Beyond the Burning Time

by Kathryn Lasky

They say something very strange is happening to some of the people of Salem. That some of the young girls have become—troubled. And the fear is beginning to spread. Mary and her mother don't hear about the rumors right away. They don't know that many of the villagers believe that some of Mary's friends have had spells cast on them—by witches. Or that one of the accused is Mary's mother.

Now Mary and her brother, Caleb, have a decision to make: Are the villagers right? Or is their mother innocent? And if she is—can they help her escape before it's too late?

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Witches, Fiction, Historical, Middle Grade, 17th Century

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Kathryn Lasky, also known as Kathryn Lasky Knight and E. L. Swann, is an award-winning American author of over one hundred books for children and adults. Best known for the Guardians of Ga’Hoole series, her work has been translated into 19 languages and includes historical fiction, fantasy, and nonfiction.

Reviews

[Bren fall in love with the sea. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kathryn Lasky has created a a beautifully told piece of Historical Fiction, a book about the Salem Witch Trials, as sen through the eyes of one family and in particular a girl by the name of Mary and her brother Caleb.

I've read many books on this subject and "Beyond the Burning Time" deserves to be recognized as up there with the best. The characters and time period come to life. And you will most likely find yourself confused, horrified and in disbelief that events such as this ever happened in this great country. But along with other terrible events, they did indeed.

This is a work of fiction, in that some of the characters are inventions of fiction but the events as everyone knows are not. Nor are all the characters in this book.

I do not seem to get tired of this subject, when it is done well, most likely because I never get the answers I seek as nobody really can. In BTBT, Mary and Caleb's mother is accused of being a witch and much of the book revolves around that plot point but not all of it as many are accused and yes, expect a bit of brutality but then again you probably already knew that.

This book is marketed as YA but anyone can read it if they are interested in the subject natter. It is wonderfully written, hauntingly atmospheric and deeply touching. My favorite book on this subject will always be "The witch of Blackbird pond" but this is an excellent book that deserves to be read.

[Keeley Sieben · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, about a girl living in the 1600's during the time of the accusations of witchcraft, was a fairly interesting read. I learned many new things about that time period that I never knew before, such as how women were accused and proven guilty of witchcraft just because they had imperfections on their skin, or how they were proven to be innocent if they could recite the Lords Prayer perfectly. The accusations during that time were completely unfair, as a few girls faked having these horrible fits where their tongues lolled out of their mouths and their eyes rolled back in their heads and they twisted their limbs in unnatural positions and claimed to see demons and evil spirits of the witches beside them. The accused women were never guilty, but were asked unfair questions during their trials and then condemned to death by hanging at the gallows. When the main character, Mary Chase, has her mother accused of witchcraft she constructs this great rescue plan with her brother and a ship sailer to help her mother escape from death just as she was headed to the gallows. I found Beyond the Burning Time to be a interesting novel with good facts about times of witchcraft. In the book there were a few boring parts in which Mary would over hear talk of the townspeople about the King and politics and other things such as her brother Caleb in the shipyard that I found to be uninteresting, but if you were interested in reading about witchcraft in the olden times and the trials, this book would be pretty good because it has solid fact and an alright storyline.

[Anna Cook · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring.

[Luis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting historical fiction, the story focuses on Mary Chase, a fictional protagonist, alive during the times of the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. The book interweaves history and fiction well to present the hysteria of Salem.

[Victoria Taucher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of my favorite books back in the day when I was in round one of braces…. I’ll be kinder than I’d like to be for little torrie’s sake

[Jojobean · Rating 4 out of 5]

wow I haven't read this book since I was in seventh grade! I decided to re-read it and I'm glad I did. I still like it alot. I had remembered a few plot points but some I had completely forgotten and was surprised to read about.

This book is about the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Many of the characters were real people who participated in the trials. The main character and her family are fictional characters. The events that occurred were real and mainly in the order they appear in the book. I have always loved reading about the Salem Witch Trials; even though they were a tragic event they are very interesting to read about. This was my first book about the Salem Witch Trials.

I loved the main character, Mary Chase. She is a very spunky 12 year old. She is very responsible, helping her mother take care of the farm her father left after he passed away. Her brother Caleb, is a shipbuilder's apprentice so he can't be at the farm to help. Its just Mary, her mother Virginia and Mary's father's friend Gilly. Mary is very practical and has no time for girly nonsense. Instead of thinking about boys she is thinking about if the barely she planted will grow. MAry has had to grow up faster due to her father's sudden death. The witch trials scare Mary and she is very worried about her mother, who is very outspoken against the trials and notion of witches. Mary can be a bit bold with her mouth but she also knows when to keep quite. She is usually a calm good girl. We see Mary change later on due to some circumstances where she becomes violent and wants to hurt people because of what has happened to her. She can be a sweet girl but can also be vicious when she needs to be. I really liked her. I also admire her and her mother, for taking on the job of keeping up the farm. It is hard work and the two females do it all and run the farm well.

While I liked to read about the witch trials and find them interesting, reading about them also gets me angry. I get angry about the unfairness of it all and angry about the poor people that were hung because some girls decided they wanted attention and pretended to be possessed and tortured by witches. People were so ignorant back then that I just want to slap them all. Also I'm not a big fan of the Putnam family. I dunno but to me it seems as if they were the bad guys encouraging the girls to name their rivals and enemies as witches to get rid of them. They were twisted, ruthless and money/land hungry people. At least that's how many books portray them as. Anyway I don't really like them in any story i've read so far and the mother is creepy in the stories.

Anyway reading this book makes me want to learn more about the trials so I guess I'll get some nonfiction books to read !

This review is also posted on The Book Owl Extraordinaire

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

I never thought I'd finish this one. My children and I have this term we use - "magic noodles" - and this book was the first time it's been applied to anything other than actual noodles. You see, we are fans of a local Southeast Asian restaurant that happens to make a wide variety of fantastic noodle dishes. Every time we have their noodles they seem to multiply. If we get take-away, we have our meal but the containers appear to have refilled to the original level. This happens for several days worth of leftovers until they finally disappear.

By the time I had reached the midpoint of Beyond the Burning Time it occurred to me that despite diligently reading chapter after chapter - they really aren't long - it truly felt like it was going to take longer and longer than I could fathom to finish. It had become "magic noodles" but not in as rewarding a way.

I would like to give Lasky a lot of credit for presenting a believable and understandable tale about the Witch Trials that young teens could be hooked by and grasp.

Ironically, the most challenging and frustrating thing about the book is also the thing that can best illustrate the underlying difficulty the folks of Salem had making sense of the events. That thing is the simple fact that so many of the people in and around the village of Salem had the same names and names they were referred to by like Mary and Goody.

It was difficult to keep the characters and their relationships straight. A character listing with key details would have been helpful but in the spirit of the historical period, such "cheat sheets" weren't available or used.

It seemed clear to me upon reflection that if I had difficulty remembering the facts and details of the players, how on Earth could the folks of the time with the limited informational skills possibily have discerned the connections between the individuals and the powerplays that were at work behind the scenes.

Personally, I'd like to see this book used in class with note taking and discussions of motives and women's roles and the socio-religious-politics of the time. I do believe 8th graders can wrap their heads around it. Some 7th graders could as well.

[Rebecca Radnor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Salem Witch trials, close enough to the historical record that I would be willing to integrate it into a lesson plan that teaches the period.

This one goes with the economic/greed theory for why it happened, has created fictitious characters for its protagonists, but *happy dance* includes text from the actual trial transcripts for one of the trials.

Yet again the central character is a female, (I long to find one with a male central character) but she's something of a tom boy and there's a lot of talk about ship building so boys might like it.

I would suggest this for slightly older students, high school not middle school, as it includes a stalker/peeping tom, some G rated sexuality and a bit of violence. Its not that I think the kids couldn't handle it, it's their parents.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

An okay YA book about the Salem Witch Trials. Our heroine is the 12-year old Mary (who seems to share a first name with half of the village). She helps her widowed mother run a farm, but Mary is mostly interested in the gossip of Salem Village. This is fair history, mind you, much of it taken directly from contemporary accounts, but I didn't think the ending (where Mary and her brother manage to rescue her mother on her way to her execution) was much more than wishful thinking.

[Pauline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This dealt with some heavy stuff, particularly for the age group targeted. This is the first book I have read dealing with the subject of the Salem Witch Trials. The troubling issues covered—accusations based on very little or faulty evidence, manipulating testimony and more–are things we continue to grapple with in the current time. The austthor’s note at the end provides a great deal of serious introspection.

[Marisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

An adequate historical fiction novel for younger folks around 4th/5th grade. Mary isn’t the most engaging or interesting character, and the switches between perspectives was odd and happened in places that didn’t make sense. Also the Gilly thing???????? Completely unnecessary and didn’t add anything other than to make everything even more uncomfortable. Glad I read it, but I wouldn’t recommend.

[Amara Tanith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had never heard of this book until I found an ex-library copy for sale at my local branch. Historical MG for $0.10? What on earth would I have to lose? Well, I'm honestly not the world's biggest fan of historical fiction (though I do read it on occasion), so the book languished on my shelves for a few years. I've been slowly eBaying off my 1000+ book collection for the past year or so now, and I wanted to make sure I gave this book a go before I got rid of it.

All in all, Beyond the Burning Time was solid MG historical fiction. It's no Witch of Blackbird Pond (disclaimer: it's probably been nearly a decade since I read that one, so my memories of it are almost certainly a bit off, but I remember loving it!), but it's a solid story about witch hysteria set in the village of Salem and neighboring Salem Town. It uses the backdrop of the real life tragedy to tell a fictional story of a family victimized by the many false accusations flying around town, and while I think it does a good job pointing out the inherent misogyny, greed, etc. motivating such hysteria periods of history, I wonder if the book doesn't suffer a bit for centering itself on fictional people instead of one of the many real historical figures who are relegated to supporting roles here.

(And honestly, I would suggest literally any edit that got Gilly out of the book. He's a potentially problematic character--I'm not knowledgeable enough on the nuance of portrayals of the disabled in media to say either way--and his POV sections legitimately made me nauseated, what with his stomach-churning fetish for some dead guy's old shoes and foot-sweat-smell--and I'm gagging just writing that--and his truly disturbing, documented-on-page thought process while stalking that very dead man's widow. WHY, LASKY, WHY?)

More than anything, though, I think the book suffers a bit in its last fifty pages or so as it tries to wrangle a happy ending for the characters. I expected Virginia to die; she did not. Odd though it is to say that I'm disappointed a children's book didn't kill off the children's mother... I am. The circumstances that come together to enable Virginia's survival are undeniably contrived. They're properly built up, more or less--(almost) all the pieces to the puzzle were properly foreshadowed, to the point that savvy readers will know by 1/3 of the way through the book that those elements will be used somehow in the climax--but I genuinely never expected those elements to build up to a conclusion that kept Virginia alive, and I'm not entirely convinced that I can suspend my disbelief to the point of accepting the logic behind that they did. It all makes sense, sure; it's just that after building up an entire narrative of utter, unfair, unavoidable tragedy, like a train being deliberately driven off the tracks... it just feels false for that someone to pull the emotional crux of the story out of the way of that train at the very last second. *shrug*

So while I enjoyed this well enough (in the sense that I couldn't honestly say I regret reading it), I don't think it's a book that I'll ever be revisiting, and I'll definitely be adding my copy to the "for eBay" pile. I've only got enough shelf space for real favorites these days, and while Beyond the Burning Time was leagues better than the last thing I read from Lasky (the bulk of the Ga'Hoole series), it's definitely not even in the outer orbit of being a new favorite.

(It is also, disappointingly, not the witch book I have vague memories of reading as a small child, which I'm still on the lookout for. Literally all I remember of that book was that there were maybe two main little kid characters--no idea of their age(s)--and there was something about a witch in a lake. If anyone's got suggestions on what that might've been, I would've read this sometime probably between 2000 and 2005; I'd love to hear any ideas anyone might have!)

[Sofie Stiller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beyond the Burning Time is a historical fiction novel written by Kathryn Lasky, which takes place during the Salem Witch Trials. It takes place in Salem, Massachusetts in the year 1692. Throughout the course of the book, there were many hidden secrets and lies that spread among the small town of Salem. On one very peculiar night, a group of girls gathered in the woods and “danced.” A few days later, one of the girls started to have fits. These fits took unholy poses where the girls would seize and sometimes scream. Other girls would undergo a fit and become “dead” to the world. Due to the ungodly seizures that have held the girls’ captive, including the local priest’s niece, Betty Parris, the townspeople assume that witchcraft was at the root of their problems. Everyone was taken aback by the astounding suggestion that their quiet town was under the influence of Satan. The local priest wanted to keep the situation under wraps because if the locals got word that his niece was under the influence of the devil, they might start to think that he should not be the priest.
The protagonist, Mary Chase, her brother Caleb, and mother Virginia watched women undergo the witch trials and were rightfully terrified of being wrongly accused. On one unfortunate day, Virginia’s name was spoken by one of the vexed girls. The townspeople of Salem immediately took custody of Virginia and carried her off to jail without notifying her children. When Mary and Caleb got word of this terribly wrong and frightful accusation, they immediately went to the authorities and ask questions about their mother’s supposed arrest. Mary then discovers that her mother will be having her first of many witch trials the next day. Of course, Mary felt the need to go and defend her mother, but the people in charge of the trial won’t allow her to attend. The few people who were officiating at the trial said that only women were allowed in the court because they planned to strip Virginia naked and search her for witch marks. Mary decided to sneak into the trial and watch. When she arrives in the building, she comes to find out that it is not only women in the court but also their local priest and the male doctor. Mary was filled with rage against the injustice of it all. Almost as soon as the trial began, the women start ripping Virginia’s clothes off and found a mark in the center of her chest. They said that she was now a witch because she has a mark of a witch, which Mary knew was only a scar from caring for a baby piglet that scratched her.
Throughout the book, the Mary and Caleb tried desperately to free their mother from the terrible grip of these crazed women and men who accused everyone at the drop of a hat. Sometimes they accused others to get even for petty differences, sometimes to steal property, and sometimes they called a woman a witch simply out of spite.
I liked many things about this book. I liked how it took the point of view of someone’s relative going through with the witch trials. However, I did not like how slow the pace of the book was at certain times. I found it very difficult in some parts to keep focus and eventually I had read two pages without any recollection of what was in those pages. When I first began reading it, I was under the impression that it would be faster paced and more intense than it was. I would recommend this book to a person who likes historical fiction, and lots of deception and betrayal. If you like a fast-paced adventurous type of book, this would most likely not be your ideal choice.

[Claire Withrow]

Beyond the Burning Time is all about witchcraft set back in 1691. This book is written from the perspective of a young girl named Mary Chase along with her brother Caleb. Women would be accused of witchcraft if found with a single imperfection on them. Girls would fake having fits so that more people would be accused of witchcraft. The book talks about the girls twisting their bodies in unpleasant ways, making their eyes roll back into their head, and saying that they were seeing demons. The women being accused went through rigged trials that were pretty much impossible to pass so everyone was found guilty and hanged to death.

The book gives a lot of information on the topic of witchcraft back in the 1600's. The book does talk about some disturbing things and could be an uncomfortable read for others. But it also has important information on the topic of witchcraft.

While the book does talk about some unpleasant topics I don’t think that should stop anyone from wanting to read it. I think for anyone that finds the topic of witchcraft interesting or just generally wanting to learn more about it, this book would be a good fit for them. I think this book is meant for high school students or older.

[B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Going through my shelves to see what can be cleared off has resulted in reading books of different genres and those targeted toward different age groups in order to determine whether or not they should be kept. That process led me to reading this book, or rereading, as it was one that I read in elementary school. That being said - it's definitely one that should stay for a much younger audience. The book is written at a sixth grade level, give or take, and it's alright as a book to get a child interested in the subject of the Salem witch trials, but it's highly inaccurate when it comes to actual historical events, which was a large letdown. I had hoped that, if it was a book that I had retained this long, it would be more, rather than less, accurate. It's decent enough, if you're a little kid who reads above level, but its not one you can go back and reread at all.

[LibraryCin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars

Mary Chase is 12(?) years old and lives with her mother, Virginia, and her brother, Caleb, on a farm in/near Salem Village in the late 17th century. Mary’s father died two years earlier and they have worked hard to make a success of their farm without him. It is at this time that some girls in town start accusing others of witchcraft.

I did not listen to the official audio book, but I did listen to it being read, so it was not a professionally done audio, so I was quite happy that the story still mostly kept me interested. Mary’s family was a fictional family caught up in the Salem witch “hysteria” at the time and we followed each of the family as the story was told, though primarily it was Mary’s perspective. There is a very good author’s note at the end.

[Elna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Salem Witch trials are an infuriating period in our history - puritans swept up in hysteria and jealousy and greed, pointing fingers at and condemning each other to death for the slightest things.

Mary Chase , unfortunately, lives through this, watching in horror as respected men and women are accused. Eventually, when her own mother is accused, she and her brother realize that there is no saving Salem, so they might as well save themselves.

The writing is a little purple for me, and hinders the ease and flow of reading. But the feelings - of despair, of anger, of frustration and disgust - that she experiences are invoked in the reader perfectly.

[Graham Barrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent enough book that was my introduction to the history of the Salem witch trials. It's been so long since I read it though and I can't really remember much about it. In contrast, I read The Crucible at the same time and I remember that story's depiction of the trials and the historical characters a lot more clearly. Maybe it's comparing apples to oranges but Beyond the Burning Time could have been more memorable.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 10th great grandmother was Susannah North Martin, who cameos in this book. My 9th great grandfather was John Procter, who also appears. This was a pretty cool book to read, though it was quite sickening reading about the detachment of how the author described the hangings. However, the entire era was sickening. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it!

[Beka · Rating 3 out of 5]

As interesting and well-written as all Ms. Lasky's books are, I still struggled to get through this one. I think because it take place in such a terrible time where people who proclaimed themselves to be Christians did such terrible things, supposedly in the name of God. Such wickedness and evil make it hard to stomach.

[Mande Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

All about the witch trials and how so many people died because of being lied about. So glad that the main characters Mary and Caleb Chase was able to rescue their mother from being hung to living long happy lives.

[Amanda Thomasson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d classify this as YA. I took an upper level Early American Literature class in college, and it focused heavily on Puritan history and writings. We read a lot of Cotton Mather and transcripts from the Salem witch trials. Finding a fictionalized version of the events is always of interest!

[Ken Branham · Rating 3 out of 5]

My bad mostly, didn’t realize it was a YA book (found on my book shelve - left by daughter). Had some positive attributes - good history of the trials and the “feel” of the time as it was probably felt. Quick read, and decent story but not very descriptive scenes or depth of characters.

[Annika · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the book, especially the ending. Everything about the book was cool, and the rage that Mary felt when her mother was accused was definitely understandable.

[Carolynn Markey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ehhhhh...

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this one in middle school, and I remember really liking it, hence the 4 stars. Don't know how I'd feel today, but still giving it my initial reaction.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting story about a family Iiving on the edge of the Salem witch trials, trying to hold on to their sanity as everyone else's slips away.

[KL · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boring for an adult to read, but I imagine that children who haven’t learned much about Salem yet would enjoy it.

[Yo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book powerful movements, and speech in this book that truely makes you love every page.

[Hadzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book and I think it explained the time well. It was interesting.