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| Salem witch examination |
Horrific events happened during New England’s seventeenth
century. Five Quakers were hanged by the
Puritan government of Massachusetts.
Their crimes were – simply stated – demanding freedom of religion and
speech. The Wampanoag, Narragansett, and
Pequot tribes were largely wiped out by Puritan and Separatist armies after the
Indians rose to preserve their homelands.
New diseases introduced by Europeans sent the Massachusetts tribe into
extinction. A Puritan struggle over
religion and the governorship ejected many of their own – the rebels founded
Rhode Island.
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| Hanging a witch at Salem |
These acts were eclipsed by the witchcraft trials at Salem
Village. Today we regard the hangings
of 19 women and men, and the pressing to death of Giles Corey with revulsion,
and deem the episode to be mass hysteria and temporary insanity.
In 1692 the Puritan government and clergy knew with
certainty that they were battling against Satan. He had
bewitched the accused, who sent their specters to torment the ‘afflicted girls’
in an attempt to force them to become witches too. Thou shalt
not suffer a witch to live, saith the King James Bible. New England’s Puritans would stop at nothing
to drive evil influences from their people, so they obeyed that biblical
command. They also followed European
law, where ‘witches’ had died by the thousands.
In Salem Village, it began with a children’s game – looking
for your future husband’s face in the white of an egg. Hysteria spread, and families watched their
mothers and grandmothers dragged away to prison, and then to the gallows. Driven by long-standing feuds, the
accusations spread until more than 150 people were jailed. Nobody was safe, not even your innocent
daughter.
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| The Heretic's Daughter |
Kathleen Kent’s superb historical novel, The Heretic’s Daughter, is set against this seething backdrop. Martha Carrier, whom Cotton Mather called 'The Queen of Hell,' was an older woman who had
antagonized her neighbors with her outspoken ways. She realized that her arrest was coming, so
Martha bound her daughter Sarah to a promise.
Before long, eleven-year old Sarah was also on trial for her life. There was only one way for the girl to
survive – obey that promise.
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| Martha Carrier's grave |
Ms. Kent is a direct descendant of Martha Carrier, and has
brought her family and those tragic events to vivid life. The
Heretic’s Daughter explores the web of tension which spread accusations
from one neighbor to the next. It also
probes the complex, heartbreaking bond between Martha and Sarah.
The Heretic’s Daughter
is also a lyrical and agonizing tale of survival. If you ever wondered what it was like to be
chained in prison, wondering whether you would soon be executed, read the ordeals
of Sarah and her brothers. I was asked recently
to recommend a great novel set in New England.
You won’t go wrong with The
Heretic’s Daughter. And now I can’t
wait to read Kent’s next book in the Carrier family saga: The Traitor’s Wife.
Images:
Link to the Nook eBook:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/heretics-daughter-kathleen-kent/1100046057?ean=9780316039673&itm=1&usri=heretic%27s+daughter
$9.99, historical fiction, 4 stars (205 reviews)
I've read both of Kent's books, and greatly admired her writing style, descriptive powers, and suspenseful plots. In a timeline of the 17th century, The Heretic's Daughter is actually the sequel to her other book, The Traitor's Wife/Wolves of Andover (same book, different titles), which tells the young-adult life of Martha Carrier. They were magical, so buy them both!
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