Salem Witch Trials

[Spin2]

Hello all at 'b&r.

I was wondering if anyone could either recommend, or point me in the right direction, to find a good book about the Salem Witch Trials. I would be most interested in a story based during the time (i.e a fictional story set in historically accurate time. That style must have a name, anyone know?).

I know very little from this time but can imagine that it would make a good setting for decent story (and being a King fan I think I can handle a little witchcraft!). Also, I am hoping to learn something about the time too.

Apologies for a bit of a boring first thread, hopefully I will be able to post some valuable comments soon. Thank you in advance.

 

[claybugg]

The Crucible

 

[Peronel]

Damn you Claybugg. Although I have not read The Crucible, so according to my logic I should not be recommending it anyway.

Welcome Spin. Another King fan! My army is building....mwah ha ha ha etc.

 

[claybugg]

Hmm... I actually remember reading another book about this when I was in 4th or 5th grade. It was probably for young adults. I can't remember the name though... I'm gonna try and find it or I'll go crazy trying to remember.

 

[Proofreader]

Two good novels:

"I,Tituba, Black Witch of Salem" by Maryse Conde
"A Mirror for Witches" by Esther Forbes

If you are interested in the Salem trials and the history of the time, then "Judge Sewall's Apology" is well worth the effort.

 

[bzseven@msn.com]

More Witchcraft

Somw more titles you may find helpful as well as very interesting are:
"A Delusion of Satan: The Full Story of the Salem Witchcraft Trials" by Frances Hill
"Salem Possessed" Paul Boya & Stephen Nissenbam
"Devil in the Shape of a Woman : Witches in Colonial New England Carol Karlen
and then a spooky thriller by genre writer Robin Cook "Acceptable Risks"
Some of Cook's stuff I don't care for but I did like this and beinf from the area (Boston) he does correlate the story to the facts
Good luck and please post your personal findings as I love feedback and this historical area/era and story have always fascinated me having grown up on the North Shore of Massachusetts also!

 

[Spin2]

Thank you so much for your answers. I will of course let you know how I get on.

Thanks again !

 

[tartan_skirt]

You might find Witch Child by Celia Rees interesting. It has been a while since I read it, so I can't really say much about the storyline, but I really enjoyed it.

 

[Canker]

Robert McCammon's newest book Speaks the Nightbird

Robert McCammon, author of the best-sellers Boy's Life and Gone South, returns to the forefront of American fiction with Speaks the Nightbird.

Is there a witch in Carolina in 1699? The people of the town of Fount Royal think so. Her name is Rachel; she's foreign, beautiful, and brave--no wonder so many people hate her.

Comes a traveling magistrate to hold a witch trial, and his clerk, Matthew. The evidence spells doom for Rachel: witch's tools are found in her home, she will not speak the Lord's Prayer, and witnesses swear they've seen her commit unspeakable acts with the Devil himself.

But Matthew hears the call of the nightbird. He wonders--is there any such thing as witchcraft? If Rachel can fly through the night on wings of evil, why hasn't she escaped from the town gaol?

And the town itself--who murdered Rachel's husband? How did the ratcatcher learn to hypnotize his prey? Who stands to gain if the witch is burned?

God and Satan are indeed at war in Fount Royal, and even the innocent are not safe. In the end, Matthew follows his head and his heart, and Rachel keeps an unlikely appointment with destiny.

 

[oregonjade]

The children's/young adult book mentioned above is most likely The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. It's a Newberry Award winner, and so is pretty well-known and used in schools.

Historical fiction, perhaps, for a genre?