Review of Tidewater: A Novel of Pocahontas and the Jamestown Colony, by Libbie Hawker

In August, I featured the launching of Tidewater: A Novel of Pocahontas and the Jamestown Colony, by Libbie Hawker on this blog. 

I was fascinated that this fellow-writer of Ancient Egyptian history had not only changed to a different pen name, but had ‘come home,’ so to speak. With the haunting cover of a girl named Mischief (Pocahontas), I thought my interest with it was done.

Until I started reading the book. As a discerning reader, Tidewater took my breath away; as a writer, it left me humbled. Language is our extraordinary ability so often squandered and defiled these days. With Tidewater, Libbie Hawker has restored this precious gift to her readers. Those who might shy away from the word “lyrical” will sadly be missing out. There are a number of similes and at some time, I wondered if they would become a detractor; but soon, just like "Il Postino" craving the poet Pablo Neruda's metaphors, I savored the trompe l'oeil Hawker created for my mind.

We can be thankful that this—true, quite long—novel is self-published. I shudder to think that a publisher, eager to adhere to production-hemmed constraints, would have slashed and burned much of the descriptive and, yes, lyrical passages. It would still have been a terrific story; but it would have lost its soul. Of course, Libbie Hawker is no newcomer to writing. Under the pen name of Lavender Ironside, her historical fiction set in Ancient Egypt is highly successful.

Back to Tidewater: I am not prone to gushing. But this is by far one of the most beautiful, expressive novels I have read in quite a while. As I said, it is long; it demands care and attention. But the reward is deep involvement, from the natural settings to the people’s lives. You can feel the icy wind bite into bare skin, smell the last frozen berries being harvested, and sense dark eyes ghosting through the underbrush.

The clash of two cultures is insidious at first, ebbing back and forth like the sea washing into the mouth of the tidewater; its mudflats sucking at careless intruders. Timorous trading, bold demands, arrogance and unequal battles finally seal the fate of this New World. Caught up in it, through young curiosity and an inane desire to be recognized by her elders, is the girl-child aptly-named Mischief: Pocahontas.

As the well-adapted ‘Naturals’ and the befuddled English settlers continue to struggle against nature and each other, their survival becomes the focal point of the novel. Without unnecessary gore or heroics, you are placed squarely into the middle of the conflict, rooting for one then the other, wishing that none of it should have to be. Both sides need to stay true to their own culture. It was the only way they knew; their only way to live; their only way to die.

Tidewater is a novel I shall read again, if not solely for its story then for the enjoyment of its writing. As both are fused into this masterful novel, I will find new insights. I cannot recommend Tidewater highly enough. It is truly an outstanding example of the best writing there is.

Great Story about Pocahontas

Today, I am so pleased to acquaint you with a brand new novel by my
historical fiction writer-friend, 

Libbie Hawker

TIDEWATER is a story about a woman who has captured our imagination for a few centuries now, mostly with myths and legends overshadowing reality. In her novel, Libbie did not shy away to let the truth be known; and therefore instill in us even more admiration for this extraordinary life.

Don't you just love this hauntingly beautiful cover?

Here is what Libbie shares with us about 

researching and writing her novel:

Many people, especially women, are acutely aware of how few women are represented by the annals of history. When our deeds and contributions are recorded by historians, it's often in the context of how we related to the men of our times. Women are frequently given "supporting roles" in history, acting as motivation or reward for the men who move the world.

But of course, women have always played an equal part in shaping politics, culture, and history. It's our status as second-class citizens that relegates us to the sidelines of history. How much more extreme is this effect for non-white women in European and North American history, who are remembered not only for their relationships to men, but to white men specifically?

The Pocahontas myth is one that is hugely beloved by many people around the world, especially in the USA. But I knew that Pocahontas was a real woman with a true history, and that the story of her life probably had little or nothing to do with a tempestuous love affair with a white man. I became interested in writing a novel about Pocahontas's life years ago, and as I researched the true history of this woman and the changing world she lived in, I found that the real story was even more exciting, moving, and awe-inspiring than the familiar myth.

I worked hard to portray Pocahontas and her people as accurately as I could. I hope that Tidewater will give readers a clearer idea of what life was like for the people of the Powhatan Confederacy as the sun began to set on their empire. I hope, too, that seeing Pocahontas in her own light, outside of the requisite context of her supposed "love" for a famous white man, will make her more real to everybody who reads her story.

She was an exceptionally intelligent person with many talents, a charming personality, and a generous heart. She and her family shaped history in such incredible ways that the influence of the Powhatans is still evident in American culture and in the English language to this day.

Without Pocahontas, the history of the United States would have been very different for both Europeans and Native Americans... for good or ill.

* * *

So hot off the press it is still steaming, TIDEWATER is available in Kindle format for right now, but Libbie is working on the print version to be available soon.

Libbie Hawker's Amazon Author Page 
(which also includes her acclaimed Egyptian series, written as L. M. Ironside)
http://www.amazon.com/Libbie-Hawker/e/B00CCRAKWM

Also, make sure to visit Libbie Hawker's web site: http://libbiehawker.com