Book Review - The Heretic's Daughter

The Heretic's Daughter The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It was my turn to host book club this month and I picked this one off of an online reading guide site. It's historical fiction based on Kent's ancestor who was tried as a witch during the Salem witch hunts in the 1600s.

Told from the perspective of the woman's daughter, the first part of the book was much to do about the way of life back then and the mother/daughter relationship. The second half of the book is about the start of the witch hysteria, the trials, imprisonment and ultimately deaths of some of the accused.

Really interesting story to me as I only had some basic understanding of what went on back then. It's hard to fathom how it all could have happened as it was just so irrational. Were people just evil or did they really believe their friends/neighbors/family members were consorting with the devil? I don't think we'll ever know the why, though.

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