When Light Breaks Through: A Salem Witch Trials Story by Brenda Murphy

Brenda Murphy

Author

When Light Breaks Through: A Salem Witch Trials Story

Brenda Murphy, author

Book Website |

Details

Adult; General Fiction (including literary and historical); (Market)

When Light Breaks Through takes us beyond the witch trials to tell a compelling, expansive story of what happened in Salem Village. In 1692, twelve-year-old Ann Putnam and the other ringleaders of the “afflicted children” bring devastation to the colonial New England village. Beginning as a daring, adolescent game, their accusations of witchcraft lead to twenty executions and scores of imprisonments, wreck families and create deep and bitter divisions among the people. Five years later, Joseph Green, a young schoolteacher who is in love and eager to marry, takes on the ministry that no one else wants and with it the mission of healing Salem Village. With some dramatic actions that earn the people’s respect, Joseph makes progress in his quest to bring them together, but he knows that true fellowship will elude them while the hostility from the witch trials casts a shadow over every relationship and encounter. When the opportunity comes, Joseph helps Ann to make an appeal that could finally unite the people.

Reviews

This humane historical fiction from Murphy (author of After the Voyage) delves into the complexities of the witch trials of Salem Village at the dawn of the 18th century, offering a surprisingly hopeful look at how betrayal, loss, and guilt can change the lives of a community and shape history—but also at how those wounds can be healed. The setup is classic Salem fare,though Murphy’s storytelling soon moves beyond the most infamous incidents and into the aftermath. Ann Putnam, an eldest daughter in Salem Village, is convinced by her friend Abby to start pretending to be “bewitched” as a way to get back at familial enemies and adults that get in the way of their fun. What begins as a secret game quickly spirals out of control as people are brought into court for questioning and other adult women join in on the act. Worse, the “bewitched” begin screaming and biting their own arms to claim they are being controlled or hurt by the people being questioned.

Guilt weighs heavily on Ann Putnam as she watches the consequences of her lies, but what sets the novel apart is Murphy’s heartening examination of later events, as minister Joseph Green becomes an appointed preacher in Salem Village years later and transforms the famously miserable town into a space for healing and community. He meets Ann and other participants in the dark history and helps them navigate ways in which they can find confession and forgiveness amongst one another.

When Light Breaks Through is a showcase for Murphy’s mastery of historical events and their consequences over years, with a special emphasis on questions of belief in New England at that time as Joseph endeavors to shepherd his fractious new flock. Written with clear, engaging prose and a strong sense of what life actually felt like, this offers an intimate and hopeful take on a horrific patch of history.

Takeaway: Humanizing, hopeful novel of the Salem witch trials and their aftermath.

Comparable Titles: Chris Bohjalian’s Hour of the Witch, Richard Francis’s Crane Pond.

Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-

Find out the latest indie author news. For FREE.

Password Reset