The Weight of Smoke: A Novel of the Jamestown Colony

Opening with the landing of an odd assortment of aristocrats and adventurers on the Virginia Coast in May 1607, the maiden installment of Minkoff's trilogy provides a fumbling fictional account of the establishment of Jamestown. Captain John Smith, who narrates, comes off as a comic opera hero as he bemoans others' inadequacies and brags of his role as the swashbuckling savior of the colony. When not pounding his chest, Smith relates the colonists' trials—disease, war with the Indians, famine, fire and foolish politics. Underlying the main story—which is sparse in detail and often subordinates, glosses or obscures dramatic events—is Smith's relationship with Pocahontas, who, as the legend goes, fell in love with him and saved his life. Minkoff's attempt to ape Jacobean argot is marginally successful, but the narration is plagued with strained metaphors and aphorisms. The greatest problem, though, is that the story stops abruptly with the colonists facing another hard winter, political turmoil threatening destruction and Smith's status very much in question. Difficult and sometimes tedious, this novel emerges as a noble but unsuccessful effort. (Dec. 1)