Beheld

By: TaraShea Nesbit

Narrated by: Bea Holland, Crystal Clarke, Lance C. Fuller, Laurel Lefkow

Bloomsbury presents Beheld by TaraShea Nesbit, read by Bea Holland, Crystal Clarke, Lance C Fuller and Laurel Lefkow.

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
A Publishers Weekly Best Fiction Book of 2020
Most Anticipated Books of 2020 — Vogue, Medium, LitHub
Honoree for the 2021 Society of Midland Authors Prize
Finalist for the 2021 Ohioana Book Award in fiction
A Massachusetts Book Awards “Must Read Book”

From the bestselling author of The Wives of Los Alamos comes the riveting story of a stranger’s arrival in the fledgling colony of Plymouth, Massachusetts—and a crime that shakes the divided community to its core.

Ten years after the Mayflower pilgrims arrived on rocky, unfamiliar soil, Plymouth is not the land its residents had imagined. Seemingly established on a dream of religious freedom, in reality the town is led by fervent puritans who prohibit the residents from living, trading, and worshipping as they choose. By the time an unfamiliar ship, bearing new colonists, appears on the horizon one summer morning, Anglican outsiders have had enough.

With gripping, immersive details and exquisite prose, TaraShea Nesbit reframes the story of the pilgrims in the previously unheard voices of two women of very different status and means. She evokes a vivid, ominous Plymouth, populated by famous and unknown characters alike, each with conflicting desires and questionable behavior.

Suspenseful and beautifully wrought, Beheld is about a murder and a trial, and the motivations—personal and political—that cause people to act in unsavory ways. It is also an intimate portrait of love, motherhood, and friendship that asks: Whose stories get told over time, who gets believed—and subsequently, who gets punished?©2020 TaraShea Nesbit (P)2020 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Excellent

This book was excellent! The narrators did a fine job. The words ending in the “er” sound surprisingly, were spoken that way by colonist from England.

Interesting historical observations of this period

I enjoyed this presentation on the subject and the perspective of the various people who were involved.

Enjoyed, but a missed opportunity

The author tells this story through a series of personal diary-like vignettes, which mostly works. The several characters were each read by a different narrator, which also works well. I enjoyed this, but can't pinpoint why I feel slightly let down. Other reviewers mention it as a missed opportunity to offer a more raw and intriguing view of Plymouth Colony, the Puritan Separatists, other colony residents such as the indentured servants and those freed of servitude, and Native tribes who already lived there. I agree with that.

brilliant

brilliant writer and beautiful mind. loved it. i still think of you often tarashea. glad you are well

xo
craig

Very enjoyable

There's nothing especially new here, but I really enjoyed it, as the characters were well-drawn and the narration was excellent.