This riveting novel is inspired by real events. Although the main character is a fictional one, many others mentioned throughout were actual persons. Despite the shocking brutality described herein, in truth, the novel no doubt relates the experiences of many young women of the period, the mid-seventeenth century, when Puritanical Boston was in the grip of a witchcraze, it seems, reaching its zenith with the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. In fact, some of the events were heavily inspired by actual court records, including cases where young women sought to have their marriages dissolved on account of the vile cruelty of their husbands, who were widely considered to be essentially their owners.
This story focuses on heroine Mary Deerfield, the second wife of a miller, Thomas Deerfield, a wealthy but brutish man given to violent drunken rages whereby he beats his wife, and, on one occasion, stabs her through the hand with a fork. Despite her wealthy and prominent family's attempt to find a better life in the New World, Mary ends up on the receiving end of the worst sort of life in the highly patriarchal culture of the Puritans, who were considered dangerous fanatics in England. Mary's experiences likely mirrored those of many women of the period, when judges disbelieved accounts of husbands' cruelty and ordered the domestic abuse victims to return to them. In this case, as was likely often the case, Mary continued to be brutalized, to an even greater degree. Anthropologically, it is often this sense of powerlessness which serves as the impetus for women to turn to "witchcraft," or various folk magic traditions, in an attempt to exert some external control over their lives, which were usually controlled solely by the men surrounding them: their fathers, then husbands, then often sons or other male relatives, should they end up widows.
Mary is likely inspired by the actual Anne Hibbons/Hibbins, the sister of a governor and the widow of a wealthy merchant. She, too, was described as an intelligent, confident and "opinionated" woman, but she was also considered something of a gossip. In the wake of a dispute with contractors, whom she successfully pursued in court, Anne was reported to the church by her neighbors, who, seizing their opportunity, then accused her of being a witch, more than anything else for the purpose of getting rid of her. She was "tried" by a "jury," and was condemned to death. Unlike in this story, the verdict was set aside, but unfortunately, she did not escape a second time, and was yet again condemned, then hanged in June, 1656, at Boston Neck, the home of the fictional character Constance, who may also have been somewhat influenced by her. Regarding Anne's plight, it was widely reported that she had been hanged simply for "having more wit than her neighbors." Another real-life victim, Margaret Jones, was actually the first reported woman hanged as a witch in Boston, in 1648, for the terrible crime of preparing herbal remedies and treating the sick. Any power a woman might wield had to be quickly squelched, lest others follow her example and attempt to exert any freedom of thought, expression or independence.
Overall, the novel is a fairly rich and accurate portrayal of the various figures who populated the Puritan colonies of the New World. Some were kind and genuinely devoted to their religion and community, but many were superstitious, ignorant (fear of FORKS?), and, despite their pretense of piety, hypocritically vengeful and duplicitous, especially when it came to taking revenge on their neighbors. Sadly, in the case of women, that rarely required much more than an accusation of witchcraft or adultery. The novel is slow in parts, but it is a capable mystery novel with a rather surprise ending I won't reveal here. It's also an accessible read if you're interested in this period of history, tragic though it may be.
This story focuses on heroine Mary Deerfield, the second wife of a miller, Thomas Deerfield, a wealthy but brutish man given to violent drunken rages whereby he beats his wife, and, on one occasion, stabs her through the hand with a fork. Despite her wealthy and prominent family's attempt to find a better life in the New World, Mary ends up on the receiving end of the worst sort of life in the highly patriarchal culture of the Puritans, who were considered dangerous fanatics in England. Mary's experiences likely mirrored those of many women of the period, when judges disbelieved accounts of husbands' cruelty and ordered the domestic abuse victims to return to them. In this case, as was likely often the case, Mary continued to be brutalized, to an even greater degree. Anthropologically, it is often this sense of powerlessness which serves as the impetus for women to turn to "witchcraft," or various folk magic traditions, in an attempt to exert some external control over their lives, which were usually controlled solely by the men surrounding them: their fathers, then husbands, then often sons or other male relatives, should they end up widows.
Mary is likely inspired by the actual Anne Hibbons/Hibbins, the sister of a governor and the widow of a wealthy merchant. She, too, was described as an intelligent, confident and "opinionated" woman, but she was also considered something of a gossip. In the wake of a dispute with contractors, whom she successfully pursued in court, Anne was reported to the church by her neighbors, who, seizing their opportunity, then accused her of being a witch, more than anything else for the purpose of getting rid of her. She was "tried" by a "jury," and was condemned to death. Unlike in this story, the verdict was set aside, but unfortunately, she did not escape a second time, and was yet again condemned, then hanged in June, 1656, at Boston Neck, the home of the fictional character Constance, who may also have been somewhat influenced by her. Regarding Anne's plight, it was widely reported that she had been hanged simply for "having more wit than her neighbors." Another real-life victim, Margaret Jones, was actually the first reported woman hanged as a witch in Boston, in 1648, for the terrible crime of preparing herbal remedies and treating the sick. Any power a woman might wield had to be quickly squelched, lest others follow her example and attempt to exert any freedom of thought, expression or independence.
Overall, the novel is a fairly rich and accurate portrayal of the various figures who populated the Puritan colonies of the New World. Some were kind and genuinely devoted to their religion and community, but many were superstitious, ignorant (fear of FORKS?), and, despite their pretense of piety, hypocritically vengeful and duplicitous, especially when it came to taking revenge on their neighbors. Sadly, in the case of women, that rarely required much more than an accusation of witchcraft or adultery. The novel is slow in parts, but it is a capable mystery novel with a rather surprise ending I won't reveal here. It's also an accessible read if you're interested in this period of history, tragic though it may be.
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