The Heretic's Daughter - Kathleen Kent

Likability: +
Rating: A, although told from the perspective of an 10 yr old, this was not a young adult book

The author Kathleen Kent is a tenth generation descendant of Martha Carrier. In this book she weaves the story of her grandmother was one of the first women to be accused, tried and hanged as a witch in Salem, Massachusetts. The prologue is a letter from a grandmother to a granddaughter. The grandmother is Sara, the daughter of Martha. She recounts the tale of her family as they moved to Andover. And through her stubbornness and willfulness makes a few enemies. When the witch superstition comes to Salem then Andover, Martha is one of the first ones accused. Her daughter Sara, willful herself finally finds the bond with her mother and they go through the hardship of the trials together. It is a heartbreaking account of a real occurrence. You feel anger and frustration at the ignorance and arrogance of a people who are consumed with self righteousness and fear. Neighbors who were friends are now enemies. An act as simple as sticking your tongue at someone is considered a curse. Vengeance and hate gets a new name.

This is not something new, we see it time and again throughout history. The only consolation is that for every person like that out there, there is always someone kind, someone willing to give hope, someone past prejudices. There are just as many good people as there are wicked. Though it was hard to get through, I still enjoyed the read and would recommend it to anyone wanting to get up close and personal to this historic though tragic part of our history.