Livro premiado de uma das mais importantes escritoras negras da atualidade.

Tituba, mulher negra, nascida em Barbados, no século XVII, renasce, três séculos depois. Torna-se outra vez real, pelas mãos da premiada escritora Maryse Condé, vencedora do New Academy Prize 2018 (Prêmio Nobel Alternativo).

No início do livro, Maryse Condé anota: "Tituba e eu vivemos uma estreita intimidade durante um ano. Foi no correr de nossas intermináveis conversas que ela me disse essas coisas que ainda não havia confiado a ninguém." Da mesma forma, quem lê Tituba poderá ouvi-la falar, do invisível, desestabilizando estruturas cristalizadas, mediando novas concepções de identidades e culturas e protegendo as pessoas insurgentes.

Aqui, essa personagem fascinante, é retirada do silêncio a que a historiografia lhe destinou. Filha de uma mulher negra escravizada, viveu cedo o terror de ver a mãe assassinada por se defender do estupro de um homem branco e de saber que o pai se matou por causa do mesmo homem branco. Cresceu sob os cuidados de uma mulher que tinha o poder da cura e que a iniciou nos mistérios. Adulta, apaixonou-se por John Indien e abdicou, por ele, da própria liberdade.

Uma das primeiras mulheres julgadas por praticar bruxaria nos tribunais de Salem, em 1692, Tituba fora escravizada e levada para a Nova Inglaterra pelo pastor Samuel Parris, que a denunciou. Mesmo protegida pelos espíritos, não pôde escapar das mentiras e acusações da histeria puritana daquela época.

A história de Tituba é a história das mulheres da diáspora e do povo negro. É também a história de todas as pessoas que seguem a própria verdade, em vez de professar a fé do colonizador. É a história dos e das dissidentes e dos seres de alma livre. Por isso é uma história bela e complexa, cujo final, a despeito dos infortúnios, é sempre benfazejo, pois é a história dos que resistem.

"Para saber de Tituba, a bruxa negra de Salem, é preciso acompanhar quem sabe lidar com a alquimia das palavras. Maryse Condé tem as fórmulas, as poções mágicas da escrita." - Conceição Evaristo

Nearly forgotten among the infamy of the 17th-century Salem Witch Trials is the real account of Tituba, an enslaved woman who was actually one of the first to be accused, and whose existence at all has been relegated to little more than a footnote among records from the time. In this historical novel, Condé imagines Tituba's origins, her life in Barbados before being brought to Salem, and her life following the trials.

I had never heard previously that, among all the hysteria surrounding the SWTs, one of the accused was an enslaved woman, and I actually feel a little bit abashed never to even have considered that there was an enslaved population already at the time among early New England settlers. To have an author open my eyes and teach me new things and different perspectives on history always makes me feel grateful. Given the subject matter it was a somewhat heavy read, but I enjoyed it despite that and the frequency of magical realism, which usually makes me groan. Recommended for readers who enjoy retellings told from alternate character's viewpoint. ( )

Reminded me somewhat of The Red Tent by Diamant, but with a more complex and self aware feeling. ( )

This is an attempt to create a life story behind Tituba, the black slave who was the first person accused of being a witch in the Salem witch hunt.

Conde is at her best in her well-researched depictions of Barbados, where Tituba was born, of early Boston, and of the Puritans of Salem.

However, I did not particularly appreciate the way Conde turns Hester Prynne into a lesbian feminist.

Also, I was not thrilled with the translation. Much of it was quite stilted. ( )

I really really really wish I had liked this more. Instead I found myself bored throughout the book. If the author, Maryse Conde had actually I think been able to make me feel like she had a good sense of who Tituba was I would have enjoyed this more.

Conde decides to have Tituba tell her mother's story and her stepfather's story and how she came to be a free slave until she went to live with John Indian.

I didn't really like the set-up to Tituba's life since it really didn't make much sense that a black woman was somehow free and then voluntarily went to live and become a slave to her husband's owner because she was so in love with him. I don't know much about voodoo practices in Barbados so I imagine Conde did some research. I didn't really get the importance of Mama Yaya while reading. In fact a lot of things that Tituba mentions learning about I didn't really get since I don't know much about voodoo practices. I wish that had been explained more.

We spend a lot of time with Tituba in Barbados before she and her husband are sold to Samuel Parrish and settle in Salem. And we know that eventually Tituba will be accused of witchcraft along with other women in Salem.

What I thought was weird was that the Salem passages went quickly. Conde did have the real life transcripts from what Tituba confessed to inserted into the book as dialogue. And she did the same thing to the character of John Indian. However, everything after that appears to be fictional. She instead has Tituba sold to someone else, returning to Barbados only to meet a tragic end. She includes a fictional Hester Prynne in this book (which really threw me) who is also imprisoned along with the other accused who is being brought to court for her adultery. I don't get why Conde included a fictional literary character in this book.

I have done my best to find out what became of Tituba, but unfortunately not much seems to be out there. And there are some disputes about whether she was a black woman or a Native American woman.

I didn't really care for the writing in this book. It seems everyone called everyone the "N" word and I hated reading it. Also a lot of the dialogue just didn't appear to be written for the times (1690s) and instead there seemed to be too much modern speech in this book.

The flow was not that great. I can't believe how short the Salem passages are, to me that should have been the main focus of the book. I don't know why Conde moved the action away from there and back to Barbados. ( )