The Heretic's Daughter: A Novel - Hardcover

Kent, Kathleen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0316024481 ISBN 13: 9780316024488

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 2008

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author:

Kathleen Kent lives in Dallas with her husband and son. THE HERETIC'S DAUGHTER is her first novel.

From AudioFile:

Mare Winningham starts by expressing young Sarah Carrier's dislike for her harsh mother and stern father. Then a pox comes to their late-seventeenth-century farm near Salem, Massachusetts, and Sarah is removed to the lively home of her aunt. Winningham lets us hear the tenderness in Sarah's voice as she warms to cheerier surroundings. Winningham's portrayal of Sarah's hostility on homecoming is sharpened with preadolescent indignation and judgment. Gradually, Winningham's tones change as Sarah becomes bitter and protective when her mother is accused of witchcraft. Powerful descriptions of 9-year-old Sarah's time in prison are depicted well by the fear, anger, and repulsion Winningham projects into her reading. Author Kent, a tenth-generation descendent of Martha Carrier, who was hanged as a witch in 1692, has an accurate vision for time and place, equaled by Winningham's narration. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0316024481
• ISBN 13: 9780316024488
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352