Before the Mayflower

By J. L. Rose Southampton, England, 1620: The Mayflower sits, waiting for those who dare to board her. What would compel a person to leave a place like England or the Netherlands and sail across the Atlantic Ocean to the New World, with death a likely outcome? Was it for love, land, or religious freedom? London, England, 1587: A chance meeting between William Brewster, a clerk in the court of Queen Elizabeth, and a young master printer would be the beginning of a relationship lasting more than three decades. Both marry and lead their families on very different paths, one fleeing to the Netherlands in search of religious freedom, the other remaining steadfast to the rules of King James in England. Linked by the printing press, one man abides by the law, while the other publishes forbidden books. The families are further entwined when a romance is born between an eldest son and youngest daughter. Reconnected on the docks in Southampton, they stand all together again, in the shadow of the