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The Heretic's Daughter (2008)

by Kathleen Kent(Favorite Author)

3.75 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0316037532 (ISBN13: 9780316037532)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Little, Brown and Company

review 1: Probably 2.5 stars? I read this for our "Blind Date with a Book" program at work, so (as intended) I was reading out of my comfort zone with a literary historical novel. I was pretty stoked to read it since I find the Salem Witch Trials fascinating, but it was just. so. slow. It was well-written, the characters were well-developed, and it was clearly well-researched. However, despite subject matter that should have been interesting, I found myself slogging through it at a very slow pace. It took 150 pages for witchcraft to even be mentioned (though there was some subtle foreshadowing), so it definitely was a little difficult to get into. Overall, I did enjoy it, I just think I might have enjoyed listening to it more than reading it lol
review 2: A beautiful, tr... moreagic story of a young girl's experience of the Salem witch trials in 1692~1693. I have read very few fictional accounts about this period in American history. But from what I read the author, Kathleen Kent, did an excellent job of capturing the color and details of the time, not to mention the mood of the events. On one level it is the story of people not being able to see beyond the limits of their own beliefs and letting their superstitions and fears run roughshod over reason. And here is the lesson for all of us no matter how advanced or modern we might think we are. Future generations will look back at us and see us as backwards in some ways. It gave me pause to think about McCarthyism of the 1950's or more even more recent comments by global warming radicals. On another level it is simply the story of a young girl's relationship with her mother. At first she favors her father, seeing her mother as cold and uncaring. But as the story develops so does the young girl's understanding of her mother and the sacrifices she makes for her family. They forge an inspiring, powerful bond that becomes the central focus of the story. I did not want to stop reading from this point. I particularly liked how the author connected the characters to their pasts in England. This helped me understand their motivations and actions. But in my opinion there were a few times when characters behaved "out of character" or when their revelations were too quick and too deep for a person their age. But obviously the author felt them necessary to move the story forward. Here are a couple of my favorite lines from the story...."He had been born with too much powder in his firing pan.""Life is not what you have or what you can keep. It is what you can bear to lose......"I would read "The Heretic's Daughter" again. It is the story of tough people living in tough times. I feel there is still something I can learn from this story that I would discover by a second reading. For this reason and others I have given above, I rate it four out of five stars. It is not one of my all-time favorites. It is probably too dark of a story for that. But it is very close. less

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