The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff tells the story of the Salem Witch Trials that started when a minister’s daughter suffered from unexplainable screaming fits and convulsion. The book describes what transpired during the whole year when 19 men and women were sentence to hang as the town of Salem hunted the witches among its residents.
The book provides a very colorful and insightful accounts of the events that had happened in Salem. As the trials are described, various important characters come into place and the roles they played are also discussed. It is interesting to note how the book gives details on the almost absurd ways that people from Salem used in identifying witches like “touch-tests.” In addition, it portrays how the hysterics of a group of adolescent girls made the people of Salem panic and started a witch hunt that cost the lives of at least 19 men and women. After browsing the book, the readers will feel what it was like in Salem during the witch trials and they will be imbibed with a clearer picture of what happened back then.
Some readers think that the book is too detailed and contain a lot of information that is too hard to digest. Others who claim to have ancestors that lived during the Salem witch trials argue that some of the information provided in the book are inaccurate.
The author perfectly points out how records of the first months of the Salem witch trials were missing even though it is a known fact Puritans of Salem were intense record-keepers. She also brings to life the trials with her rich and colorful words specifically detailing what could have happened inside and outside the courtrooms.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stacy Schiff is also the author of various award winning literary works like Vera; Saint-Exupery; and A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America. She’s also a receiver of fellowship from Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library. She also has an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.