The Heretic's Daughter by http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/978703.Kathleen_Kent">Kathleen Kent
My review
rating: 3 of 5 starsI'd give this book 3.5 stars if I could.
I'm not fond of the POV being from Martha Carrier's daughter Sarah. The book builds very slowly though I think it's because you need to feel tension building and get a sense how the environment was in that time period, especially for women. The ending seemed not to fit the rest of the novel and was very vague.
It's well written, her vivid descriptions give you the lay of the land, what the people look like, the scents of rural living, the tension of living in a time of religious zealots, fear of the unknown and isolation. I also think it's one of the most honestly written pieces I've read (fiction or otherwise) about Salem Jail during the time of the Witch Trials and for that, this is a very valuable read.
Since we were just in Salem this October and I was doing a lot of reading about the Trials starting in August, this brought to life some of the horrors I'd read about and one scene in The Witch Dungeon Museum popped into my mind as I read the hanging of Martha; It's at the end of the Museum and there's a large tree with life like looking men & women hanging from it, the hooded Executioner waiting at the top of the ladder to hang the next. (Hubby & I were disgusted when people stopped to pose in front of this scene and have someone take their pics).
This book made me think about a very ugly & terrifying time in human history. Would I have been one of the Accused? Or would I have been one of the accusers?
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