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The Salem witch trials: Kathleen Kent presents The Heretic's Daughter
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Last Sunday, Hartford Books Examiner journeyed to historic Salem, Massachusetts. Naturally, the first thing he did when he got there was to find the local bookshop, Cornerstone Books, where he was delighted to attend a discussion by visiting author Kathleen Kent, who was discussing her novel, The Heretic’s Daughter.
Now out in trade paperback, The Heretic’s Daughter is the emotional story of a mother and daughter at odds set against the backdrop of the Salem witch trials. A year before the hysteria begins, 10-year-old Sarah Carrier and her family arrive in Andover, where her mother, Martha, becomes involved in a familial property dispute. As pandemonium ensues in nearby Salem, the feud takes a terrifying turn when Sarah’s uncle points a finger at Martha. As neighbor is pitted against neighbor, and friend against friend, Martha finds herself one of more than two hundred men, women, and children sent to prison on charges of witchcraft. It is during her imprisonment that, out of love for her children, a defiant Martha asks Sarah to commit an act of heresy –one that will condemn Martha to death while granting her daughter the freedom to live.
Publishers Weekly called the book “gripping and original…a fresh, bracing, and unconventional take on a much covered episode,” and Anita Shreve raved, “The Heretic’s Daughter is raw, honest, and completely captivating…,” and further praised the author for “moving us through a wrenching gamut of emotions…”
First-time author Kathleen Kent is a tenth-generation descendent of Martha Carrier. She grew up listening to stories of her ancestor, which were passed down through her mother’s side of the family. Though she always possessed an inclination to write, it was not until she was “on the runway to fifty” that she embarked on the journey that would result in her debut novel. After five years spent studying the Salem witch trials and putting pen to paper, The Heretic’s Daughter was completed. It recently won the David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Historical Fiction.
Ms. Kent was kind enough to compose a personal history and background on the writing of The Heretic’s Daughter for you to enjoy:
I was a child, about eight or nine years of age, when I first heard my grandmother talking about a relative, Martha Carrier, my grandmother back nine generations, who had been hanged as a witch in Salem. It startled me, as I had only ever thought of witches in childish Halloween images; scary, old women in black hats, riding brooms. When I asked my grandmother if Martha had really been a witch, she laughed and told me that there are no such things as witches, merely ferocious women. And my grandmother would have known as she was a fairly ferocious woman herself. Growing up, she rode wild horses, smoked cigarettes in public when it was considered scandalous, and was a dead shot with a rifle.
That image of a strong-willed, independent woman stayed with me throughout high school and college and, remembering my grandmother’s stories about the day to day life of the Carriers in 17th century New England, I submitted more than a few papers on early American history centered on the Salem witch trials of 1692. For almost twenty years I lived in New York, working in various commercial fields, but my most fervent hope was to someday have the time and resources to write a book about Martha Carrier; perhaps the only person who not only professed her innocence during her trial, but who also harshly challenged the magistrates for listening to a group of hysterical, adolescent girls.
In 2000, after moving with my family back to my childhood home of Dallas, I made a conscious decision to begin writing the novel that would become The Heretic’s Daughter. I spent several years travelling to Massachusetts and Connecticut, doing detailed research, in order to anchor the fictional narrative, told from the point of view of Martha’s young daughter, Sarah, in an accurate historical context. The story of The Heretic’s Daughter, though, is not just about the confluence of events which turned neighbor against neighbor because of superstitious dread and religious intolerance. It is the rite of passage tale of a strong-willed daughter, coming to see the true worth of her contentious mother; a woman who sacrifices herself for her principles. Since the publication of the book, I have often thought about my grandmother who had always been so gleeful and proud of Martha Carrier’s courage and strength.
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You can visit Kathleen Kent on her web-site.
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