Beheld By TaraShea Nesbit

This book is set in 1630 Plymouth and and concentrates on a true historical event: the hanging of a man for murder. It then builds a tale of what might and might not have led up to that event. Two women on opposite sides of society, the governor’s wife, Alice Bradford, and an indentured servant’s wife, Eleanor Billington, show how the same events can be portrayed differently, and how the notion of undeniable truth can be so pliant. Known in society by their marriages, Alice and Eleanor navigate the settler’s life in Plymouth with vastly different opportunities. Alice is a respected woman with rank and self-discipline, while Eleanor is a young beauty of loud honesty and wanton ways, as perceived by the settlers. In truth, however, their lives are dictated largely by their husbands and their responsibilities as wives, but the ability to influence from a position of power and comfort is very real. Even if Alice cannot see it, the reader certainly can. Freedom, even in the New World, can be an ellusive thing.