Cover of Caribbee

Caribbee

  • Free to read
  • 11 hours to read
  • 25 chapters
  • Reading level: 6th grade

"Caribbee" by Thomas Hoover is a historical novel written in the late 20th century. The book explores the early Caribbean landscape of Barbados in 1648, intertwining tales of rebellion against English rule and the ramifications of the slave trade. It showcases the robust characters, both real and fictional, who shape the turbulent era, including English colonists and enslaved Africans, all caught in the tempest of their divergent quests for freedom and survival. The opening of "Caribbee" immerses readers in the Caribbean in 1638, where a band of English hunters, led by Jacques le Basque, prepares to ambush a passing Spanish vessel for revenge after previous attacks on their settlement. Among them is a young Englishman whose moral dilemmas come into sharp relief as he grapples with the idea of attacking fellow countrymen for plunder. This morally charged scene illuminates the chaotic interplay of struggle and honor in a land where survival often forces individuals to confront their deepest values. As tension builds, it foreshadows not only the conflicts that define the early American colonies but also the complexity of human relationships amid the cruelties of colonization and enslavement.

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  • Historical fiction
  • Caribbean Area
  • Barbados

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Chapter One

BARBADOS

No sooner had their carriage creaked to a halt at the edge of the crowd than a tumult of cheers sounded through the humid morning air. With a wry glance toward the man seated opposite, Katherine Bedford drew back the faded curtains at the window and craned to see over the cluster of planters at the water's edge, garbed in their usual ragged jerkins, gray cotton breeches, and wide, sweat-stained hats. Across the bay, edging into view just beyond the rocky cliff of Lookout Point, were the tattered, patched sails of the Zeelander, a Dutch trader well known to Barbados.

"It's just rounding the Point now." Her voice was hard, with more than a trace of contempt. "From here you'd scarcely know what their cargo was. It looks the same as always."

As she squinted into the light, a shaft of Caribbean sun candled her deep-blue eyes. Her long ringlet curls were drawn back and secured with a tiara of Spanish pearls, a halfhearted attempt at demureness spoiled by the nonchalant strands dangling across her forehead. The dark tan on her face betrayed her devotion to the sea and the sun; although twenty- three years of life had ripened her body, her high cheeks had none of the plump, anemic pallor so prized in English women.

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Contents

Show all 25 chapters
  1. Front Matter
  2. Book One
  3. Chapter One
  4. Chapter Two
  5. Chapter Three
  6. Chapter Four
  7. Chapter Five
  8. Chapter Six
  9. Chapter Seven
  10. Book Two
  11. Chapter Eight
  12. Chapter Nine
  13. Chapter Ten
  14. Chapter Eleven
  15. Chapter Twelve
  16. Chapter Thirteen
  17. Chapter Fourteen
  18. Chapter Fifteen
  19. Chapter Sixteen
  20. Chapter Seventeen
  21. Chapter Eighteen
  22. Chapter Nineteen
  23. Book Three: Tortuga / Jamaica
  24. Chapter Twenty
  25. Chapter Twenty-one
  26. Chapter Twenty-two
  27. Chapter Twenty-three
  28. Afterword

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About this edition

This free edition of Caribbee by Thomas Hoover comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #34317, released 2010-11-14. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Historical Novels, Adventure.

Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).

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