The Primrose Way
The Primrose Way
by
Jackie French Koller
(Harcourt Brace - Hardcover ISBN: 0-15-256745-3 - Paperback ISBN: 0-15-200372-X)
THE PRIMROSE WAY (Harcourt Brace) - Historical Fiction Novel, grades 5 up: When Rebekah follows her father to the New World in 1633 she hopes for adventure, but finds much more than she imagined, and forbidden love too!
* "[Koller] seamlessly weaves facts and fiction into a wondrous tapestry." ---Voya 5Q (full review below)
* "Rebekah's attraction to Pawtucket ways---as well as to Mishannock---forces her choice between two cultures... A rousing good tale." ---Kirkus
*"This novel, along with Speare's The Sign of the Beaver (Houghton 1983) could be used for discussions of the historical clash of cultures in the U.S." ---School Library Journal
* American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults
* NYPL Book for the Teen Age
* Nominee 1996-97 Virginia Young Reader’s Award
* Nominee 1996-97 Utah Young Adult Book Award
VOYA Review: In 1633, sixteen year old Rebekah Hall joins her widower father at a small, newly established Puritan settlement in New England. The settlers' mission includes converting the "savages" to Puritan Christianity. The same intelligence that allows Rebekah to quickly adapt to her new surroundings also creates the friction of this novel. Educated beyond the average girl by her invalid mother, Rebekah seeks to explore her new world, to enjoy all the sights and experiences it offers. Under the guise of converting the local Native American tribe, Rebekah makes friends with Qunnequawese, the chief's niece. The two girls learn much about the other's way of life. The more she learns about the Indians' lifestyle, the more Rebekah is confused. She begins to wonder if they need the Puritan's salvation and even questions just who are the savages - the Europeans or the Indians. Her fascination with the local tribe and her difficulty in subduing her independent nature convinces some of the Puritans that Rebekah is headed down "the primrose way" (i.e., to hell), To compound the problem, she falls in love with Mishannock, the tribe's young holy man, a love he returns. Rebekah finally admits the truth of her love when a smallpox epidemic wipes out all but three of the tribe. She decides to return to England because she knows the adults will never allow her to marry Mishannock. But her friend and a wise sailing captain help her obtain her heart's true love. Koller has given us a beautiful story of a young woman's search for her identity. Her carefully researched descriptions of early Massachusetts breathe fresh life into an often obscure period of history. She seamlessly weaves facts and fiction into a wondrous tapestry. History and fiction are separated in an afterward. Glossaries of Puritan and Algonquian terms and a bibliography follow, I would have preferred a mention of the glossaries up front as an aid. Recommend this book to teachers to supplement dry as dust U.S. history texts, to read for women's studies, to explore multiculturalism, and to continue the debate over whether Columbus was a hero or harbinger of death. Recommend this book to young adults who enjoy good historical fiction, who question the boundaries imposed upon them by others, and who need information about the period for class reports.-- Esther Sinofsky.
Back to Main Page