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A review by katykelly
Conversion by Katherine Howe
4.0
4.5 stars
A modern spin on the Salem witch-hunts, moving on from Miller's The Crucible now, but paying it its due throughout, this is a perfect setting for the topic - a highly-competitive girls' school, with the senior class fighting for college places the characters who suddenly start displaying troubling symptoms.
Colleen is battling hard for her cherished place as class valedictorian, and nervously awaiting to hear about her college applications, as is her entire senior class in the town of Danvers, formerly called Salem. Out of the blue, a popular class member suddenly has a fit in class, seemingly sparking off a series of other frightening reactions from other girls around the school. For one girl, her hair falls out, another loses the use of her legs.
Hysteria begins to set in with parents, teachers and especially the media as crusading celebrities each try to grab a slice of publicity and stir the hornets' nest further.
Interspersed with the story are small glances into the life of one of the girls at the centre of the real Salem witch-trials and her confession to a priest of what really happened during that period. This for me felt in-the-way for most of the book but increased in relevancy and potency as the story neared the trials...
I loved the media's portrayal in this, and the updating felt perfectly judged and right - the small-town hysteria of a group of young servant girls enjoying attention transferred to the pressure cooker of an exclusive single-gender academy.
Whether or not you want to go with a supernatural explanation (I don't), the story is intriguing, the history fascinating, and the insight into the schools of the elite highly readable.
Colleen feels reliable as a narrator, you like her, she's smart and not about to use the excuse of illness to keep her from her goals. I wasn't too keen on the final explanation of the 'phenomena' but went along with it as I enjoyed what came before.
I would definitely look for more by this author, a wonderful idea for a debut, especially for a Young Adult audience, a great way to interest a new generation in Arthur Miller and the history of witch-hunts. A lesson to be remembered.
A modern spin on the Salem witch-hunts, moving on from Miller's The Crucible now, but paying it its due throughout, this is a perfect setting for the topic - a highly-competitive girls' school, with the senior class fighting for college places the characters who suddenly start displaying troubling symptoms.
Colleen is battling hard for her cherished place as class valedictorian, and nervously awaiting to hear about her college applications, as is her entire senior class in the town of Danvers, formerly called Salem. Out of the blue, a popular class member suddenly has a fit in class, seemingly sparking off a series of other frightening reactions from other girls around the school. For one girl, her hair falls out, another loses the use of her legs.
Hysteria begins to set in with parents, teachers and especially the media as crusading celebrities each try to grab a slice of publicity and stir the hornets' nest further.
Interspersed with the story are small glances into the life of one of the girls at the centre of the real Salem witch-trials and her confession to a priest of what really happened during that period. This for me felt in-the-way for most of the book but increased in relevancy and potency as the story neared the trials...
I loved the media's portrayal in this, and the updating felt perfectly judged and right - the small-town hysteria of a group of young servant girls enjoying attention transferred to the pressure cooker of an exclusive single-gender academy.
Whether or not you want to go with a supernatural explanation (I don't), the story is intriguing, the history fascinating, and the insight into the schools of the elite highly readable.
Colleen feels reliable as a narrator, you like her, she's smart and not about to use the excuse of illness to keep her from her goals. I wasn't too keen on the final explanation of the 'phenomena' but went along with it as I enjoyed what came before.
I would definitely look for more by this author, a wonderful idea for a debut, especially for a Young Adult audience, a great way to interest a new generation in Arthur Miller and the history of witch-hunts. A lesson to be remembered.