The Pilgrim

Charles Wentworth is born into a life of piety in England near the turn of the 17th century, but suffers a crisis of faith from earliest childhood, feeling that he can never live up to his father’s Puritan standards. Harsh punishments and rewards create a self-loathing young man who feels responsible for everything and in control of nothing. As he ages, he witnesses the tragedies of his era: extreme poverty, smallpox that disfigures him and takes the lives of many, and criminals punished communally, and severely, in the name of God. In 1622, Charles travels to the New World, to the Puritan settlement of Plymouth Plantation, in search of a new life and religion. Enamored of the odd landscape and strong settlers (including historical figures like Capt. Miles Standish), Charles takes part in the early Indian wars and experiences the horrible conditions of life in the colonies, which pale in comparison to that of his homeland, finally giving Charles the perspective he seeks. A confessed passion for language doesn’t exactly shine through in Charles’s written “confession,” which serves as this book’s form; observations often have an anthropological tone, which can be tedious. Nissenson’s first novel since 1985 (after Days of Awe) is a detailed yet often cursory historical account. (Nov.)