Coming in October from Little, Brown—The Wolves of Andover, the prequel to the 2008 hit The Heretic’s Daughter. Dallas novelist Kathleen Kent tells the story of Martha Allen and Thomas Carrier, who in her earlier novel experienced the Salem Witch Trials. Their courtship sounds equally daunting: Thomas, who played a significant role in the English Civil War, finds himself pursued by assassins sent to the New World from London, while Martha navigates the complicated world of a household servant.
Related in BookPage: Our review of The Heretic’s Daughter.
I loved Heretic’s Daughter — one of my favorite books of 2009.
“The Heretic’s Daughter” by Kathleen Kent has been the most moving yet accurately portrayed fictional account of the Salem Witch Trials I’ve ever read. I was sadly crying and working my way through quite a few tissues before reaching the conclusion. Not only does the story tell of the audacious stupidity of one group of people believing themselves so righteous and pious they could point a finger and accuse a friend or neighbor of practicing witchcraft for such a probably normal occurrence in those days as a cow becoming sick and dying but Ms. Kent’s tale also shows the depth of a mother’s love for her children in giving up everything for their survival.
Like Kathleen, I also had an ancestor tried for witchcraft, not in Salem but Hartford, CT in 1657-58 and have read the transcripts of her trial. “The Heretic’s Daughter” made me see, feel and smell the horror my ancestor must have felt…a scary, sickening, hopeless feeling. Fortunately for me, she was acquitted. Ms. Kent has the ability to pluck her reader out their comfortable 21st century armchair and deliver them to a crowded stuffy 1693 jail cell with little food or water and filthy straw for living quarters.
I have anxiously awaited Kathleen Kent’s next book about Martha Allen Carrier’s husband, Thomas. In “The Heretic’s Daughter”, Thomas has a veiled past that the author hints at but is never fully revealed. The prequel, “The Wolves of Andover” is on my list to purchase and I know I won’t be disappointed. I have recommended over and over “The Heretic’s Daughter” to anyone wanting a great historical read but be prepared for a late night (you won’t want to stop reading this book once you start it) and lay in an ample supply of tissue.