Mayflower

In the past few days I read Mayflower: A story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick. The main point of the novel is to tell the story of the Pilgrims and there experince when settling in the New World. From the short few chapters I read, I learned of the extreme hardship and problems that the Pilgrims experienced in ther first few months. A couple of there problems included,  a lack of food supply and a fear of the natives living in there settlement.

I think that the author did a great job at helping the reader to really understand the experiences of the pilgrims. The author gave specific examples of what the pilgrims experienced. The novel shares of the harsh winter that killed many Pilgrims and the odd relationship between the new settlers and the Native Americans.

I think the author wrote a great novel that not only provided factual information but also gave an fascinating side to the story of the mayflower. I thought that by describing how pilgrims would walk among bones of former natives, he provided a certain emotional connection between the reader and the subject. However I do feel there was no real bias to the story considering Philbrick never implied that the reader should feel sad or angry towards the Natives or Pilgrims.

I thought this book provided great historical contex but personally I found the novel boring. Personally I prefer books with a more modern day subject and a interesting main character. The book didn't really supply a main character, it was more focused on the Pilgrim colony in general. I would give this book 3/5 stars. This is bacause although the story was boring in my opinion I did learn a lot by reading this novel.