Book One — The Crossing

Characters

"They left Wales carrying little more than an axe, a knife, a comb, and the hope that Virginia might offer what the old world had denied them."

Across an ocean and into a struggling colony, their lives become bound together by survival, loyalty, land, and blood.

Protagonist

Rhys ap Hywel

"Quiet, observant, and slow to trust — capable of violence but defined by his restraint."

A twenty-eight-year-old Welshman with dark hair, gray eyes, and the lean strength of a man accustomed to working land and livestock. After losing his family's cottage and flock to a man with a lock and a claim, Rhys sets out for Virginia in search of something he has never possessed: ground — and a door — that no one else can take from him.

Quiet, observant, and slow to trust, Rhys is capable of violence but defined by his restraint. He protects through action rather than promises and carries the memory of the sister he left behind across every mile and every wave.

Protagonist

Margaret "Meg" Hughes

"A young Welsh widow hardened by grief but never surrendered to it."

A young Welsh widow hardened by grief but never surrendered to it. Meg is intelligent, fiercely independent, practical, and unwilling to let another person decide her fate. She carries a working knife beneath her clothing and knows how — and when — to use it.

Meg travels toward Virginia with her fourteen-year-old cousin, Elin. She expects neither rescue nor kindness, especially from men. What she does not expect is Rhys ap Hywel — or the dangerous possibility of trusting someone again.

Supporting Cast

Others in the Story

Elin Hughes

Meg's cousin

Meg's fourteen-year-old cousin and constant companion. Quick-witted, observant, stubborn, and far more courageous than anyone expects. She carries an ivory-colored comb as her one beautiful possession and meets hardship with sharp questions, fierce loyalty, and an irreverent sense of humor. In a world determined to treat girls as property, cargo, or entries in a ledger, she refuses to become invisible.

Lowri

Rhys's sister

Rhys's younger sister and the last piece of home he leaves behind in Wales. Practical, sharp-tongued, and deeply loyal, Lowri understands why Rhys must go even as she refuses to follow him. Though an ocean separates them, she remains one of the strongest voices Rhys carries with him.

Anne Burras

Bound maid

A fourteen-year-old bound maid traveling to Virginia in the service of Mistress Forrest. Unlike Meg and Elin, Anne's name appears in the Company's records — but being written into the book does not mean she controls her future. Her friendship with Elin reveals the different dangers facing two girls of the same age: one listed and bound, the other unlisted and almost invisible.

William Croft

Colonist

A seasoned colonist with a pleasant voice, a careful ledger, and an instinct for turning hunger into obligation. Croft understands that control in Virginia does not always come from a sword — sometimes it comes from a ration ladle, a written debt, or a piece of ground offered at exactly the right moment. He sees people as numbers waiting to be added.

Edmund Croft

William's kinsman

William Croft's younger kinsman and willing instrument. Edmund lacks William's patience and polished manners but shares his appetite for power. Where William prefers debts, records, and quiet pressure, Edmund enjoys intimidation. His cruelty makes him dangerous, but his impulsiveness may make him even more so.

Catherine Croft

William's wife

William Croft's young wife and mistress of the dry ground above the river. Catherine bears the Croft name, but she does not always share her husband's view of the people living below their hill. Caught between security, obedience, and conscience, she begins to recognize that remaining silent is also a choice.

Nimna

Native woman

A Native woman whose family planted the ground long before English ships entered the river. Nimna knows which earth will grow corn, which land will drown, and which promises carried by the newcomers cannot be trusted. She watches the struggling settlement with intelligence and caution, determined to protect her family's planting ground from English hunger, ambition, and paper claims.

Pugh

Welsh landholder

The Welsh landholder whose lock changes the course of Rhys's life. Pugh understands the power of written ownership and uses it without mercy. To Pugh, work, memory, and family history mean nothing without a name in a parish book. The cottage and flock belong to whoever the records say they belong to — and the records belong to men like him.

Iorwerth

Meg's brother-in-law

The brother of Meg's late husband, Gwilym. After fever leaves Meg widowed, Iorwerth offers shelter and gradually turns that shelter into control. His plans for Meg and Elin help drive them onto the road toward Newport, London, and a ship bound for Virginia.

Historical Figures in the Story

Real People, Fictionalized Lives

Some characters in The Crossing are inspired by people found in the historical record. Their private conversations, thoughts, relationships, and actions within the novel have been fictionalized as part of the Blood of the Crossing saga.

Captain Christopher Newport

Sea commander

An experienced English seaman and commander whose voyages carried settlers and supplies to Jamestown. Newport's authority governs the dangerous Atlantic crossing and the passengers whose names appear — or fail to appear — on the Company's records.

John Smith

Colonial leader

Soldier, explorer, and one of Jamestown's most forceful leaders. Smith demands labor, discipline, and food from a colony constantly threatening to collapse under hunger, disease, and division.

John Laydon

Carpenter & settler

A carpenter and one of Jamestown's early settlers. His life becomes connected to Anne Burras as the colony attempts to turn desperate arrivals into orderly English households.

George Percy

Colonial leader

An English gentleman and colonial leader forced to command Jamestown during one of the darkest periods in its history.

Sir Thomas Gates

Colonial governor

A colonial governor who reaches Virginia after surviving shipwreck in Bermuda. He arrives to find a settlement reduced by starvation and standing at the edge of abandonment.

Sir Thomas Dale

Colonial governor

A soldier and colonial governor who brings the severe Lawes Divine, Morall and Martiall to Virginia. Under Dale, disobedience, unauthorized trade, desertion, and theft can carry brutal punishment.

Samuel Argall

Ship captain & governor

A ship captain and colonial governor whose rule is associated with private advantage, coercion, and the growing power of those who control transportation, trade, and official authority.

Sir George Yeardley

Colonial governor

Governor of Virginia during a period of major political and land reforms. His arrival brings new promises of representative government and private landholding — but not everyone is equally protected by what the new laws put on paper.

Meet them on the page.

The Crossing — available now in hardcover, paperback, and ebook.

Buy on Amazon About the Book