Melode is sensuous, spiritual, fierce--and sixteen. Held as a servant by the Puritan congregation of "Saints" responsible for the death of her parents, Mel finds comfort only in the calm of her herb garden and the revelry of communal harvest. Until she meets Adam--kind, rebellious, and of prominent birth.
But soon the Saints--Separatist Congregationalists who refuse allegiance to the official church of 17th century England--learn that King James will no longer tolerate their defiance. Under the threat of arrest, they resolve to leave for the New World. Mel, determined to forge her own kind of independence, joins Adam and the Saints on their Atlantic voyage. We follow Mel from her familiar English village to the wilds of Newfoundland and New England, from passionate romance to the rawest struggle for survival.
Beahrs brings his background in archaeology and anthropology to this novel of 17th century life and mores--as brilliantly written as it is rich in historical detail. Based in part on actual accounts of the old Plymouth Colony and the people later known as the Pilgrims, Beahrs plunges the reader into a mesmerizing and dangerous world. Strange Saint is a vivid, haunting work--absolutely unforgettable.
About the Author
 Andrew Beahrs was born and raised in Connecticut. He studied Archaeology and Anthropology
at the University of California, Berkeley, and at the University of Virginia, where he received his
Masters. He later earned his MFA in Fiction from Spalding University in Louisville. He lives and
writes in Berkeley with his wife and son. Strange Saint is his first novel.
Author website
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