Hour of the Witch

January 15, 2021
A Puritan wife shocks her community and risks her life to file for divorce in 1662 Boston. For more than five years, Mary, age 24, has been married to Thomas, 45, a prosperous miller. Thomas has been physically and sexually abusive, always taking care that there are no witnesses. He castigates Mary's intelligence, telling her she has "white meat" for brains. The marriage is childless, drawing community suspicion to Mary. When she can't hide bruises on her face, she lies about their provenance. The behavior, she tells herself, only occurs when Thomas is "drink-drunk." The coverup continues until, cold sober, Thomas drives a fork into Mary's hand, breaking bones. She flees to her parents' home and files for divorce, which is allowed but only if grounds can be proven. Forks are a major motif: Not merely newfangled "cutlery" which Mary's father, a shipping entrepreneur, hopes to profit from importing, but miniature pitchforks viewed by the Puritans as "Devil's tines." The forks, as well as other clues--a mysterious pestle, a pentagram etched on a door frame--are used to counter Mary's compelling, but unwitnessed, claims of cruelty with insinuations of witchcraft. Divorce denied, Mary must return to the marital home and resort to ever more drastic expedients in her quest for freedom. Mary comes from privilege, and her parents clearly care about her. (Unlike the divorce magistrates, they don't believe she injured her hand by falling on a tea kettle spout.) That they allow her return to Thomas to avoid witchcraft charges defies plausibility--death at Thomas' hands seems a more immediate prospect, and her family wealth affords many other options. The charges come anyway--timed for maximum melodrama. The language, salted liberally with thee and thou, feels period-authentic. The colonists' impact on nearby Native tribes is not Bohjalian's primary concern here, but the Hobson's choice facing women in Puritan society is starkly delineated. Illustrates how rough justice can get when religion and institutional sexism are in the mix.

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April 2, 2021

Mary Deerfield, a young Puritan woman, finds herself in a very precarious situation, having to battle the rigorous demands of her religion and the politics of life in 17th-century Boston. Her husband, Thomas, abuses her. When the abuse escalates, she petitions for divorce, but Mary is met with the expected pushback from a religious society that takes such inquiries very seriously. Meanwhile, three-pronged forks, which are new to Boston and viewed by the Puritans as devil's tools, are found planted in her yard. This leads to accusations of witchcraft, which further endangers Mary's life. VERDICT Bohjalian's (Midwives) historical novel is full of twists and turns. Though not a typical suspense novel, the story has many of the page-turning plot lines of a thriller, and is sure to keep readers enthralled. Though it's set in the 1600s, Mary's story resonates today, as it addresses the role religious and societal expectations can play in the lives of individuals. A must-read and highly recommended. --Kristen Calvert, Dallas P.L., TX

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Starred review from March 15, 2021
Someone is out to get Mary Deerfield, and in mid-seventeenth-century Boston, that's not hard to do. It's a pious city, and in nearby towns, most notoriously Salem, compassionate, enviable women are easy targets. Twentysomething Mary fits the bill, but she also has a brute of a husband, a devious servant, and suspicious neighbors. The comely Mary, daughter of a prosperous merchant, is miller Thomas Deerfield's second wife. Twice her age, he is a bully and a drunk, physically and emotionally abusive. The berating and beatings are constants, carefully done out of sight until the violence escalates, leading Mary to petition for a rare divorce. The case fails, but Mary is determined to escape this perilous relationship. Yet before she can carry out a new plan, her actions and attitudes earn her the dreaded charge of "witch," with a sham trial and noose already prepared. Throughout Bohjalian's prolific career, he has rewarded readers with indelibly drawn female protagonists, and the formidable yet vulnerable Mary Deerfield is a worthy addition to the canon. Conjuring up specters of #MeToo recriminations and social media shaming, there are twenty-first-century parallels to Bohjalian's atmospheric Puritan milieu, and his trademark extensive research pays off in this authentic portrait of courage in the face of society's worst impulses.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Bohjalian is a perennial favorite, and this Salem Witch Hunt drama has a special magnetism.

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