RSS 2.0 FeedSeptember 2009, Featured Articles, Historical Fiction
The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent
Kathleen Kent is an actual descendent of her fictionalized protagonist. This is her first novel.
In 1752 when she is seventy-one, Sarah Carrier Chapman writes a revealing letter to her granddaughter recounting events from 1690 through 1692 when the Carrier family lived in Andover, Massachusetts. They had moved to the home of Martha Carrier's mother, bringing with them a child infected with smallpox. Martha has a sharp tongue and speaks her mind. Her husband Thomas is a giant of a man with secret ties to Cromwell and Charles I back in England. He is feared because of his size and force of character.
When their home is quarantined, 9 year-old Sarah and her baby sister Hannah are sent to live in Billerica with Martha's sister Mary. Mary's husband is jealous because he wishes his mother-in-law's land for himself. Sarah forms a close bond with her cousin Margaret and is devastated when her father comes to reclaim her on the death of her grandmother. She has a rocky relationship with her impatient mother.
The Carriers acquire an indentured servant Mercy Williams, who had spent three years in Canada as a captive of a tribe of murderous and kidnapping Indians. Eventually she turns against the Carriers. Neighbors become jealous over thriving crops and some nonsense with a wandering cow. Soon some children in Salem begin accusing their neighbors of witchcraft and the madness spreads to other towns. Martha Carrier is arrested as are her children. She tells Sarah to say what she must to save her own life. Although others confess to being witches, Martha is steadfast in her innocence. Cotton Mather, whose early work contributed to the witchcraft hysteria, dubs her "a rampant hag" and "the queen of Hell." He celebrates her hanging on August 19, 1692. She is not the first to be hanged nor the last.
Since anyone familiar with the hysteria of the Salem witch trials knows the outcome, there is no suspense about the fate of Martha Carrier. The author maintains tension because those involved, especially young Sarah, do not know what will happen. Thomas, who loves his wife dearly, lets her make the decision that leads to her death, respecting her pride. He lives to be 109. So readers come to the story of the heretic's daughter through the eyes of a naive child who cannot comprehend what is happening. The witch trials are therefore doubly damned, and the General Court does not overturn the guilty verdicts until 1711.
Actress Mare Winningham brings her vocal talents to Sarah's story, capturing Sarah's young confusion, Thomas's Welsh accent, various characters young and old and capturing perfectly the whirlwind lunacy of the era. Martha Carrier is Kathleen Kent's grandmother nine generations removed and she spent five years researching the witch trials before writing this moving novel of jealousy, lies, love, and redemption. Highly recommended.
Kent, Kathleen. The Heretic's Daughter. Read by Mare Winningham. 9 CDs. 10 hrs. Hachette Audio. 2009. 978-1-60024-450-6. $34.98. Cardboard; plot, author, reader notes. *SA
The remainder of this article is not available.
To see the rest of the article you may:
- Pay for a Premium subscription to this publication
More Featured Articles
The Gatecrasher by Madeleine Wickham
MADELEINE WICKHAM is the author of several novels, including COCKTAILS FOR THREE and the New York Times bestseller SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS. As Sophie Kinsella, she has written a number of bestsellers including the Shopaholic series and, most recently, REMEMBER ME?
Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
William Burroughs was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1914. Immensely influential among the Beat writers of the 1950s -- notably Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg -- he already had an underground reputation before the appearance of his first important book, Naked Lunch. Originally published by the daring and influential Olympia Press (the original publishers of Henry Miller) in France in 1959, it aroused great controversy on publication and was not available in the US until 1962 and in the UK until 1964. The book was adapted for film by David Cronenberg in 1991.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy is the author of nine previous novels. Among his honors are the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Where Memories Lie by Deborah Crombie
Deborah Crombie is a native Texan who has lived in both England and Scotland. She currently lives north of Dallas in McKinney, Texas, sharing a 102-year-old house with her husband, three cats, and two German shepherds. When not walking dogs or remodeling, she spends a good deal of time in the U.K., researching her Kincaid/James novels.
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
David Wroblewski grew up in rural Wisconsin, not far from the Chequamegon National Forest where The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is set. He earned his master's degree from the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers and now lives in Colorado with his partner, the writer Kimberly McClintock, and their dog, Lola. This is his first novel.
Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee by Robert Van Gulick (Translator)
Authentic 18th-century Chinese detective novel; Dee and associates solve three interlocked cases: The Case of the Double Murder at Dawn, The Case of the Strange Corpse, and The Case of the Poisoned Bridge.
Spade and Archer by Joe Gores
Joe Gores, formerly a private eye, is the author of sixteen other novels, including Hammett, which won Japan’s Falcon Award. He has received three Edgar Awards—one of only two authors to win in three separate categories: Best First Novel, Best Short Story, and Best Episode in a TV Series.
Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain
Mark Twain's darkly comic short classic set in the antebellum South stands as a literary condemnation of slavery and racial inequality.
Blood and Ice by Robert Masello
Robert Masello is an award-winning journalist, a television writer, and the author of many other books, most recently the supernatural thrillers Vigil (which appeared on the USA Today bestseller list) and Bestiary. His articles and essays have appeared often in such publications as the Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine, People, and Parade, and his nonfiction book, Robert’s Rules of Writing, has become a staple in many college classrooms. His produced television credits include such popular shows as Charmed, Sliders, and Early Edition. A longstanding member of the Writers Guild of America, he lives in Santa Monica, California.
Lulu in Marrakesh by Diane Johnson
Diane Johnson is the author of ten novels, most recently Le Mariage and Le Divorce, two books of essays, two biographies, and the screenplay for Stanley Kubrick’s classic film The Shining. She has been a finalist four times for the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Awards.
Marine One by James W. Huston
James W. Huston is the New York Times bestselling author of six thrillers, including Balance of Power and Secret Justice. A graduate of Topgun, he served as a naval flight officer in F-14s on the USS Nimitz with the Jolly Rogers. He is currently a trial lawyer for the international law firm of Morrison Foerster and has been involved in numerous high- profile cases. He lives in San Diego, California.
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Abraham Verghese is also the author of The Tennis Partner, a New York Times Notable Book, and My Own Country, a National Book Critics Circle finalist. Currently a professor of internal medicine at Stanford University, he has also served on faculties in Iowa, Texas, and Tennessee. A graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, his fiction and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, and Granta. He lives in Palo Alto, California.
The King of Ragtime by Larry Karp
Larry Karp's first published mystery fiction was a serial called Richard Richard, Private Dick, which appeared in a neighborhood newspaper Larry wrote, printed, and distributed when he was eight Larry has also written long and short nonfiction, practiced perinatal medicine, and restored and collected antique music boxes. Larry says he's a New Yorker, though he and his wife have lived in Seattle for thirty years and counting. They have two grown children.
The Language of Bees by Laurie R. King
Laurie R. King became the first novelist since Patricia Cornwell to win prizes for Best First Crime Novel on both sides of the Atlantic with the publication of her debut thriller, A Grave Talent. She is the bestselling author of four contemporary novels featuring Kate Martinelli, the award-winning Mary Russell series, and the bestselling novels A Darker Place, Folly, and Keeping Watch. She lives in northern California. Bantam will publish her next Russell and Holmes mystery in 2010.
The Face on Your Plate by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson is the author of the bestselling When Elephants Weep and Dogs Never Lie About Love, as well as The Pig Who Sang to the Moon and The Assault on Truth. An American, he lives in New Zealand.
The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly
Michael Connelly is the bestselling author of the Harry Bosch series of novels as well as The Poet, Blood Work, Void Moon, Chasing the Dime, andthe #1 New York Times bestseller The Lincoln Lawyer. He is a former newspaper reporter who has won numerous awards for his journalism and his novels. He spends his time in California and Florida.
The Tourist by Olen Steinhauer
OLEN STEINHAUER’s widely acclaimed Eastern European crime series, which he was inspired to write while on a Fullbright fellowship, is a two-time Edgar Award finalist and has been shortlisted for the Anthony, the Macavity, the Ellis Peters Historical Dagger, and the Barry awards. Film rights to The Tourist have been optioned by Warner Brothers for George Clooney. Raised in Virginia, Steinhauer lives with his family in Budapest, Hungary.
The Nest by Paul Jennings
Paul Jennings is a best-selling Australian writer of books for children and young adult.
Alexandria by Lindsey Davis
LINDSEY DAVIS is the author of the long-running series of historical mysteries featuring Marcus Didius Falco. She was the winner of the first CWA Ellis Peters Historical Dagger and her novels are bestsellers around the globe. She lives in London.
La Bete by David Hirson
The work of award-winning American dramatist David Hirson includes La Bete and Wrong Mountain.
Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris
Charlaine Harris writes both fantasies and mysteries.
How to Win a Cosmic War by Reza Aslan
Reza Aslan is assistant professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside, and Senior Fellow at the Orfalae Center for Global and International Studies at U.C. Santa Barbara. His first book, No god but God, has been translated into thirteen languages and was short-listed for the Guardian First Book Award.
The Blue Notebook by James A. Levine
James A. Levine, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic, is a world-renowned scientist, doctor, and researcher. He lives in Oronoco, Minnesota.
Anything but Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin
Nora Raleigh Baskin was chosen as a Publishers Weekly Flying Start for her novel What Every Girl (Except Me) Knows. She is the author of four novels for middle-graders and teens, including her new novel, The Truth About My Bat Mitzvah
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
Henry James described his horror classic as a simple ghost story. Noting that nothing "The Master" wrote was ever simple, some critics point to this work as a tale told by a neurotic, sexually repressed, unreliable narrator. There's plenty of room for both points of view.
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
Dan Simmons first novel, Song of Kali, won the World Fantasy Award; his first science fiction novel, Hyperion, won the Hugo Award. His other novels and short fiction have been honored with numerous awards, including nine Locus Awards, and four Bram Stoker Awards. He lives in Colorado along the Front Range of the Rockies.
Crazy Love by Leslie Morgan Steiner
Leslie Morgan Steiner is the editor of the highly acclaimed anthology Mommy Wars. She writes Two Cents on Working Motherhood for Mommy Track’d: The Working Mother’s Guide to Managed Chaos. She wrote the popular “On Balance” blog for washingtonpost.com from 2006-2008. Visit her at www.lesliemorgansteiner.com.
Angels of Destruction by Keith Donohue
Keith Donohue is the Director of Communications for the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the grant-making arm of the National Archives in Washington, DC. Until 1998 he worked at the National Endowment for the Arts and wrote hundreds of speeches for chairmen John Frohnmayer and Jane Alexander. He has written articles for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and other newspapers. Donohue holds a Ph.D. in English from The Catholic University of America. His dissertation on Irish writer Flann O'Brien was published as The Irish Anatomist: A Study of Flann O'Brien (Maunsel Press, 2003).
Above the Law by Tim Green
Tim Green has written numerous thrillers and the nonfiction New York Times bestseller The Dark Side of the Game. He played eight years in the NFL and is a member of the New York State Bar. Today he is a featured commentator on NPR and Fox Sports. He lives with his wife and five children in upstate New York.
Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman
Susan Jane Gilman is the author of Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress and Kiss My Tiara. She has written commentary for The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and Ms. magazine, among others, and her fiction and essays have received several literary awards. Though she has lived most recently in Geneva, Switzerland, and Washington, D.C., she remains, eternally, a child of New York.
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Mikhail Bulgakov (1891-1940) was described in the official Big Soviet Encyclopedia as a slanderer of Soviet reality. A medical doctor, he gave up his practice to pursue his writing. Stalin named Bulgakov the assistant director of the Moscow Arts Theater, where his actions were monitored. He died in disgrace.