The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George SpeareWikipedia Page
After Kit Tyler is orphaned in Barbados she narrowly avoids being married off to a 50 year old man by traveling to New England to live with her mother's sister and her Puritan family. Life in the Caribbean is far different than life in the burgeoning mid-Atlantic colonies. Her aunt and uncle, Rachel and Matthew Wood are not expecting Kit when she shows up on their doorstep, but they take her in and make her a part of their family, along with their two daughters, Judith and Mercy.
Kit has to learn to live in the harsh conditions of Connecticut, both meteorological and political. Neither is warm and welcoming. She has plenty of growing pains as she tries to become part of the Woods' family while refusing to give up on who she is.
I really enjoyed this book. Kit is such a great protagonist and I loved following her as she tried to find her place in a cold cruel environment which provided very little welcome. The contrast of a far more modern lifestyle in her native Barbados, gives a young reader a little taste of what it would be like if someone of modern sensibilities were to try and endure the conditions imposed by the Puritans.
I don't remember reading this as a kid, but I would like to think I would have remembered reading this book. I'll definitely be recommending this as I deem appropriate.
1 comment:
I loved this book and read it several times as a kid. Kit was a role model for me: how to fit in without losing your identity. I even had an older woman friend who the town considered odd.
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