Kathleen Kent

Martha Carrier was one of the first women to be accused, tried and hanged as a witch in Salem, Massachusetts. Like her mother, young Sarah Carrier is bright and willful, openly challenging the small, brutal world in which they live. Often at odds with one another, mother and daughter are forced to stand together against the escalating hysteria of the trials and the superstitious tyranny that led to the torture and imprisonment of more than 200 people accused of witchcraft. This is the story of Martha's courageous defiance and ultimate death, as told by the daughter who survived. Kathleen Kent is a tenth generation descendent of Martha Carrier. She paints a haunting portrait, not just of Puritan New England, but also of one family's deep and abiding love in the face of fear and persecution.

A Novel

The Heretic's Daughter

Based on her own family's history, Kent tells the story of Martha Carrier, who was one of the first women to be hanged as a witch in Salem, Massachusetts. In this novel, Kent paints a haunting portrait of one family's deep and abiding love in the face of fear and persecution.

Melody Izard

I can tell you that after struggling through The Other Boleyn Girl I was not looking forward to reading this. I was all prepared for a half-thought-out sensational-seeking wimpy bit of historical fiction dealing with the underbelly of the Salem witch trials. It didn’t take long for me to change my mind. The story is told from the narrator’s point of view when she was a child. Although the author does not clearly reveal why she uses the technique of having the narrator write a letter to her granddaughter I suspect it is because there are many included instances that must be rooted in truth and perhaps there was such a letter and maybe if I had done homework about the author and why she wrote it I wouldn’t have to speculate and could just include the facts – but I’m lucky to just be doing this stream-of-consciousness type of book review. And back to that review. The language is lyrical and charming. And I’m not saying charming because any one of these characters were witches, I’m just using that word because I was a little charmed while listening to this audio book. Only when it reached the point of the court proceedings did it get a little dry and factual. And again I’m going to assume (rather than doing my homework and trying to find out for sure) that it was dry and factual because that is just what it was – a factual account of a Salem witch trial. I’m giving it a thumbs up.

The Heretic's Daughter A Novel

Reviews