Tidewater: A Novel

Tired of whitewashed stories. Dive into Tidewater and relish in the Powhatan struggle to persevere over the English pioneers. Great storytelling sweeps you along.

This book has to be a huge undertaking... I enjoyed the story, but at times I felt it got bogged down with so much information... The characters were brought to life and it was great to see historical interiors instead of fiction. So I guess I'm torn.. Great story, a tad too long, but in the end, I'm glad I read it.

I loved this book because I love history. I didn't know Pocahatas died in England. I wish her son could have loved longer.

So this is a rough book, and I have been sitting here trying to decide whether to give it all five stars, because it did what it set out to do flawlessly, or to hold one back because as much as I liked it, I... don't think I can bear to read it again. You would have to be ignorant of history not to know that this story is going to be a tragedy; the only question then is just how tragic it's going to be. And Hawker doesn't pull any punches. She does a magnificent job, but... she does a -magnificent job-. You finish the book and you are cored out by your sense of loss, and the book echoes in your head like a bell, and leaves no room for anything else for a while.So why read this book, if it's sad? Because it really was well done. I appreciated the complexity of the portrayals of both cultures and the individuals in them. At no point did I ever feel that someone had been caricatured as Evil or Noble or Good or Thoughtless. I loved the details of Pocahontas's birth culture, and the language use, and the deep sense of the land and its rhythms and complicated political realities. I liked seeing the contrast between it and the English. I liked watching the misunderstandings and the few moments of amity, and the weight they had, the feel that finding common ground between such unlike societies is hard work, luck, and often wholly dependent on personalities willing to be the bridge. And as horrible as it was, there was something fascinating about watching two cultures that could not co-exist slowly slide toward one another and collide. We watch one be subsumed by the other. We sense the inevitability of it. We are witnesses, and we know what we lose, and we know, because of how far down the historical timeline we're living, what we gained.For a while, I was there. And I was glad. But I think Hawker did her work too well: I was relieved when it was over. Maybe as a subject matter this one cuts too close to home for me to find any hope in it. I think people who love this period of history and these cultures will find it a very worthy addition to their libraries. It makes everything very real.An excellent book. Very well done.

This novel is both a well-researched account of the times and a very good story. You got a good picture of the bigotry of the Europeans towards the Native Americans - not surprising and yet still so sad. It was interesting to get a more complex view of the Native Americans. They had just as much political intrigue as other societies. Many underestimated the strength of the Europeans as a threat to their way of life. Others were more certain of that threat. I thought the characters were well developed and the dialogue was well-written. There was a good amount of tension in the book to keep interest in the lengthy book. .

I'll get my only criticism out of the way. I did feel the pace of this book did somewhat lag at times. To me it seemed some of the conflict between the white men and the naturals were of the same nature, becoming repetitive. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed Tidewater, most especially after Pocahontas was abducted. I literally had to force myself to put it down! So if anyone should share my opinion, please persevere, as you won't regret. I must admit my education was sorely lacking on this topic. I did have a romanticized view about the story of John Smith and Pocahontas. Having first learned about them in grade school in the early 60s, I'm no longer sure of what we were taught and what I've picked up from books, movies & TV. I was surprised she was actually much younger than I knew. Ms. Hawker was thorough in her description of the natural life style, especially their dress, rituals, daily life, in essence their entire culture. Their plight and how they were eventually pushed further and further west, until forced onto reservations, has always bothered me. Her depiction of life in Jamestown at the same time was enlightening also. I had no idea how very stark their circumstances were, especially the starvation and the lengths they were forced to go to just to survive. And that, of course was the crux of the dealings with the naturals. It sure isn't the version of the "pilgrims" and " Indians most of us have bought into. I know I'll keep what I've read in mind as Thanksgiving comes around this year. Don't misunderstand, I still believe in it's message of peace and thanks, just with a different view on it's origin. I thank Ms. Hawker for what I learned from her book, keeping in mind that their were a few myths included, as she stated in her notes. I highly recommend this book to all readers, especially to lovers of our great country's saga even with all its' flaws!

I didn't expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. I found it poignant and absorbing. The author draws a portrait of a struggle that was real and, sadly, we know how it ended which makes the storytelling even more powerful. I found myself emotionally involved with the central character of Pocahontas from the outset and a appreciated the depth of research that had clearly been done prior to writing. Very much worth reading.

I loved this novel portraying the life of Pocahontas (Little Mischief) throughout her life stages (at each stage her name changed as a coming of age rite). As the blurb says, don't even consider it anything like the Disney film of this woman whose name has gone down in the history books as a brave and intelligent peace-maker between nations.The novel describes Pocahontas and John Smith's (innocent) relationship - from when they first met when she was a child and he was fighting to become a prominent part of the English settlers' group. The descriptions of the homes and different heads of groups in Tidewater are beautiful, as are the descriptions of the traditions and customs of Pocahontas's family and people.The story spans many years, with heartbreak, betrayal and yet, still joy throughout. It makes this ancient world come alive and though it's a novel, you feel as though you are also living the struggles of Pocahontas's people against the betrayals of the early English settlers. At the same time, feeling the pain and hunger the settlers felt when trying to live in a hostile land they'd newly arrived in.I was sorry when I turned the last page and look forward to any sequel.

This book just blew me away. I have to admit being in a rather small minority in that I knew nothing about Pocahontas before reading the book, other than that she existed, she was famous for some reason, and there was a cartoon about her. I bought the book purely on the strength of this author's other books (writing as L M Ironside), set in ancient Egypt. I gave all of those 5 stars so I was intrigued and delighted to see that she had tackled a different era.I wasn't disappointed. Far from it. While I thought the Egyptian books were excellent, I also thought that Hawker's writing had taken a quantum leap since her last book. This is a writer of genuine skill. She was able to evoke an era that I knew nothing about and put me right there to such an extent that now I feel like I know all about it.Because of the cartoon I wasn't sure what to expect, but this isn't a cartoon story. This is the story of the collision of two cultures and the inevitable bloodshed that follows. It's the story of the connection between two people (too complex to be called a love story) which develops into a fascinating account of two intertwined lives.I would recommend this book to everyone, whether you think you know the story of Pocahontas or not.

This is a wonderful story and a brilliant insight into into my history my ancestors traveled to verginia around then

well written& researched although a few liberties taken occasionally.