Saturday, January 9, 2010

The Heretic's Daughter


Synopsis:
Martha Carrier was one of the first women to be accused, tried and hanged as a witch in Salem, Massachusetts. Like her mother, young Sarah Carrier is bright
and willful, openly challenging the small, brutal world in which they live. Often at odds with one another, mother and daughter are forced to stand together against the escalating hysteria of the trials and the superstitious tyranny that led to the torture and imprisonment of more than 200 people accused of witchcraft. This is the story of Martha's courageous defiance and ultimate death, as told by the daughter who survived.Kathleen Kent is a tenth generation descendent of Martha Carrier. She paints a haunting portrait, not just of Puritan New England, but also of one family's deep and abiding love in the face of fear and persecution.
My Thoughts
This book is about the Salem witch trials and the sacrifices of the families that dealt with them. It is hard to understand how people can treat their children the way they do. The hunger that they felt is astonishing to me.

I find it amazing that they would condemn people and hang them only on hearsay of a couple people, even children. It seems so foolish and thank God it didn't continue through the years.

I enjoyed this book but there is still a lot of heartache which I have read about in a couple other books recently. The books I am referring to are A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and The Glass Castle

I think it is time to change it up and read a book or two that are not about children that are suffering so much.

1 comment:

Angie said...

I agree with you Lori. We have read some heartbreaking stories involving children lately. Maybe for our February read we can find an uplifting one.