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Showing posts with label Salem Witch Trials. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Salem Witch Trials. Show all posts
Friday, December 20, 2019
Unrelentingly Grim, Salem Witch Trials Novel is a Tough Read
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
Author Kathleen Kent grew up hearing stories about her ancestor, Martha (Allen) Carrier, one of the first women to face charges of practicing witchcraft in Salem Village, Massachusetts. Amid the superstition and paranoia pervading the area at the time, any woman who didn't conform to society's ideal was suspect. In The Heretic's Daughter, which is narrated by Sarah Carrier, Martha's oldest daughter, Martha is portrayed as a stern, authoritative woman whose outspoken ways make her stand out in her strict Puritan community. Tongues have long wagged over Martha's unsettling forthrightness. When it catches the notice of attention-hungry accusers, it leads to her eventual imprisonment for witchcraft and death by hanging in 1692. Guilt by association meant her husband and most of her children, Sarah included, also spent time in jail. The Heretic's Daughter tells the whole unbelievable story.
I've read many books about the Salem Witch Trials and none of them were light, happy reads! The whole subject is heart-wrenching and disturbing. Truthfully, I wouldn't have picked this one up (although the topic does fascinate me) if it weren't for book club. One of the leaders, who is a direct descendant of Martha, picked The Heretic's Daughter as a Halloween read, which was apropos. Appropriately sad and depressing, the novel is rather dry, even dull in places. It's also grim, unrelentingly so. These elements made it difficult for me to get into and really enjoy the read. So, while I can't say I liked the book, I can say it's interesting. With lots of fascinating historical detail, plus some truly devastating descriptions of imprisonment, the book is vivid and affecting. Comparing actions of the day with modern "witch hunts" made for a lively, thought-provoking book club discussion.
Being a genealogy nerd, I, of course, had to figure out if I, too, was related to Martha Carrier. Guess what? I am! Not directly, but we are long-lost cousins going way back. It's likely you are, too. If you have a family tree posted on FamilySearch, you can look up Martha (Allen) Carrier's profile and click "View My Relationship" to see if and how you are connected to her. Don't have a family tree? No problem. You can make one easily on the site—as soon as you add a deceased relative, your tree should automatically populate using information already in the FamilySearch database. It's a simple, fun way to trace your roots and learn about your ancestors, even famous ones like Abraham Lincoln (my cousin), Helen Keller (my cousin), Albert Einstein (not my cousin), or even Martha Carrier (my cousin).
(Readalikes: Reminds me of other books about witchcraft/the Salem Witch Trials, like The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare, Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill, Father of Lies by Ann Turner, and Dear America: I Walk in Dread by Lisa Rowe Fraustino)
Grade:
If this were a movie, it would be rated:
for brief, mild language (no F-bombs), violence, mild sexual content, blood/gore, and disturbing subject matter
To the FTC, with love: I bought a copy of The Heretic's Daughter from Amazon with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger. Ha ha.
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
For Witch Trial Descendants, History Always Repeats Itself in Salem ...
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
With a surname like Mather, you're bound to get some attention in Salem, Massachusetts. Even 300+ years after the Witch Trials. Samantha, a 16-year-old descendant of Cotton and Increase Mather—key players in the Trials—isn't so keen on moving away from New York City in the first place. When she almost immediately becomes the target of a group of mean girls nicknamed The Descendants, she's even less thrilled with her new hometown. Can these kids, whose ancestors were convicted as witches with the help of Sam's forebears, really be holding a centuries-old grudge? Apparently so.
As if that's not bad enough, there's a ghost haunting Sam's grandmother's home. Elijah Roe is handsome (for a dead guy), but he's not exactly the chillest (pun intended) house guest. The only bright spot in Sam's move is her next-door neighbor. Unlike her classmates and resident apparition, Jaxon is kind and welcoming. It doesn't hurt that he's good-looking enough to make Sam blush.
Sam just wants to settle in and get on with life, but it soon becomes apparent that Salem has other ideas for her. She, like everyone in town with a connection to the Trials, is at the center of an age-old curse. To stop it, she'll have to enlist the help of her handsome haunt as well as The Descendants. Only then, can Sam stop the ruinous cycle that ensures history always repeats itself in Salem.
Ever since I heard that a descendant of Cotton Mather was writing a YA novel about the Salem Witch Trials, I knew I had to read it. How to Hang a Witch, Adriana Mather's literary debut, also boasts an intriguing, spine-tingling premise that seems to guarantee an exciting, engrossing read. Imagine my disappoint then when I found the story to be just ho-hum. While I liked its creepy, atmospheric setting, the novel's characters fell flat for me, never developing past cardboard teenage clichés. The plot also struck me as choppy and clumsy, dragging in some parts, and making no sense at all in others. These irritants combined with stilted dialogue, insta-lovey romance (x2), and some major melodrama soured me on How to Hang a Witch. I wanted to adore this one, but it turned out to be pretty meh for me. Since I can't resist books about the Titanic, I might give its sequel a go, but probably not. Oh well.
(Readalikes: Hm, I can't really think of anything. Can you?)
Grade:
If this were a movie, it would be rated:
for language (no F-bombs), violence, and blood/gore
To the FTC, with love: I bought a copy of How to Hang a Witch from Amazon with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger. Ha ha.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
In A Village Where "Witches" Roam, Words Can Be Very Dangerous ...
(Image from Indiebound)"We must repent and repair, and tread with care, for the Devil is running amok in Massachusetts" (47).
The last thing on Earth 12-year-old Deliverance Trembley needs is more problems. She's already nursing her frail older sister, completing all the chores around the farm while her uncle's away, and doing her level best to convince the nosy citizens of Salem Village - as well as herself - that she and Remembrance haven't, in fact, been abandoned by said uncle. When rumors of witchcraft sweep through the town, it makes Deliverance shudder. Hysteria's taken over people's good senses, and there's no telling who will be accused next.
Unlike a lot of girls in the village, Deliverance knows how to read and write. When she finds a blank book in her uncle's farmhouse, she starts journaling as a way to vent all the feelings she holds inside. It becomes her solace, her haven, a place to record not only her own emotions, but also her exhiliration and fear as witch hunting fever takes over the town. Deliverance has never been tight with the accusing girls. Crossing them now means risking a hanging. But as careful as she is to watch her step, Deliverance has never been good at holding her tongue. Will her skepticism about the girls' "ability" put her own head in the noose? With her uncle gone, her older brother training with the militia, and her own sister caught up in the witch hunts, Deliverance has no one to turn to, no one to protect her. Only in her diary can she express her true thoughts - dangerous thoughts, thoughts that could get her in trouble if anyone ever read them ...
First published in 2004, I Walk in Dread: The Diary of Deliverance Trembley, Witness to the Salem Witch Trials by Lisa Rowe Fraustino was one of the last novels published in Scholastic's popular Dear America series. Now it's among the first to be reissued. Available on September 1 with new cover art, this taut, well-told novel chronicles the strange events that transpired in Salem, Massachusetts in 1691. What began with a group of young girls accusing their neighbors of practicing witchcraft ended with over 100 people imprisoned and 20 dead. As Deliverance recounts it all in prose that grows from fascinated to incredulous to fearful, she draws the reader in, making her an eyewitness to history. It's difficult not to empathize with our heroine, whose courage makes her admirable while her impatience keeps her human. I Walk in Dread doesn't necessarily add anything new to the story of the Salem Witch Trials, but, with authentic narration, vivid historical detail, and plenty of nail-biting tension, it's a strong, gripping novel that truly brings history to life.
Grade: B
If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG for mild violence and intense situations
To the FTC, with love: I received a finished copy of I Walk in Dread from the generous folks at Scholastic. Thank you!
Monday, March 07, 2011
Father of Lies: In Salem, Massachusetts, Being Different Can Be Deadly ...
(Image from Indiebound)Unlike all the other girls in Salem, Massachusetts, 14-year-old Lidda can't stand th
e thought of spending her whole life trapped at home caring for a husband and children. Her own mother can barely stay awake, so exhausted is she by the requirements of her household. Lidda longs for something more. Her traitorous soul craves frivolous things, forbidden things. Dancing in the sunshine, wearing bold colors, singing out loud - anything but the daily torture of quiet, pious living demanded of her by her religion, her community and her family.
e thought of spending her whole life trapped at home caring for a husband and children. Her own mother can barely stay awake, so exhausted is she by the requirements of her household. Lidda longs for something more. Her traitorous soul craves frivolous things, forbidden things. Dancing in the sunshine, wearing bold colors, singing out loud - anything but the daily torture of quiet, pious living demanded of her by her religion, her community and her family.Lidda knows she's different, but when she starts seeing a handsome, otherworldly figure sitting in her room, she wonders if she might be crazy. When she hears his voice in her head, urging her to rip off her stays and run wild, she knows he's dangerous. When he laughs at her obedience, mocks her prayers, and encourages her flights of fancy, she wonders if he may, in fact, be the Devil. Others in town seem possessed by evil, why not she?
When other girls in Salem began convulsing on the floor, claiming to be cursed by witches, Lidda wonders about her impairment. It's not like the plague coursing through her friends, giving them power so great, it frightens Lidda. Plus, the evil in her seems real, while the witch-possessing looks a lot like play-acting. She longs to accuse these accusers, who send innocent people to their doom without a prick of conscience, but if she dares cross the girls, won't she be just as vulnerable as the girls' other victims? Especially since she really is possessed by the Devil? Someone has to stop the madness overtaking Salem. Does Lidda dare confess what she knows, even if the telling the truth could mean swinging from the gallows herself?
In Father of Lies, a new historical novel for teens by Ann Turner, the author expresses the same idea that drives Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill: namely, that the young Salem girls who accused so many of witchcraft did so knowing full well that their insinuations were untrue. Perhaps it was out of boredom, or a desire for power in a society where little girls had none, or simply part of the religious fanaticism rampant in the area at the time. Whatever it was, the results of their tantrums are grim -
"... one hundred fifty women had been accused and thrown in jail ...; nineteen men and women had been hanged; one elderly man, Giles Corey, had been pressed to death by stones; several people had died in jail, two dogs were hanged for associating with witches; and one little girl, Dorcas Good, went mad while confined in irons with her mother in jail" (244-245).
Although I found Turner's story interesting, it didn't give me any really new information about the Salem Witch Trials, especially considering the recent publication of the very evocative Wicked Girls. The one thing that stands out here, though, is the idea of a young girl trying to understand her mental condition in a time when things like bi-polar disorder were not only misunderstood, but seen as curses from God or Satan. As Lidda grapples to understand herself, the reader is forced to ask the question - Is the specter haunting Lidda simply a byproduct of her disease or something far more sinister? The conundrum gives needed depth and originality to an otherwise familiar tale. It wasn't, however, enough to make Father of Lies more than just an average, okay, read for me. Oh well.
(Readalikes: Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill - see review and author links above)
Grade: C
If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG for frightening images
To the FTC, with love: I received a finished copy of Father of Lies from the generous folks at Harper Teen. Thank you!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Shivery Wicked Girls A Perfect Halloween Read (With a Giveaway!)
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
None in the Village dare step
on the shadows we forge,
lest their name
be next proclaimed.
For as evening approaches
and heat subsides
our elders shrivel and shrink,
and we girls
grow spine tall (224).
on the shadows we forge,
lest their name
be next proclaimed.
For as evening approaches
and heat subsides
our elders shrivel and shrink,
and we girls
grow spine tall (224).
The more I read, the more I'm convinced - nothing is quite as chilling as the truth. Ghosts, zombies, vampires, and demons have their place, sure, but at the end of the da
y, we know they're not real (okay, maybe not at the end of the day, when monsters easily slip into our dreams; in the light of the morning, then, we know they're not real). Not so with the devils we see on the 5 o'clock news or learn about in the paper. Those fiends are real. And that's terrifying.
y, we know they're not real (okay, maybe not at the end of the day, when monsters easily slip into our dreams; in the light of the morning, then, we know they're not real). Not so with the devils we see on the 5 o'clock news or learn about in the paper. Those fiends are real. And that's terrifying.
History gives us this frightening tale: Between February 1692 and May 1693, 19 citizens of Massachusetts were executed for practicing witchcraft. Hundreds of others were accused, tried, and imprisoned for the same crime. The kicker? All of those acts were performed based on the word of a small group of teenage girls. Considered "seers" by the pious folk of Salem Village, the girls regularly "saw" their neighbors engaging in questionable acts. Although doctors could find nothing physically wrong with the girls, they were afflicted by constant fits, in which they would scream, throw things, contort thei
r bodies into impossible positions, and proclaim that they were being tortured by witches. Boiling over with righteous indignation, the townspeople took it upon themselves to rid their community of anyone the "seers" accused. Concrete evidence hardly mattered when the purest vessels in the land were receiving holy visions. The leaders of Salem Village accepted the girls' accusations as the God's honest truth, a mistake that led to some of the cruelest deaths in American history.
r bodies into impossible positions, and proclaim that they were being tortured by witches. Boiling over with righteous indignation, the townspeople took it upon themselves to rid their community of anyone the "seers" accused. Concrete evidence hardly mattered when the purest vessels in the land were receiving holy visions. The leaders of Salem Village accepted the girls' accusations as the God's honest truth, a mistake that led to some of the cruelest deaths in American history.
What motivated the girls (Religious fanaticism? PTSD from witnessing violent Indian attacks? Eating infected rye bread? Hunger for power?) is unknown, but Stephanie Hemphill runs with the idea that the "seers" would do and say anything to keep the town's attention focused on them. In Wicked Girls, she introduces the 7 girls who, collectively, caused the deaths of 20 people, and were directly responsible for tarnishing the reputations of scores of others. Although Hemphill uses her literary license to enlarge the characters, the girls she describes are those identified in the history books: there's orphan Mercy Lewis (17), who works as a maid for the Putnam Family; Ann Putnam Jr. (12), a young lady of stature in town; Margaret Walcott (17), Ann's step-cousin; Abigail Williams (12), niece of Reverend Samuel Parris; Betty Parris (8), the Reverend's daughter; Elizabeth Hubbard (17), a niece of the town doctor; and Susannah Sheldon (18), a girl from Salem town who serves a local family. Together, they form a tight clique. As their little fits gain notice from the people around them, they heighten the drama by writhing on the floor with greater agitation, pinching themselves, crying out during church services, and swooning. So poison are their accusations that no one dares cross the girls.
The girls believe in their own visions to varying degrees. Mercy knows she hasn't truly seen a thing, but she'll do whatever it takes to punish the man she holds responsible for her parents' deaths. Margaret's stained by her own sins, yet punishes others with fervor. Ann's more concerned about her own power within the group than about anyone they might hurt with their accusations. Insisting on managing her own outbursts, Abigail struggles to keep her position in the clique. Susannah's too slow to truly understand, Betty too young. Elizabeth is tortured by what she does, but can't stand up to Ann, let alone those who abuse her. All crave the attention and power they get from their stunts. The high is too exhilirating to give up.
As the girls' power builds, crests and eventually diminishes, we witness their every thought and action. Written in free verse, the novel grows more chilling with every sentence. What results is a taut, terrifying story of innocence tainted by greed and power lust. More frightening than any Stephen King novel, Wicked Girls is a perfectly shivery Halloween read. I've still got goosebumps.
(Readalikes: Although I've never read it, The Crucible by Arthur Miller tells the same story. It also reminded me of Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult.)
Grade: B
If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG-13 for violence, some sexual content, reference to physical abuse of children
To the FTC, with love: I received an ARC of Wicked Girls from the generous folks at Harper Collins. Thank you!
-----
Believe it or not, this is the 700th post I've published here at BBB. I know, right? Wow. In celebration, I'm giving away a brand new, hardcover copy of Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill. Thanks to Harper Collins for providing me with it. Since I will be mailing it myself, I'm opening the giveaway to all of my readers, wherever in the world you may reside. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling me how you feel about Halloween. Love it? Hate it? How do you celebrate? What books are you reading to get you into that shivery, quivery Halloween state of mind? I will choose a winner (using random.org) on October 15. Please remember to leave a working email address if you do not have a public blog. Thanks and good luck!
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