The Heretic's Daughter
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By Kathleen Kent
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1 review
Martha Carrier was hanged on August 19th 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, unyielding in her refusal to admit to being a witch, going to her death rather than joining the ranks of men and women who confessed and were thereby spared execution.
Like her mother, young Sarah Carrier is bright and wilful, openly challenging the small, brutal world in which they live. In this startling novel, she narrates the story of her early life in Andover, near Salem. Her father is a farmer, English in origin, quietly stoical but with a secret history. Her mother is a herbalist, tough but loving, and above all a good mother. Often at odds with each other, Sarah and her mother have a close but also cold relationship, yet it is clear that Martha understands her daughter like no other. When Martha is accused of witchcraft, and the whisperings in the community escalate, she makes her daughter promise not to stand up for her if the case is taken to court. As Sarah and her brothers are hauled into the prison themselves, the vicious cruelty of the trials is apparent, as the Carrier family, along with other innocents, are starved and deprived of any decency, battling their way through the hysteria with the sheer willpower their mother has taught them. TweetReviews
The strongest reaction we all had to this book was one of shock that this could happen in a civilised society. The people in this small community were turning on each other in a way we hoped should not be possible. We discussed the fact that this hysterical reaction could happen again today under a slightly different fear.
We all enjoyed the snippets of historical detail that the author put into the book, this helped us to ground ourselves in the period. Some people felt that the first part of the book took too long to get to the actual trials while others really enjoyed this part. The book was written not as an historical "misery memoir" but as actual facts laid out for the reader to make a judgement on, this was appreciated by the group.
The whole group felt a strong sense of injustice throughout the novel, we were unsure how civilised people managed to do this to members of their own community. We thought maybe they had to fear something they could control, rather than the sickness and the natives overwhom they had no control. It was also agreed that those people who were accusing the witches did so to be in a position of power over people they were jealous of.
Some parts of the book we felt were a little far-fetched for example, the young people were very grown-up for their age. Also, the age the father lived to seemed to be extraordinary even in todays society. There were also a few medical aspects such as checking for virginity, and the infections while in prison which did not ring-true to us.
In terms of recomending this book we would do so, but possibly not to a young adult because some scenes are a little graphic. Overall we would give this book 7 out of 10
