Lee Miller's investigation of the Roanoke Island settler disappearance

Roanoke

The fact that author Lee Miller is an anthropologist searching for historical evidence -- and finding a great deal of it -- that could solve a much-discussed mystery gives this novel an interesting twist prior to reading it. On the other hand, the book doesn't consistently feature well-crafted narrative for the reader to enjoy; in fact Miller's writing style lacks a sense of sophistication that readers would expect from a novel like this, and Miller should have hired a copy editor and a professional proofreader to make sure she was using complete sentences (which she didn't in many instances). The point here is that since the narrative is frequently awkward and even confusing at times, the arguments she uses must be compelling to help the reader get through the rough and tumble of the prose. It most cases -- notwithstanding the flaws in the prose -- indeed her arguments involving historical evidence are well made, and the evidence she uses, the quotes from documents, gives credibility to her assertions and implications.

Synopsis of the Book

Miller digs into all available research regarding the disappearance of 116 British settlers on Roanoke Island, and according to Miller, a crime was committed and that is the reason the disappearance of these settlers has remained a mystery. Miller's account references her belief that the settlers were left on the island with very little sustainable equipment and few supplies, and that was a deliberate act, so they would ultimately perish, and given that there were hostile Native Americans in the vicinity, the demise of the settlers could be blamed on the Indians. In her research for this book, which took about three years, she found that most of the previous attempts to unravel the mystery used British references. Hence her book focuses on historical references that lead her to believe Simon Fernandez (ship's captain that dropped off the settlers) was among the pivotal reasons why John White and others were prevented from obtaining water, food, and the other supplies during their stops in the Caribbean before they landed on Roanoke Island. Basically Miller is documenting in her book that American history didn't really begin at Plymouth Rock, or in Virginia at Jamestown; it began at Roanoke, and it was a tragic beginning to be sure. Moreover, what Miller comes up with in a well documented though not brilliantly written book is that the history of Roanoke has been misunderstood, misinterpreted, and misplaced for four hundred years. Certainly it would be impossible for Miller to prove all of her assertions and allegations, but according to reliable literary sources that have critiqued her work, the investigative effort and the many sources she located and employed go into much more depth than previous scholars and researchers.

My Reaction to the Book

I have always enjoyed reading the history of the discovery, the settlement, the challenges of the early settlers of North America -- and how as the country grew and became independent, the people carved out a culture for themselves. And so this book is interesting and even fascinating from the point-of-view of an author / anthropologist who is attempting to find truth among the rubble of old historical documents, letters, journals and books. Already I have mentioned that the narrative isn't always smooth, but in the context of a professional anthropologist digging through history to find the truth, this book is very interesting and valuable.

Her case against Walsingham is brilliant. The documented history of this man's skullduggery is so competently expressed by Miller that an alert reader cannot help but link him to the demise of those 116 men, women and children. Clearly there is far more available documented evidence in British history books and letters than there is vis-a-vis the actual Roanoke episode, hence Miller's ability to track down Walsingham's likely involvement in this nefarious matter. I was struck with the dreadful and depressing vision of starving people on an island, where they had been left, apparently deliberately, to die -- and with obscure power struggles in distant England that could be linked to the pathos experienced on Roanoke Island.

In conclusion, this paper has criticized the technical flaws in Miller's book, but there is much to praise as well. The details that help explain why characters like Fernandez and Walsingham behaved as they did, the power struggle in England and Walsingham's cutthroat behaviors within that milieu, are very well presented. Even the fictional recreations of how the settlers probably responded and behaved when White's boat sailed away ("Birds pass quietly overhead, adrift on the breeze, as a cold horror descends on those who wait…" [261]) work well for Miller. Her thoroughness alone deserves great credit, but she has gone well beyond just being thorough. When she challenges the theories of other authors that have gone before her (but didn't have anthological background she had) she is not vicious, just editorially crisp. One can tell she put her heart and soul into this research, and the pride she feels as a result shows through.