The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
2 stars to Stacy Schiff‘s The Witches: Salem, 1692. It is rare that I cannot finish a book especially when it’s on a topic that I find fascinating, but after multiple attempts, I can’t leave this sit on my nighttable any longer. It mocks me because it has won…
The Salem Witch Trials are such an historic part of our country, and I’ve read numerous articles or viewed multiple TV shows or movies depicting this time period; however, this book fell short in capturing my attention. I’m sure for the right person it will have a higher ranking but I have to place it back on my shelf as a book to donate rather than truly finish.
A mix between reality and fantasy, it is too incongruous to stay focused. You go several pages focusing on a narrative describing the facts and then you are dropped into an imagination of what someone thinks a witch is doing. You’re given so many facts to interpret followed by creative character descriptions that you have to keep readjusting your perspective to stay on track.
I think this book needs to be handled differently for me to enjoy it. It’s a few books in one; perhaps it would have done better as 3 short stories in a single novel so that you have a creative story using the facts applied to a family for depicting what happened while separately you have a true account of what’s known – the good and the bad and then a third one dedicated to all the things people didn’t know about this time period in America.
I have heard good things about the author and will peruse something else she’s written in the book store before committing to buying it. Good luck to anyone else who takes this book on — just wasn’t for me.
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