The Salem witch trials were a dark time in American history. Between 1692 and 1693, more than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The hysteria that gripped the town of Salem resulted in the execution of 20 individuals, 19 of whom were hanged and one who was pressed to death. These events inspired many books, plays, and films over the years, as well as countless academic studies. One of the most famous books on the subject is "The Salem Witch Hunt" by historian Richard Godbeer. In this book, Godbeer provides a detailed account of the events leading up to the witch trials, the trials themselves, and their aftermath.
I visited Salem for the first time a few weeks ago, and I still haven’t processed the experience. I have been obsessed with going to Salem for what feels like my whole life. I’m very interested in the history of Puritans and the trials, but equally fascinated by the town’s current obsession with witchcraft, which manifests in everything from cool witch shops to hokey tourist traps. But because fall is coming (though it doesn’t feel like it yet), I thought I would put together a list of must read books on Salem (or Salem adjacent, really). This is by no means exhaustive (not sure if that is even possible), so please comment with your own suggestions!
I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem by Maryse Condé Tituba, the black witch convicted in the Salem trials she was in fact probably Arawak tells her own story a life that began when her mother was raped on a slave ship called Christ the King. He meticulously piles up the arguments of the witch-mongers and knocks them down; charmers, soothsayers, alchemists, conjurors and occultists aren t in hock to the devil, he says, they are charlatans.
In this book, Godbeer provides a detailed account of the events leading up to the witch trials, the trials themselves, and their aftermath. Godbeer explores the religious, social, and political factors that contributed to the witch hunts. He delves into the beliefs and fears that fueled the accusations, as well as the role of the legal system in the trials.
Top 10 books about witch-hunts
‘I t is easy to blame the dark,” Sylvia Plath writes in Witch Burning. Stories of witch-hunts show us how the dark is given a name; they talk to us about anxiety and belief and our hunger for scapegoats. All those pious fantasies of women suckling their familiars! Witch-hunts are just a metaphor now, we hope, but we’re drawn to them as much as we ever were.
The White House witch-finder might like to tweet that he’s the hunted, but in reality it’s the marginal, the outspoken, those who lack a voice or upset their neighbours who get pursued. Those least responsible become most at fault: the wanton, the widow, the shrew. Because most of all, witch-hunts have been about controlling women’s sexuality and their tongues. When “one reads of a witch being ducked, of a woman possessed by devils, of a wise woman selling herbs”, Virginia Woolf wrote in A Room of One’s Own, “I think we are on the track of a lost novelist, a suppressed poet”. Women writers, in particular, are recovering these voices.
The books take us back to earlier times of crisis and blame – the Reformation, the English civil war, Puritan New England. My new novel The Wheelwright’s Daughter was inspired by a landslip in 1571 that tore down part of Marcle Ridge in rural Herefordshire. It became famous; it’s still called The Wonder on OS maps. In 1586, William Camden wrote that the hill roused itself up as if out of a deep sleep and moved, roaring, for three days together. What a figure, I thought, for the terrifying dislocations of the Reformation. How might it have been understood, how might people have looked for a scapegoat? Writing in the Brexit era, with looming climate catastrophe and the rise of populism, the parallels with contemporary Britain were inescapable.
The books and stories below variously, wonderfully, follow the threads of the witch-hunt.
1. The Discoverie of Witches by Reginald Scot (1584)
“Truelie I denie not that there are witches,” Scot insists in his Epistle to the Readers, before spending 560 pages doing just that. He meticulously piles up the arguments of the witch-mongers and knocks them down; charmers, soothsayers, alchemists, conjurors and occultists aren’t in hock to the devil, he says, they are charlatans. Shakespeare drew on Scot for Puck in A Midsummer’s Night Dream and the witches in Macbeth. King James I had the book burned. I couldn’t resist giving Scot a walk-on part in my book.
2. The Daylight Gate by Jeanette Winterson
The Pendle witch trials of 1612 led to the deaths of 12 people, including the enigmatic Alice Nutter. My Lancashire grandmother liked to say that we were descended from her but she told a lot of tales. Winterson’s defiant Alice made me wish it was true. The book bristles with magic – there are talking heads, raining teeth and deals with the devil, but there is also a fierce analysis of power and its abuses. Winterson’s stark, poetic prose ensures this stays with you long after you’ve finished reading.
Circe Invidiosa (1892) by JW Waterhouse. Photograph: Alamy
3. Circe by Madeline Miller
I thought I knew the story of the witch who turned Odysseus’s men into pigs, but Miller’s magnificent novel gives Circe her own epic. A daughter of the sun, she is banished to Aiaia where, part-god, part-herbalist, she teaches herself magic. She needs it, for it’s not only men who threaten: the gods, too, can be witch-hunters. The writing shimmers and figures including Daedalus and Odysseus are threaded beautifully into Circe’s story as she learns not only sorcery but love, and what it might mean to be mortal.
4. The Faerie Queen by Edmund Spenser
In Book II, Canto XII, Sir Guyon valiantly hunts down the witch Acrasia in the “Bowre of Blisse”. Acrasia is wily; she stupefies men with sex and turns them into pigs, but her bower is all music, all delight. “Gather the Rose of love whilest yet is time,” a minstrel sings - and all the birds echo his song. Nevertheless, Acrasia gets tied up and Sir Guyon trashes her bower. What keeps me coming back to Spenser’s Elizabethan masterpiece, in all its archaic lushness, is its ambivalence – it lingers wistfully over the garden it condemns.
5. Religion and the Decline of Magic by Keith Thomas
Thomas shows how belief in magic and witchcraft were woven into the way people made sense of the world in the 16th and 17th centuries. The voices of ordinary people ring out from almost every page: Ursula Clarke in 1667 hoping William Metcalfe would “waste like the dew against the sun”; Lodowick Muggleton declaring that issuing curses “did him more good than if a man had given him 40 shillings”. At 800 pages, this is a bible of a book: dip in and in again – it’s worth it.
6. The Witchfinder’s Sister by Beth Underdown
“Once, I scarcely believed in the devil,” Alice Hopkins begins, before widowhood forces her to go and live with her brother Matthew Hopkins, who is collecting names. We follow Alice’s attempts not only to document but to fathom her brother’s cruelty. “Turn over the stone,” she says, “and find another history, struggling to escape.” We need more of these histories.
‘A warning of tyranny on the way’ … Samantha Colley as Abigail Williams in the Old Vic’s 2014 production of The Crucible. Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The Guardian
7. The Crucible by Arthur Miller
No list of witch-hunt books would be complete without Miller’s play. Through the story of the Salem witch trials of 1692-93, the play indicts 1950s McCarthyism – and Trump, and Farage, and … When the play is suddenly a hit somewhere, Miller observed, it’s “a warning of tyranny on the way or a reminder of tyranny just past”. Read or watched, the visceral clarity of Miller’s writing lingers like a catch in the breath, abolishing any reassuring sense that witch-hunts happened then, not now.
8. Lois the Witch by Elizabeth Gaskell
When orphan Lois Barclay lands in New England in 1691 she finds the ground as unsteady as the water. And well she might. Gaskell shows us a community in terrified opposition to its native forests and people. I love the way she refuses to condescend or simply condemn – she puts the reader in the middle of the panic, feeling it spread. The novella has been overshadowed by Gaskell’s novels, but it’s a small, bright gem.
9. I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem by Maryse Condé
Tituba, the “black” witch convicted in the Salem trials (she was in fact probably Arawak) tells her own story: a life that began when her mother was raped on a slave ship called Christ the King. Tituba is flawed and passionate; the Puritans denounce her, but we see her as a witch on her own terms, rejecting America: “A vast, cruel land where the spirits only beget evil!”
7. The Crucible by Arthur Miller
No list of witch-hunt books would be complete without Miller’s play. Through the story of the Salem witch trials of 1692-93, the play indicts 1950s McCarthyism – and Trump, and Farage, and … When the play is suddenly a hit somewhere, Miller observed, it’s “a warning of tyranny on the way or a reminder of tyranny just past”. Read or watched, the visceral clarity of Miller’s writing lingers like a catch in the breath, abolishing any reassuring sense that witch-hunts happened then, not now.
The book also sheds light on the motivations of those involved in the witch hunt, including the accusers, the accused, and the judges. One of the strengths of the book is its emphasis on the perspectives of the accused. Godbeer challenges the prevailing narrative that the accused were powerless victims, instead showing that many of them actively fought against their accusers and tried to clear their names. "The Salem Witch Hunt" also examines the impact of the trials on the wider community. Godbeer argues that the witch hunts were not isolated incidents, but rather a reflection of the social and cultural tensions of the time. He explores how the events in Salem affected neighboring towns, as well as the broader Puritan society. Overall, "The Salem Witch Hunt" is a comprehensive and well-researched account of one of the darkest chapters in American history. It provides valuable insights into the causes and consequences of the witch trials and sheds light on the lives of those affected by them. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the complexities of this tragic period..
Reviews for "Lessons in Social Justice: Applying the Salem Witch Hunt to Modern Day Injustices"
1. John - 1/5
I found "Salem Witch Hunt Book" to be extremely disappointing and lacking in substance. The author's writing style was dry and uninspiring, making it difficult for me to stay engaged with the story. Additionally, the book seemed to lack in-depth research and analysis, leaving me with more questions than answers. Overall, I would not recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about the Salem witch trials.
2. Mary - 2/5
I was excited to read "Salem Witch Hunt Book" but quickly realized it fell short of my expectations. The author focused too much on mundane details and failed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the historical context and events surrounding the Salem witch trials. The narrative felt disjointed and the information presented lacked depth, leaving me feeling unsatisfied. I recommend seeking out other books that offer a more engaging and comprehensive exploration of this interesting period in history.
3. Robert - 2/5
While "Salem Witch Hunt Book" had the potential to provide an intriguing insight into one of history's most infamous events, I found it to be a letdown. The author's writing style was tedious and repetitive, making it a struggle to finish the book. Moreover, the lack of analysis and critical thinking in the author's approach left me feeling like I hadn't gained any new knowledge or understanding of the Salem witch trials. I would advise readers to look for alternative sources that offer a more engaging and well-researched account of this fascinating period in history.
4. Sarah - 1/5
I found "Salem Witch Hunt Book" to be poorly researched and lacking in credibility. The author seemed to rely heavily on sensationalism and unsubstantiated claims, often making the reading experience feel more like reading fiction than a historical account. The lack of nuance and critical evaluation of the events and individuals involved in the Salem witch trials left me feeling frustrated and unfulfilled. I would caution against giving this book any more attention and instead recommend seeking out more reliable and thoroughly researched sources on the topic.