Review: The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent

Title: The Heretic's Daughter
Author: Kathleen Kent
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 2008

332p

Martha Carrier was hanged on August 19th 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, unyielding in her refusal to admit to being a witch, going to her death rather than joining the ranks of men and women who confessed and were thereby spared execution. In this novel her story is told by her daughter, Sarah, who was 10-years-old at the time of the horrific Salem witch trials.

The story begins in 1690 as Sarah and her family are moving from their home in Billerica to live with Martha's mother in Andover. Although they don't realise it they carry with them the dreaded smallpox and will later be blamed for the sickness and deaths in Andover.

The first part of the book moves quietly and is a wonderful picture of the lives of these early settlers. A hard and brutal life .......little more than a daily struggle to survive, to overcome the harsh weather, the fears of sickness, marauding Indians, starvation and death. Physical hardship that was matched by a cold and heartless religion based on the belief that everything that goes wrong in life is a punishment from God for sin.
A religion that bullied and threatened ............and the easiest way to avoid having the finger pointed at yourself was to make sure it pointed at someone else. Discover their secrets, find their weakness.......

"A needle is such a small brittle thing. It is easily broken. It can hold but one fragile thread. But if the needle is sharp, it can pierce the coarsest cloth. Ply the needle in and out of a canvas and with a great length of thread one can make a sail to move a ship across the ocean. In such a way can a sharp gossipy tongue, with the thinnest thread of rumor, stitch together a story to flap in the breeze. Hoist that story upon the pillar of superstitious belief and a whole town can be pulled along with the wind of fear."

The central theme is not the witch trials but the relationship between Sarah and her mother. They are often at loggerheads and find difficulty in communicating on an emotional level. Not so strange really for I imagine a 10 yr old of that time would be the equivalent of a rebellious teenager now. Sarah will not only lose her mother in the most horrible way but will carry forever the memory of having to follow out her mother's instructions and testify against her in order to save herself and her brothers.

This is probably the best book I've ever read of the Salem Witch trials...........in the first part Kathleen Kent skilfully lets the tension build quietly beneath the surface until the fear and suspicion burst forth and hysteria takes over. The details of the imprisonment of women with their tiny children in the most dreadful of conditions are quite terrible but out of the horror emerges a woman of courage and honour .

Kathleen Kent , a direct descendant of Martha Carrier, has brought to life a short period of history with a fine mix of well researched facts and creative imagination. Highly recommended particularly to historical fiction readers.

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