Conversion

Conversion by Katherine Howe is a return to the style she used in The Physik Book of Deliverance Dane, a novel which I love. Conversion is a young adult novel which blends a retelling of The Crucible, the real history of the Salem Witch Panic, and a touch of high school drama. The Story is told through Ann Putnam, one of the accusers during the Panic, and Colleen Rowley, A modern teenager in her senior Year of high School in Danvers. The voices alternate between the Colleen and the trials of a girl trying to get into the college of her Choice, with interjections from the past with Ann making her confession about her role during the trials. The way this is done the reader can see the ultimate connections Howe is heading towards, without show more prior Knowledge of the Crucible or more than a passing knowledge of the history of the Salem Witch Trials.

There is enough of the teenage drama to make the comparison to the historical period, but not too much that people who easily tire of the drama will be turned off by it. The book is well written and was more enjoyable for me than Howe’s last book, which was a straight historical fiction, and not the dual time line I enjoyed so much. I would definitely recommend this book, especially to someone who wants something related to witch trials, and not heavy in the fantasy aspect. show less

Interesting juxtaposition between a contemporary "outbreak" of hysteria a la Salem and flashbacks to the original trials. Good portrayal of high pressure prep school culture, and some unexpected twists. All in all, I enjoyed it and it was a solid read.

I wanted to love this book because I've really enjoyed the other two books that Katherine Howe has written. While I didn't love it, I did like it. It was an interesting study on hysteria, mob mentality, and the need for attention. I enjoyed the juxtaposition between the Salem Witch trials and modern day. It was interesting to see how far we've come and yet how much human nature remains unchanged. The modern day story is set at a prestigious all-girls school, a pressure cooker of stress, worry, the need to be the best, and above all, the desire to be seen. If you enjoy stories set in two different times, and fiction that is based on very real events that happened, I suggest you give this book a shot.

This book created a very interesting parallel between two groups of girls - one group in 2012 Danvers, Massachusetts, and the other in 1706 Salem Village, Massachusetts. Both groups have seemingly come down with some sort of common illness, and as the book goes on, the adults around them, through much trial and error, attempt to reveal the true cause of their afflictions.

I think Howe does a good job of interweaving these stories, and I appreciated how the themes carrief over the centuries of difference. Definitely a good read for high schoolers, and perhaps a good warning for the pressures that many teens encounter as they make their transition from high school to college.

This was a read from the 52 Books 52 Weeks, 2014.26.

This is a modern day retelling of the Crucible. I like how the author would move from present day at St Joan's Academy and the onset of the Salem Witch Trials.

The girls of St Joan's academy are all beginning to fall ill to the same mysterious malady. The questions is are they really ill or is it Conversion Disorder. The class is studying the Crucible a fictional accounting of the Salem Witch Trials. The author for this story has included the real life Ann Putnam and includes a letter she wrote during the trials.

Girls of St Joan go through a modern day witch hunt through the media and are accused of faking their illnesses. Even their own peers cast against one another just as the show more girls of Salem turned on each other.

A quote from the book "When a girl's on a pedestal, there's nothing some people would like better than to shove her off it, just to know what kind of noise she'd make when she shattered."

I thoroughly enjoyed this reimagining. show less

Colleen Rowley's senior year is finally upon her. All she needs to do is maintain her perfect grades, her attendance and finish sending in her college apps and she might just be able to pull off valedictorian, get into her dream college and live her perfect life.

But in the blink of an eye Colleen and her classmates lives are turned upside down. When a mysterious illness starts spreading throughout the school panic ensues, no one is safe and getting perfect grades is the least of their worries.

Tics, seizures, hair loss, vomiting. All symptoms of this seemingly un-treatable mystery illness.

The media, school nurse and doctors all have their own theories but none of them seem to have a solution. While more and more girls start falling show more victim to the illness Colleen starts to see uncanny similarities between whats happening now and what happened in the 17th century. See hundreds of years ago Danvers, Massachusetts was known as Salem Village.

Could witchcraft be to blame?

I really enjoyed this book. Anytime I sat it down I spent the entire time I wasn't reading it thinking about it. Why were the girls sick? Would they get better? How was it spreading? Was it really a witch? I couldn't bear to go more than a couple of minutes without picking it back up and trying to finish it.

I didn't think I was going to like the jumping around between modern day and the 17th century but it quickly grew on me.

It was a little slow in some parts which is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 but for the most part it was very intriguing and suspenseful.

I can understand why this book was a hit or miss for most people, for me the Salem Witch Trials fascinate me and the way the author draws parallel lines between two seemingly unrelatable instances, set centuries apart drew me in instantly and I was hooked. I definitely recommend this book if you're into the Salem Witch Trails, if you're not I doubt you'll find it was interesting and compelling as I did.

Until next time,

Ginger show less

I wished the stories would have connected in the end. I agree with some reviewers that the characters were a little flat and that the heroine was a bit unlikeable. However, it was compulsively readable, which was pretty impressive for a book about the Salem Witch Trials (for me, at least- I hate historical fiction). I learned a lot by reading this book, and for me, that is worth a lot. I don't think that the heroine was really supposed to be that likable, anyhow- she represents the pressure and competitiveness of elite schools and what they do to girls. I'm not sure that anyone would be too likable in that situation. Overall, I thought it was a pretty cool take on both premises.