Review: Condemn Me Not: Accused of Witchcraft by Heather B. Moore

Condemn Me Not: Accused of Witchcraft by Heather B. Moore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was provided for an honest review. I very much enjoyed this. I loved learning about the Salem Witch Trials in my youth and the cast of familiar characters and excerpts from the actual trials was a very nice touch.  I actually wrote a paper on the Witch Trials in high school after having visited Salem on a family vacation to Massachusetts.  The trials were a testament of how awful people can be to one another and how people will turn on one another.  Moore does a good job capturing that in the book and trying to give a bit of a history lesson within the story.

The story follows Susannah North Martin at various times in her life, the story alternates between her time in jail as a 71 year old woman accused of witchcraft and as a 25 year old unmarried woman living with her family. Susannah's time in jail shows us her strength and devotion to her family and her faith.  She never once broke her faith in God and never once let her moral compass slip like so many of the other accused did.  Her time as a young woman, though she was almost a spinster for the times, tells us the story of a woman devoted to her family but who had a mind of her own and often said what she thought and did what she thought was right. This was not generally accepted in 1646, and those who did not conform to social norms did not often do well in the community. As the Salem trials proved, those who dare cross those in power ended up at the Gallows.  As I learned about the trials from my own research, accusations were made if you didn't agree with the masses or those in positions of power which is what happened in this story.  If you did something unfamiliar or not generally understood, you must be a witch.  Susannah often spoke up when she was supposed to be reserved and quiet, usually trying to do what was right or speak out toward injustice and it ended bady for her.  Susannah's story takes us through her romance with her new neighbor George and develops their relationship nicely. Their love story was really sweet, the kind of love that really endures.  Moore states that Susannah Martin was actually her relative, and while I'm sure much of story is fiction I hope some of it is true I really loved George and Susannah.  I really appreciated revisiting the subject and the author's ability to stay true to the events that took place during the time.

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