Six Women of Salem

Six Women of Salem
The Untold Story of the Accused and Their Accusers in the Salem Witch Trials

Marilynne K. Roach

I think most of us are familiar with the stories of the events in Salem Massachusetts from 1692. This book takes a different view. Rather than just a historical recounting, it focuses on the actual lives (with period appropriate speculative sections told from the point of view of the likely thoughts, lives, and beliefs of the women in question). Both accuser and accused are represented here: Rebecca Nurse, Bridget Bishop, Mary English, Ann Putnam Sr., Tituba, and Mary Warren. Through this, you gain more insight into the socio-economic factors at play, both in the actual trials, and in the day to day lives of these women which ultimately led to their roles as accused and accuser.

Rather than harsh condemnation on either side, Roach looks at the societal factors that led to the accusers not being able to retract their statments, or for the ones who tried how and why their recantations were swept aside. Even for the imprisoned accused, we see the drastic differences between the treatment of those who were better off financially and able to bribe their way to freedom by escaping to a different state, and that of Tituba, who was left in jail long after the trials until she was sold as nothing more than unclaimed property. There is also analysis, based on more modern understanding of psychological trauma, of what may have led the accusers to instigate the witch hunts - from the likelihood of mental issues following the traumatic loss of a child, to basic human greed and ignorance.

Overall, I found this one of the most sympathetic and thought provoking accounts I've read, as it focuses on the lives of the women involved, rather than the lives of the men who were in charge of law and government at the time. I am greatly looking forward to reading her other works.