Tuesday, February 22, 2011

The Heretic's Daughter

The Heretic's Daughter: A NovelDifferent, but not far from the usual story of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 is that of Sarah Carrier, daughter of the supposed heretic Martha Carrier who was tried and executed as a witch.  Each section of the book is separated into time periods spanning a couple of years where young Sarah, during a rough childhood in early New England comes to learn that people are not who they seem. Sarah despises her cold-hearted mother who seems to have done everything within her power to make Sarah's life miserable.  The Carrier family struggles to stay together up until the inevitable end, the moment of truth when the lives of the Carriers change forever and old family secrets finally rise to the surface during this threatening, dark time in the history of America.

I couldn't help but compare this to Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt, which was terrific.  The Heretic's Daughter is a different book completely, I realize, but with the same background of witch hysteria and neighbor-accusing-neighbor.  It's just a dark, brooding story of relationship woes and the inner turmoil of one member of the Carrier family, Martha's small daughter, who only through extreme trial (sorry) and strife can come to terms with her family.  I'm not sure where the title came from, as the word heretic is not thrown around as much as I would've expected.  It's not so much about religious reasons for persecution as it is about society's ways of destroying the people that refuse to become the status quo.  Like I said, a different book.  But I would have to say DotWH was much faster-moving than this one, as I am determined to compare them, you see.  THD was pretty slow, which can be a real drag when the readers are already aware of the ending.  So I wasn't too thrilled with this, all things said, but the growth and realizations of Sarah's character throughout her ordeals was still interesting to read, and I'm glad the author chose an original slant on the witch trials of 1692 - this was the best aspect of the book.

Stay tuned for another review of a library book... guess which one...

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