This week, to celebrate the publication of 1666: A Novel, about the march Patawomeck women were forced to take in 1666 after colonists in what became Virginia massacred their men, author and tribal member Lora Chilton has been holding events at bookstores and other locations, many along the route, in what she calls the Historic 1666 Route of the Patawomeck Women Tour. (Sold into slavery, the women were shipped to Barbados; two of them eventually escaped and made their way back to their homeland, which is why the tribe is in existence today.) Reaction to the tour has been striking, with attendance of 90 and more at events and books selling out. Sibylline Press founder and publisher Vicki DeArmon called 1666: A Novel the press's "first bonafide homerun title." In photo: Chilton with Patawomeck Tribe Chief Charles Bullock at the Patawomeck Museum and Cultural Center in Fredericksburg, Va.
