First published 2024
Alice Markham-Cantor carries the blood of Martha Carrier, executed during the Salem witch trials. This family history drives her to examine how witch hunts operate across centuries. The book alternates between fiction and nonfiction chapters, weaving together historical research with imaginative reconstructions of her ancestors' experiences. Markham-Cantor presents evidence that witch hunts continue worldwide, claiming tens of thousands have died in witch hunt related violence over the past three decades. She explores the connections between historical persecution and contemporary cases, examining witchcraft through lenses of feminism, sociology, and historical analysis. The fictional sections reimagine the Salem trials through fact-based storytelling, offering glimpses into the lives of accused women. Markham-Cantor seeks to answer how such persecution could happen then and now. The book provides both personal family history and global perspective on persecution that many assume ended centuries ago.
Genres: history, historical-fiction, feminism, non-fiction, 21st-century, academic
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, historical-fiction
Setting: Salem
Period: Salem Witch Trials
344 pages · Paperback · Llewellyn Publications