If you could trade a comfortable, predictable future, dictated by your family, for a life of adventures with a famous explorer you hardly knew, would you do it?
In Brook Allen’s recent novel, West of Santillane, teenager Julia Hancock faced those choices in the early 1800s on her family’s Virginia plantation.
As the author recounts Julia’s choices and their consequences, she immerses readers in the excitement, joys, and sorrows of this era.Julia’s beliefs, perhaps unusual for someone in her position, play a central role and enhance the tension in this story.
Major Characters:
Julia Hancock—independent young Virginia woman from a traditional plantation owner’s family; she enjoys literature and marries William Clark
William Clark—military man and explorer who, with Lewis, journeyed across the U.S. to the Pacific Ocean on the expedition President Thomas Jefferson commissioned
Meriwether Lewis—commander of the expedition, a brilliant scientist but unrefined man who never married
Harriet (Harri) Kennerly—Julia’s cousin and friend; she lacked Julia’s sense of adventure
York—enslaved man who grew up with and worked for William Clark; Clark’s beliefs about slavery determined the course of York’s life.
Chief Sheheke-Shote—Mandan Native American leader who assisted Lewis and Clark on their expedition and later met President Jefferson in Washington, D.C.
Yellow Corn—wife of Chief Sheheke; while stranded in St. Louis, she and Julia become friends
Pierre Chouteau—prominent French-Creole businessmanfrom a St. Louis family who made its fortune from furs and investments; he befriended the Clarks and Lewis
Ramses and Odysseus Phipps—squatters who resented Lewis and Clark’s kind treatment of Chief Sheheke and his family
Nicholas Biddle—editor who helped bring the journals of Lewis and Clark about their expedition to publication
Strengths:
Interestingcoming of age story combined with moral conflict
Vivid portrayal of life, both on a Virginia plantation and in St. Louis in pioneer days
Window into Lewis and Clark’s expedition,revealing the physical and emotional cost of the expedition for all those involved
Showed the sacrifices made by Native Americans who cooperated with the expedition
Weakness:
The author’s portrayal of Julia Hancock—as strongly believing that slavery was wrong and should be ended—is a key part of this novel, yet this may or may not be factual. Historical evidence is lacking, so it may represent the author’s literary license (which is acceptable in historical fiction, but should be noted).
Content review:
This novel contains descriptions of violence, mostly as applied to slaves, and a moderate amount of physical intimacy.
My Recommendation:
I recommend West of Santillane to readers who, like me, enjoy an exciting story that shows how major historical trends and events—such as slavery and Lewis and Clark’s cross-country expedition—shape the lives of people, from the privileged to the oppressed.
Reader,can you recommend a novel or work of non-fiction about the expedition of William Clark, Meriwether Lewis, or their expedition?
First voyage around the World, by Antonio Pigafetta
Imagine you lived in the 16th century and dreamed of seeing new sights—just like we do today, especially if we’ve spent more time at home than we’d have preferred.
If you were a 16th-century European, how would you learn about distant places?
While we can look online or browse books, photos, or films to find out what we’re likely to experience, our ancestors had few options:
Fortunate listeners at a village inn might hear stories from returned travelers
Literate people might have access to guides for pilgrims—to places like the Holy Land, Greek holy sites, or the Spanish pilgrim route to the shrine of St. James
Only the most privileged and rich (kings, popes, and their associates) had access to travelers’ journals (described below)
Why did people travel?
Merchants, explorers, diplomats, soldiers, pilgrims, and missionaries — all needed to travel to succeed in their careers and religious callings
What appealed to readers about travel writing?
Wonderful, terrible, or amazing new information about the sights and peoples of the world stimulated people’s curiosity, spirit of adventure, quest for riches, and religious passion, and also allowed people to travel vicariously from the safety of their homes.
What did they learn? A few highlights from this vast genre:
Kublai Khan meeting Marco Polo
Marco Polo—the son of a Venetian merchant, his Book of the Marvels of the World described his travels through Asia between 1271 and 1295, and his experiences at the court of Kublai Khan. Even though this book had to be hand-copied (no printing press yet!), it became wildly popular. His description of Japan provided a goal for Columbus in his 1492 journey; his identification of spice-producing areas encouraged Western merchants’ new ventures; European explorers of the late 15th and the 16th centuries used the abundant new geographic information he recorded during their voyages of discovery.
Christopher Columbus—after his (1492) first voyage to the West Indies, he wrote a letter to King Ferdinand of Spain describing the wonders of the island he called Hispana: many great rivers and high, beautiful mountains; many trees bearing fruit; full of spices, cotton, aloe-wood, gold, and metals (except iron). Inhabitants were fearful, reverent, and friendly, and open to conversion to Christianity
Niccolò de’ Conti (1395–1469)–an Italian merchant, he explored India, China and Indonesia from 1419 to 1444. He wrote an account of his travels, including details about the Spice Islands, huge ships (1000-2000 tons) built in Asia, and confirmed it was possible to sail around the tip of Africa.
Antonio Pigafetta (c. 1491 – c. 1531)–a Venetian explorer who traveled with Magellan in the first circumnavigation of the globe. He wrote Relazione del primo viaggio intorno al mondo (1524) (The First voyage Around the World). Of the two hundred thirty-seven men who left Spain, he was one of only eighteen who returned. His account mentions:sharks, fierce storms, cannibals, giants, near starvation, wild boars, crocodiles; execution, robbery by natives, near drowning, and the killing of Magellan in 1521 by islanders of Matan.
Giovanni Battista Ramusio (1485–1557)–a Venetian geographer, he didn’t travel widely but compiledNavigationi et Viaggi (“Navigations and Travels”) (1555-1559),a large collection of explorers’ first-hand accounts of their travels around the world, the first one of its kind. They were translated into Italian from Spanish, French, and Latin, plus some from works never before published.
Religious pilgrims wrote guides tothe Holy Land and Greek pilgrimage sites
Missionaries wrote about lands they visited
Which of these accounts would have motivated you to travel?
Would you have wanted to travel if your options were ships, horses, mules, camels?
How about if you had no resources but your own two feet?
Would you have risked attacks by robbers or pirates along the way?
These brief examples reveal that however enticing travel seemed, it was difficult for most people in the 16th century. As I research my characters’ travel options for my upcoming novel, I constantly admire the courage and strength of people who lived 500 years ago.
Have you recently wished you could get away and see a new or faraway place? What inspired you to visit?
