Hour of the Witch
Doubleday Books
May 4, 2021
E-book
416
Publisher via NetGalley
Boston, 1662. Mary Deerfield is twenty-four-years-old. Her skin is porcelain, her eyes delft blue, and in England she might have had many suitors. But here in the New World, amid this community of saints, Mary is the second wife of Thomas Deerfield, a man as cruel as he is powerful. When Thomas, prone to drunken rage, drives a three-tined fork into the back of Mary's hand, she resolves that she must divorce him to save her life. But in a world where every neighbor is watching for signs of the devil, a woman like Mary--a woman who harbors secret desires and finds it difficult to tolerate the brazen hypocrisy of so many men in the colony--soon finds herself the object of suspicion and rumor. When tainted objects are discovered buried in Mary's garden, when a boy she has treated with herbs and simples dies, and when their servant girl runs screaming in fright from her home, Mary must fight to not only escape her marriage, but also the gallows. A twisting, tightly plotted thriller from one of our greatest storytellers, Hour of the Witch is a timely and terrifying novel of socially sanctioned brutality and the original American witch hunt.
My review:
I will read anything this author writes, but I admit I was a bit nervous when I found out that it involved two things I'm not much of a fan of. It takes place in 1662 (not a preferred time period)and it's about witches (not a preferred subject). Because I trust Mr. Bohjalian I soldiered on, and was of course rewarded with a fantastic story! This one has a bit of everything to entertain the reader. There is the fact that the main protagonist is trying to obtain a divorce from her husband for cruelty, not something looked favorably upon in those times (the divorce that is, cruelty while not outwardly tolerated happens more often than not without punishment). There is a great trial that the reader gets a first hand seat for. Then there is the witchcraft claims against Mary, who knows she is being set up, but by who, and for what reason? All of this is wrapped up inside a story about a small coastal village outside Boston, with many interesting inhabitants who are only too willing to gossip about the goings on around them. The only downside for me was all the religion that I had to slog through, but I understand that it was of paramount importance during those times, and these were Puritans who had come over from London looking for religious freedom. The characters were so well formed, and the story flowed without a single slow spot. There were characters to love, as well as characters to loathe, and lots of places where I was holding my breath to see where the story would take me next.
Mr. Bohjalian has once again written a riveting, readable, and memorable novel. I don't know how he manages to bring a new subject to every book he writes, without the usual formulaic style that lots of prolific writers fall into. My favorite of his titles still remain Midwives and Close Your Eyes, but considering my trepidation when I read this synopsis, this one will be up there as a favorite as well.
