THE HERETIC'S DAUGHTER by Kathleen Kent
Salem, 1752. Sarah Carrier Chapman, weak with infirmity, writes a letter to her granddaughter that reveals the secret she has closely guarded for six decades: how she survived the Salem Witch Trials when her mother did not.
Sarah's story begins more than a year before the trials, when she and her family arrive in a New England community already gripped by superstition and fear. As they witness neighbor pitted against neighbor, friend against friend, the hysteria escalates — until more than two hundred men, women, and children have been swept into prison. Among them is Sarah's mother, Martha Carrier. In an attempt to protect her children, Martha asks Sarah to commit an act of heresy — a lie that will most surely condemn Martha even as it will save her daughter.
This is the story of Martha's courageous defiance and ultimate death, as told by the daughter who survived.
1) How was Sarah changed by living with her cousin Margaret? How was she changed by returning to her family?
2) What was it about Martha's character that seemed to antagonize so many neighbors?
3) What do you think was the most compelling reason that Martha was eventually brought to trial?
4) Discuss the various factors that lead to the witch hysteria.
5) Why did Martha choose to take a stand of innocence knowing that a refused confession meant death?
6) Why did Thomas, despite his size and capabilities, not seek to persuade or deter Martha from her course of action?
7) Why did the community of Salem, and the magistrates, so easily believe in and rely on "spectral evidence?"
8) How has reading the book changed your opinions about the men and women hanged as witches?
9) Are there modern day "witches?"
10) Can we, or should we, redefine the meaning of the word "witch?"
Questions Provided by the Publisher (Little, Brown, and Company)
