The Reluctant Pilgrim

Sometimes life comes down to one choice – a choice that can change everything.For Bess Tilley, a young passenger on the Mayflower, the choice is to remain in the New World or return to the old. To return with the ship means a return to family, friends, and the familiar. To remain means hardship, hunger, and sacrifice in a volatile world.Bess chooses to remain in the small colony of New Plymouth, unwilling to abandon her parents’ dreams of religious freedom and civil liberty. The steadfast support of another colonist, John Howland, and the unexpected friendship of their Wampanoag translator, Squanto, offers stability in a life turned upside down. But life in the New World remains harsh. Conflict with other tribes and a summer drought threaten the colony’s existence. Will these unrelenting threats to life in the New World crush her stubborn self-reliance? Or will she find the loving God her parents knew and make their faith her own? Read more