The Witches: Salem, 1692
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Cleopatra analyzes the Salem Witch Trials to offer key insights into the role of women in its events while explaining how its tragedies became possible. It began in 1692, over an exceptionally raw Massachusetts winter, when a minister's daughter began to scream and convulse. It ended less than a year later, but not before 19 men and women had been hanged and an elderly man crushed to death.
- ISBN
- 9780316200608
Shelved by 1 Litcadian
Reviews
- challengingemotionalinformativereflectiveMedium-paced
Started March 22, 2024 · Finished April 22, 2024
This was an excellent book on a topic that is often overshadowed by its modern cultural osmosis. I appreciated that the narrative addressed the issues of limited sources and did not spend too much time adding in assumptions to fill the gaps; the awareness that some things just cannot be known at this point from the available materials is important. It also gives an excellent portrayal of Puritan life, especially how it would have felt to exist as a woman or other minority in that society. (Bad! It would have been bad!!)