Time of the Witches
Time of the Witchesby Anna Myers
An orphan named Drucilla has finally has a place to call home with the Putnam family in Salem. Although her adopted mother is strange—haunted by a troubled past—Dru feels drawn to her as the mother she never had. When a new reverend and his family move into town with their servant Tituba, life takes a strange turn as young girls begin to fall ill and accusations of witchcraft begin to swirl. Reluctant to turn her back on the Putnams or her peers and overwhelmed by the power of groupthink among the other girls in town, Dru becomes one of the accusers herself. But when her best friend Gabe is accused, she must find a way to end the hysteria, or risk losing him forever. (goodreads.com)
This book has been sitting on (in?) my Amazon wishlist for over a year, but it seems like longer than that. Imagine my absolute thrill to find it at my local library! No store near me ever stocked it and I was actually waiting for a paperback version anyhow so this was a bonus!What I was expecting: a paranormal witchy story.What it actually is: historical fiction.Was I disappointed? Nope. Not one bit. In fact the historical setting made the book all that much more terrifying knowing that these things actually happened and there was nothing anyone could do about it.I was riveted by the writing in this book. I was caught up in the life of Drucilla and the delicate line she had to walk while living with her "adoptive" family. Mistress Putnam was obviously insane and a dangerous woman to cross. Drucilla had to lie to protect herself, the younger children and her long-time friend Gabe and after awhile it just became too much.I have always been fascinated by witches and the Salem witch trials. I am no scholar in regards to these events because as much as they drawn my curiosity they have also repulsed me with the cruelty and mob mentality. How a town could possibly murder so many innocent people for their own amusement (it seems) is beyond me.I know there were hangings and deaths in prison and drownings, but I think the one act that horrifies me the post was the death of Giles Corey who was pressed to death in a field as he would not admit to being a witch. Pressed to death. It started with a board on his chest and each day more weight would be added until he died never admitting to the accusations of witchcraft.When I read this in the story and then the author's note at the end which stated this was fact I could hardly breathe myself.Most all characters in this book, with the exception of Drucilla and Gabe are real characters from the history books regarding the witch trials in 1692. The last page of the book lists the names of those who were hung and who died in prison and then Mr. Corey who was pressed to death.I have never understood cruelty in the world. I have never understood people who would punish others, or hurt others just for being different. People were wrongly accused and arrested due to greed, jealously and fear of the different. It sickens me.This book was superbly written and the story horrifyingly told with fact and fiction woven together intricately. I am so very happy my library had this on their shelves and if you like historical fiction (which, generally, I do not) and like stories about the Salem witch trials I would highly recommend it.As a comparison, when I read The Merrybegot earlier this past spring it also chilled me with stories of the witch trials, however that story includes more of a fanciful telling of the story with references to magic and fae creatures. This one does not have the whimsical element that Julie Hearn's story did, but it is just as gripping in its own way.