The Life & Times of Sarah Good, Accused Witch - Salem Stories 0
Formats: E-Book, Paperback
Ages: 18+
In 1672, Sarah Solart Poole Good and Ann Carr Putnam begin life on seemingly equal footing—both daughters of well-off families in colonial Massachusetts. But as the years pass, their fortunes diverge. Sarah’s life spirals into poverty, homelessness, and mental distress. Ann marries into wealth and stability, becoming the wife of Thomas Putnam, the Younger, heir to one of Salem Village’s most powerful families.
Yet even privilege cannot shield the Putnams from misfortune. Thomas is disinherited in favor of his younger brother, and Ann’s expected inheritance proves meager. By 1692, their lives are simmering with disappointment and resentment.
Then the witchcraft hysteria begins. In February, their daughter—Ann Putnam, the Younger—is struck by strange fits. She claims Sarah Good is tormenting her with witchcraft. Her father, Thomas, publicly accuses Sarah of witchcraft.
In June, Sarah Good is convicted. By July, she is hanged.
Reviews
“Wagner-Wright vividly captures the panic and mania that invade Salem, and trgic figures such as Sarah illustrate the power of fear and greed when directed at society’s most vulnerable.”
“[Wagner-Wright’s] use of period phraseology…and descriptions of social customs convey the socially suffocating atmosphere to which women were subjected…When the narrative enters the 1690s, it becomes a chilling and infuriating tale of horror…in a frightening display of group hysteria. Disturbing and historically rich.”
