(Thank you to Lora Chilton, Sibylline Press and NetGalley for letting me read this ARC)

Can I just start this by saying wow? This book was so captivating emotional but also taught you a whole lot of the stories from the PaTow’O’Mek tribe and the three women who managed to find their way back to their lands in TseNaCoMoCo (Or Virginia) after a whole lot of suffering.

I can confidently tell you that since this book is based on the story of three PaTow’O’Mek women (AhSaWei, Xo and WaBus) and that my heart broke for them all throughout the book.

There were obviously some moments that any reader would probably know of/heard of if they had looked into some of the history regarding indigenous people and slave history, but it still hit a bit hard to read it from the perspective of these women in the story too.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read about indigenous history while also following a bit of a story about women who experienced a lot of the things that were common and happened to them during the middle of the 1600s. But keep in mind that although this story had a happy ending that the women in the book (both indigenous as well as some other side character that I will not name due to spoilers) dealt with a lot of abuse and grief, even from the beginning of the book so please be aware of the trigger warnings for that (even if they are mild).

My main concern however is that although the story was told in chronological order and in POV’s, I do wish that we could have gotten a bit more information about a certain thing because to me it felt like the story of these women were “jumping forward” a bit too fast for us to fully get to know these women and the other people in the book that well. But that might just be a personal opinion. There also seems to be a tiny bit of rendering problem on the file that was sent to ARC readers because during the beginning of some of the chapters, the letters would be out of place (ex the sentence: “I had handled grief” would look something like “Had handled I grief”. But that might’ve been fixed before the book is released.

Otherwise I really recommend reading this book and also looking up some history of the different tribes around the world to fully know and see the story to full extent (if you haven’t already).

I was interested in reading this novel because I have not read books on the subject. I am glad publishers are branching out and including minority voices. While the topic was interesting, I felt this was an average read. I felt the author was telling us the story and now showing us. I did not feel emersed in the world in which the author was writing. That being said, I look forward to future books by this author.

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley and Sibylline Press for gifting me this arc.

Secondly, the review. 1666 is a brutally honest depiction of the genocide and subsequent enslavement of the Native American tribes in America, specifically the Patawomeck tribe from the now named Virginia, USA. I appreciated the brutal honesty of the emotions and turmoil that the surviving women from the otherwise annihilated tribe went through. Why sugar coat the brutality, especially when colonisation is still rampant is modern society? It wasn’t just murder that they endured, but the kidnapping of their children to be adopted by white settler families as well and never to see them again. Despite that, the author manages to tell a story about resilience and hope in a time that other wise, is bleak and filled with uncertainty.

The book follows two mothers from the tribe who end up being enslaved in separate plantations. Their children still luckily with them due to their ages. The author does well in showing the varying relationships that slave owners had with their slaves, and albeit sometimes were kinder to them, the power dynamic was still treacherous. I enjoyed that the women did not give up, even with the possibility of death around every waking corner, they found a way to escape although separately. Their stories continue to show different lives for Native American women in a white settler world, and although at times it made my heart ache with sadness, I also found myself smiling at times of pure joy as well.

This is a very special book and I’m sure it’ll be a hit once officially published. I can’t wait to see what the author writes in the future!

This is a tragic story that is beautifully told. The first part of the book was tough for me to read, it is a tough part of history that is either glossed over or completely omitted in most history lessons. The strength of the Patawomeck women is incredible, as is their connection to each other and their land. The details of their culture and traditions was interesting to read and learn about. The different view points allowed for different experiences to be explored and were woven together nicely. Thank you Netgear and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book and allowing me to read it early.

I loved this title and had a hard time putting it down. It was heartbreaking and poignant and should be a must-read. And we think we are tough. The descriptions felt historically accurate and it was told in a way that was honest. The indigenous language used was manageable and did not take away from the readability of the story. I wanted more!

The amazing, heartbreaking, and hard to put down story of three Native American women captured and enslaved by Europeans, but managed to find their freedom and save their children.

Wow. Just Wow. I loved this book. I devoured it in just a few days and was so interested in the story and the history behind it.

1666 tells the story of primarily 2 Patawomeck women from present day Virginia who experienced a massacre that killed all of the men and several other women, infants and children from the tribe and left the survivors to be sold into slavery. Written by a descendant of this Indigenous group, the author Lora Chilton brings together a very thorough amount of research as well as the cultural and linguistic understanding that is needed to properly set this incredible book in both time and place in history. From the treacherous treatment of the slaves during the transport and sale from their land to Barbados, to the horrendous conditions on sugar cane plantations to a hope for a seemingly impossible return to their land one day, this book takes readers on a tumultuous journey filled with immense pain and suffering and incredible strength and resilience. From being members of an equal community to being treated worse than their owners' horses and having zero say in their lives and the lives of their loved ones, there are some pretty stark contrasts throughout this book and the author does a fantastic job juxtaposing these images and plotlines. Additionally, the cultural, linguistic and historic details such as the companion crop planting method used by Indigenous groups in North America, or the make up of the names of the characters and descriptions of the land, this book has an incredible amount of detail that I doubt readers would find in another historical fiction set in this time period. The Anthropology major in me definitely was enthralled by this one, but I think most histfic lovers would be interested in this unique story. I am really looking forward to it's pubdate in April 2024 to find out what others think of this book! Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy!