A Salem Witch

The Trial, Execution, and Exoneration of Rebecca Nurse

De: Daniel A. Gagnon

Narrado por: Marlin May

In the winter of 1692 something terrible and frightening began in Salem Village. It started with several villagers having strange fits, screaming, and unnaturally contorting themselves and ended with almost 200 people in jail and at least 25 dead. Witchcraft accusations - claims that some inhabitants had forsaken God to become servants of the Devil - spread from Salem Village across Massachusetts, ensnaring innocent people from all strata of society under a burden of assumed guilt. One of the most significant accusations, and most unlikely, was against a 71-year-old grandmother, Rebecca Nurse.

The accusations against Nurse, a well-respected member in the community, seemed unbelievable. Unflinchingly, this ailing, elderly woman insisted on her innocence and refused to falsely confess. Supported by many in Salem, Nurse’s family and neighbors challenged her accusers in court and prepared a thorough defense for her, yet nothing could surmount the fear of witchcraft, and she was sentenced to death. Nurse, seen as a martyr for the truth, later became the first person accused of witchcraft to be memorialized in North America.

In A Salem Witch: The Trial, Execution, and Exoneration of Rebecca Nurse, the first full account of Nurse’s life, Daniel A. Gagnon vividly recreates 17th-century Salem and in the process challenges previous interpretations of Nurse’s life and the 1692 witch hunt in general.

The book is published by Westholme Publishing. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

“Gagnon unravels some previous assumptions and suggests new lines of inquiry.” (Marilynne K. Roach, author of Six Women of Salem)

“Gagnon makes the complex history of the Salem witch trials more easily understood, while at the same time giving us a very good read.” (Richard B. Trask, author of The Devil Hath Been Raised)

©2021 Daniel A. Gagnon (P)2022 Redwood Audiobooks

9th great grandmother - Rebecca Nurse

Impeccable research and a story that needed to be told once again. A difficult time in our history and for all those affected in perpetuity.

Fantastic Account of Salem Witch Trials

The author has chosen to tell the story of the Salem Witch Trials primarily from the perspective of just one victim, the well-known and devout Puritan Rebecca Nurse. It is not a "first-hand" account. Rather, it is a thoroughly researched report of her life, how she came to be accused, and what happened in the centuries following her death.

This book stands alone in that rather than trying to explain the stories of ALL accused, it makes that notorious time more real by delving into great detail the daily life in the colony of Massachusetts and the Village of Salem.

The narration is top-notch. I was surprised at how quickly the time passed. I heartily recommend this book!

One of the Best

I really enjoyed this book. I’ve always been fascinated by the Salem witch trials and this book brought to light many aspects that I was unaware of. The author seamlessly switches between generalities of the trials and the story of the main protagonist. His pacing is keen and held my interest throughout.

Marlin May’s narration brought this title to life. His pleasing baritone voice accentuated the material of the book and left me wanting more when the book ended. I’ve listened to other books he’s narrated and always take pleasure in his consistent delivery of meaningful dialogue.

I highly recommend this book.

good book, horrible narration

The text is not the end all be all of the witch trials or course, but the focus on Nurse made it important. my issue is with the robotic and droning tone of the narrator which was hard to listen to and absorb information. I didn't have any other choice if I wanted to "read" the book so I suffered through and rewound, ALOT. would not recommend the audio version at all,

Not Worth The Slog

First, the story: This is a look at the Salem Witch Trials through the lens of a single accused person, However, the record is so thoroughly reviewed that any sense of 'story' inside the history is lost. It feels like a reading of several historical documents, including monotonous court records rather than a retelling of events. The text is only minimally interested in analyzing what exactly caused the events that lead to the SWT, being much more invested in pointing out how Rebecca Nurse was innocent at every opportunity. It feels like a family member, who is obviously very personally invested in this past, is attempting to write an unbiased review of events and not quite able to achieve this. Don't get me wrong, I think indignation at the treatment Rebecca Nurse endured is more than appropriate, but that is at odds with the academic nature of the rest of the text and so hits an odd tone.

I think this text can only be recommended to the most dedicated of Salem Witch Trials enthusiasts because it is a slog of a read with little reward if you've read anything modern on the Trials. I feel for the general reader it will find it absolutely impenetrable and I would rather recommend A Delusion of Satan by Frances Hill.

The Performance: Any value within the text is utterly destroyed by this narrator. I can't believe anyone gave this a decent rating; just because a person doesn't stutter does not mean they are qualified to read a book aloud, let alone for an Audible-Exclusive audiobook. This narrator has no inflection, no personality, no resonance whatsoever. His tone is flat and loud and never varies at any point in this almost 15 hour slog. It's so grating that you couldn't possibly use it to fall asleep, rather it made me repeatedly turn off the book because I just couldn't stand anymore. I normally plow through audiobooks in just a few days but this took almost half a month to get through because I just couldn't handle more than one chapter a day of this voice.