I used to live in a colonial house in New England. Our home was built in 1786, by a Revolutionary War veteran. For a time we also lived in an old fishing village on the south shore of Boston. So, needless to say I grew up with a healthy respect (and fascination) for the colonial efforts in New England.
Add to that and my sincere interest in female hysteria and you can imagine how much I enjoy reading about the Salem Witch Trials. Just how did an entire town of respectable, hard-working people turn into a paranoid, superstitious, and downright cruel mob.
Readers will have a chance to delve into the minutiae of Puritan property law and town hall records as well as inspecting the overall attitudes of the era — both in newborn America and in the well-established politics of England. Roach selected six women with varying backgrounds, statuses, family structures and so forth to use as a microcosm of the deadly trials. She follows them from beginning to end, gives a view of how each was affected.
Roach has compiled an academic yet highly readable account of the times and people caught up in the Salem Witch Trials.
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Read via NetGalley
Paperback: 472 pages
Publisher: Da Capo Press (September 3, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0306821206
ISBN-13: 978-0306821202
Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches