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Cindy Ellen Hill is the author of four poetry collections. Her poetry, short stories and essays have been published in literary journals including The Lyric, Plant-Human Quarterly, American Poetry Review, Flint Hills Review and Anacapa Review. In writing Leeds Point, Hill sought to rewild her work by envisioning the story in part through the eyes of animal witnesses and by bringing the landscape to life, while at the same time foregrounding social justice by focusing a critical, even brutal lens on the English colonists' view of the enslaved and indigenous peoples who played fundamental roles in the foundation of America. Hill grew up in the coastal marshes of southern New Jersey--a liminal space between land and water, old world and new world, morality and immorality--where this story is set.
Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
In Cindy Ellen Hill’s Leeds Point, Englishwoman Esther Waters arrives in colonial West Jersey in 1702, expecting to start married life with sea captain Edmund Talmedge. He soon sails away, leaving her in a solitary fishing shack amid tidal marshes where finding food becomes a daily undertaking. Drawing on skills learned from her father, Esther begins discovering the inhabitants of this unfamiliar coast, including Daniel Leeds, a Quaker landowner determined to reshape the wetlands, followed by Welania, a hunter from the region’s Indigenous Lenape community. Her journeys beyond the cabin bring her into the company of people seeking refuge along the bay, where unsettling discoveries cast fresh doubt on her husband’s promises. With old stories of dangerous creatures becoming alarmingly real, Esther must decide how to protect herself from the threats closing around her.
Cindy Ellen Hill’s Leeds Point takes a moment to get into because it's a historical novel in verse, but after a few pages, I was completely steeped in eighteenth-century American history. The author does a fantastic job of giving the story its rhythm through sonnets, while showing Esther’s changing understanding of the world around her. I think the ancillary characters are uniquely fleshed out, and I love Hannah Fearson, a blind widow whose fierce sense of justice is beautifully portrayed. That spirit is on display when she confronts a Royal Navy admiral over legal boundaries. Where the writing shines brightest is in its ingenious use of animal witnesses, whose observations bring an unexpected perspective to human affairs. These include pigeons perched in the belfry of Burlington’s statehouse, watching a merchant’s agent hurry toward the land registry. Well written and singular in every way, this is the perfect read for those who adore historical fiction, verse, and folklore.
