Rebecca Fraser as a few of them have caught my interest (Charlotte Brontë; The Brontës; Gender, Race and Family in Nineteenth Century America – yes, please!).
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Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
More reviews available on my blog.