review 1: On October 3, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln signed a proclamation designating the last Thursday of November as a national holiday to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. On that day he reviewed some history of the pilgrims. The first American Thanksgiving was celebrated less than a year after the Plymouth colonists had settled in the new land. The first dreadful winter in Massachusetts had killed nearly half of the members of the colony. But new hope grew in the summer of 1621. The corn harvest brought rejoicing and Governor William Bradford decreed that a three-day feast be held. The next years harvest was not as good and no celebration was held. The people nearly starved again the winter.But the year of 1623 was much better and July 30, 1623 was set aside for the special pu... morerpose of prayer as well as celebration. The story of the year of 1623 is told in this book. At this time the pilgrims and Indians were not on good terms with each other. The colonists were afraid of the Indians and the Indians were always spying on the colonists to watch what they were doing.At the beginning of the life of the colonists everything was held in common. All crops were equally shared and all meat harvested was also shared. Some of the people were lazy and did little work and those who worked very hard felt they should receive more of the harvests. So it was decided in the spring that all the ground be divided up and each family would receive a plot for their own. Those who had worked very hard received the plot of ground they had previously worked so they felt better about the division. Immediately all the colonists started working harder and crops were planted. But then the rain quit coming and the crops were dying. Some of the colonists were more religious than others and they petitioned the governor for a day of fasting and prayer for rain. The Indians were told about this but they wanted to continue their rain dances and prayer. Francis Cooke and his family were among those more religious and his family are the main characters in the story. After the fasting and prayer it did rain very lightly and for several days. The crops survived. The Indians land was not rained on so they respected the colonists and did become better friends. There were many problems to overcome but life was getting better. The second Thanksgiving was shared with the Indians and they had a great feast. The colonists provided the corn, other vegetables, breads and sweets. The Indians brought meat of every kind, deer, elk, rabbit, and squirrel.One of Francis Cooke's quotes: "All true friendships were rooted in equality of respect, in spite of differences in riches, education or natural conditions."I enjoyed reading about their lives. It was very hard and does not compare to the Thanksgiving dinners we have not. review 2: The Second Thanksgiving is a historical novel set in Plymouth Colony in 1623. It features the family of Francis and Hester Cooke, Francis having come over on the Mayflower with their oldest son John in 1620, and Hester having arrived on the Anne with the younger children in 1623. The book describes what it was like for a small group of people to establish a Christian commonwealth in the wilderness with next to nothing in the way of earthly resources. When the Pilgrims relied on their own strength, they found themselves facing a terrible drought and possible destruction of the colony. When they proclaimed a fast and repented, they found God answered their prayers, sent rain, and the colony thrived, proclaiming a second Thanksgiving celebration in the fall of 1623. It is hard to not like a book that makes your wife's ancestors out to be Christian heroes, (at least if you are Christians, as by God's grace we are). I believe that even if my family were unrelated to the main characters in the book (Francis and Hester Cooke) however, that it would still be a great book in that it brings to life the events of Plymouth Colony in 1623 and those events are relevant to America today. The God who answered prayer then is the same God who still answers prayer today, and we need to be encouraged to seek Him, for our country is relying on its own strength to face its increasing problems and is finding that tough going. This book is just such an encouragement as we need; I cannot recommend it highly enough for everyone. less
