Review: The Witches: Salem, 1692

The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This whole book was very interesting and informative but I thought the quality of the writing itself was better at the beginning and the end than the bulk of the middle. Schiff jumps around a bit in her narrative and that made it a little difficult at times to keep track of who was who and what they did. She would also switch topics unexpectedly on occasion. I would find myself reading and realize I had no idea what she was referring to anymore and would have to go back and re-read to figure out where I lost the train. The author does have a real gift for turning a phrase. This was the first time in years I actually underlined passages in a book (I know!! I marked up a book!). Some great lines that sum up this story: "Salem is in part the story of what happens when a set of unanswerable questions meets a set of unquestioned answers" (p.9) and "we have turned a story of women in peril into one about perilous women" (p.10). There are many more I loved but I'll leave you with those.

This review is in exchange for a free ARC received from the publisher.

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