ibeforem
Written on Oct 1, 2015
I thought this was an interesting way to tell the story of the Salem witch trials. You see everything through the eyes of Martha Carrier's oldest daughter. But unfortunately, I think the story also suffers from this point of view. The focus is a lot more on the family's life and their hardships until suddenly they're caught up in the midst of the hysteria. They combat this somewhat with the use of court transcripts, but I don't think it goes far enough.
Also, there was one piece of the story that pulled me out every time. It's the youngest daughter, Hannah. I guess I'm a big ol' softy now that I have a toddler, but every time Hannah is mentioned it's to say how she's clinging to her sister or how dirty she is or how they have to tie her to a stake in the yard to keep her from getting lost while they're working and it broke my heart EVERY SINGLE TIME. I kept hoping there would be some sort of payoff by the end of the book, some sort of reason for this toddler to be in the story, but there really wasn't. It just felt like useless emotional torture, and it really affected my enjoyment of the story.
So if you can't handle stories containing children that are being neglected and emotionally damaged, skip this one.
Also, there was one piece of the story that pulled me out every time. It's the youngest daughter, Hannah. I guess I'm a big ol' softy now that I have a toddler, but every time Hannah is mentioned it's to say how she's clinging to her sister or how dirty she is or how they have to tie her to a stake in the yard to keep her from getting lost while they're working and it broke my heart EVERY SINGLE TIME. I kept hoping there would be some sort of payoff by the end of the book, some sort of reason for this toddler to be in the story, but there really wasn't. It just felt like useless emotional torture, and it really affected my enjoyment of the story.
So if you can't handle stories containing children that are being neglected and emotionally damaged, skip this one.