New England sprang from a dream, or rather a variety of dreams, but a gradual awakening to the changes brought about by the Great Migration led inexorably to a rise in resistance to English authority and a desire for self-rule. Through the experiences of one family the three novels that compose New England Genesis chronicle the origins, growth, and consequences of the New England experiment.

In New England Dreams Joseph Hull, an Anglican minister, brings his congregation of 115 souls to Massachusetts in 1635 and dreams of providing an alternative to the Puritanism rampant in New England. In New England Wakes the arrival of Quaker missionaries in 1656 awakens Joseph's son Tristram to the harsh reality of slavery and religious persecution. In New England Rising Tritram's sons John and Joseph must cope with a the anti-Indian sentiments that surround King Philip's War, the repressive measures associated with the Dominion of New England and its aftermath, and a gamut of family issues ranging from marriage to murder.