4.0
dark informative medium-paced

Previously this summer, I read a fiction book about the Salem Witch Trials from the point of view of the afflicted, and it presented them in shades of grey, suggesting reasons for them to have accused various townsfolk of witchcraft.  This nonfiction account was a broader overview, concentrating much more heavily on those accused of witchcraft.  This book also covered some of the broader politics of the time, like the new governor arriving from England during the height of the witch fever of the summer.  One thing this book taught me that I had not known previously was that they accused and jailed a four year old little girl separately from her mother and infant sibling, also accused.  The infant died in jail, and the young girl was released but never mentally recovered.  I have a four year old child, and that part hit so close to home that I had to put the book down for a while.  It was a very informative read, if also incredibly dark, but then again, it was a dark time in colonial history.