Hide this

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

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

The Heretic's Daughter (2008)

by Kathleen Kent

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1,5681494,273 (3.83)191
17th century (39) 2008 (12) 2009 (11) 2010 (12) ARC (35) Colonial America (25) family (17) fiction (189) historical (39) historical fiction (231) history (17) library (13) Massachusetts (46) New England (21) novel (11) own (16) Puritans (33) read (12) read in 2008 (13) read in 2009 (10) religion (16) Salem (91) Salem Witch Trials (101) to-read (61) unread (9) wishlist (10) witch hunts (9) witch trials (40) witchcraft (55) witches (45)
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

English (146)  Dutch (3)  All languages (149)
Showing 1-5 of 146 (next | show all)
The author is a descendent of one of the witches tried and hanged in Salem, MA in 1692. This historical fiction novel is told through the voice of the witch's daughter, Sarah. The story is of her life from childhood to the trial of her mother as well as her own time in prison. Very well writeen, informative, yet told in an easy way. ( )
  bibliobethica | Apr 27, 2013 |
What a story. I for one do not know so much about the Salem witch trials except that it was ludicrous and before I started to read this book I wasn't sure what it was about (I like it that way) so I discovered it during reading.
The first part was indeed slow but such beautiful woven story I understand why the author wrote it that way. The second part got me on the verge of tears, especially cause you know this really happened.
Once i finished it I immediately went to do a search on Google and found the court trials, also the one from Martha Courier, really interesting. I had planned on giving it 4 stars. well 4.5 but I will go for 5 cause if a writer can make me interested in a subject and I still think of the book once I've finished it and want to know even more she did a great job!

Update. I am re-reading this 3 years later because I discovered that she wrote a sequel.

Read it for a second time and I was crying last night. You know this has really happened and it is so unfair. Great read!
( )
  Marlene-NL | Apr 12, 2013 |
The Salem Witch Trials. That's really the only summary you need for this book.

If you want to finish a book and feel like you hate pretty much the entire human race, pick this up. I was in a foul mood when I finished. There are so many rants I want to go on, I just don't even know where to start. I guess I'll content myself with saying that if you want another strong defense for the separation of church and state, this will give you some pointers. What an absolute travesty in our country's history.

Aside from that, the book was just okay. I think the author, who is related to the "witch" in the book, did what she set out to do, and taught me a few things about the witch trials and made me feel pretty strongly about it. But the story just moved too slow for me. I got too bogged down in the details of everyday life. In another book, I might have been interested. In this one, where I had a pretty good idea what was going to happen already, I just didn't care. I wanted to get on to the real meat of the story, rather than all the build-up. And then once we got to the point, there wasn't a whole lot there that I didn't already know. I read Arthur Miller's [b:The Crucible|17250|The Crucible|Arthur Miller|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166805388s/17250.jpg|1426723] back in high school, and I actually remembered some stuff from it. There was very little actual trial here and a lot of sitting around in the dark. I was disappointed in that.

But if you don't know anything about the trials, or if you know just a little bit and you want to know more, give this a try. You'll definitely learn something. I just can't help but wonder if there is better historical fiction about the Salem Witch Trials out there. ( )
  JG_IntrovertedReader | Apr 3, 2013 |
This just wasn't my cup of tea. I thought it was well written, I just didn't like the story. ( )
  Readermom68 | Apr 3, 2013 |
The first half of Heretic's Daughter was sloooooow. BORING. I know Kent was trying to set the scene, the environment, the period of history and it was informative. I just think it could have been cut down quite a bit. The second half pulled me in and was fascinating and as far as I could tell mostly accurate. I've never read anything about the Salem witch trials from the perspective of someone in the jail and that part was worth the book alone. Even with the ick factor of actual shit on the ground and LICE. Sick. ( )
  E.J | Apr 3, 2013 |
Showing 1-5 of 146 (next | show all)
no reviews | add a review
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Series (with order)
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Awards and honors
Epigraph
Ah, children, be afraid of going prayerless to bed, lest the Devil be your bedfellow.
--Cotton Mather from a funeral service
Dedication
This book is dedicated to Mitchell and Joshua

And to my parents, John and Audrey, for giving me the stories.
First words
The distance by wagon from Billerica to neighboring Andover is but nine miles.
Quotations
The chief judge then asked Mother, "What do you say to this you are charged with?"

Mother's voice sounded loud and clear through to the back of the room, "I have not done it."
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Publisher series

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

Book description
Sarah Carrier and Martha, her mother, who live on the family farm in Andover, Massachusetts, endure a dispute with Sarah's uncle about their plot, and when reports of supernatural activity in nearby Salem escalate into mass hysteria, people begin accusing Martha and her family of being witches.
Haiku summary

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0316024481, Hardcover)

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.

(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 03 Jan 2013 15:37:00 -0500)

(see all 3 descriptions)

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.… (more)

» see all 3 descriptions

Quick Links

Swap Ebooks Audio
27 avail.
254 wanted
5 pay6 pay

Popular covers

Rating

Average: (3.83)
0.5 1
1 5
1.5 3
2 21
2.5 13
3 103
3.5 50
4 216
4.5 49
5 97

Audible.com

Two editions of this book were published by Audible.com.

See editions

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

Help/FAQs | About | Privacy/Terms | Blog | Contact | LibraryThing.com | APIs | WikiThing | Common Knowledge | Legacy Libraries | 81,987,983 books!