The story of the Salem witch trials has intrigued me since I was an adolescent. Knowing my family was from New England, but not having much information of the exact colony, I wondered if any of my ancestors were involved in this practically mythical period of "ancient" history. Through my 30s and now 40s, I have tailored that interest toward a more precise study of religious hypocrisy, looking mainly to the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne. This potentially intimidating study of the time peaked out at me from a shelf of American History studies in a quirky bookshop I found while on vacation at Lake Michigan earlier this month. Though I hesitated at its not-so-beachy-read status, I succumbed, nonetheless, and am quite happy that I did.
From the first page and a half, I was taken in. The author hooked me with the idea that there were some age-old myths to dispel regarding the goings on of late 17th century Salem. She made the case that much of what we believe about the Salem witches, as well as their accusers, was handed to us by those who fictionalized and sensationalized the truth --- much of which is no longer within public, and probably private, record. She goes on for several hundred pages to very intricately lay out the details of the year and a half of witch hunts and ends with several motives for accusations, confessions, and convictions. Summing things up, she gives a brief look at how these events inspired future witch crazes, as well as literature and film.
I got the impression the author was trying to make the case that witches are imaginary, sometimes making it sound like they’re something that post-medieval religion made up. Perhaps that's true for black hats and broomsticks, but sorcery is an ancient thing and I think some of those who were involved had good intentions of ridding their communities of what they perceived to be satan's influence. Do I believe all or even the majority of the accused were witches? Of course not. But I do think there was some kind of demonic possession going on in those who accused and put themselves into states of convulsions and more. Let's just be honest --- anyone who would falsely and repeatedly accuse a neighbor, mother, wife, or anyone of a crime punishable by death has got to have something evil going on inside. All the stories of bewitched people seeing things that others were blind to sounded like the story of <i>The Emperor's New Clothes</i>. This kind of political witch hunt (literally, in this case) is nothing new. It's still going on today. In fact, I recognized many parallels to what's going on politically in the UK and the US this very month.
While I found much to praise this author for in terms of research and an engaging writing style, she is often sarcastic and it was not often easy to tell whether she was relating someone’s personal account or testimony or whether she was describing what a third party wrote about the situation. Most of the footnotes, rather than clarifying information to the average reader, allude to obscure things. For instance, she uses some plays on words in chapter five regarding the text of the Biblical <i>Lord's Prayer</i>. However, without an understanding of the actual text and meaning of the verse, compared to what the accused wizard had uttered, her footnote serves to cause more confusion when it could have, instead, been used to clarify the reference.
These minor annoyances aside, I really engaged with this well-researched book. It contains all kinds of study helps like a list of characters, a plethora of notes, an index, and a tempting bibliography. I've already made a note to look for more from this author as she has several other works of this type on the shelves of my local bookstore.
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