Books Without Borders discussion

Hope everyone has enjoyed The Heretic's Daughter this month! I'm in the Halloween spirit now, how 'bout you?!

Here are the final discussion questions:

1. Why did the community of Salem, and the magistrates, so easily believe in and rely on “spectral evidence”?

2. What caused Martha to change in her relationship toward Sarah?

3. Do you believe that Sarah’s uncle really killed himself out of desperate self-loathing, or did her father actually murder him?

4. If you were Martha Carrier and faced being condemned as a witch, would you have made
the decisions she made, including asking your children to lie to save themselves?

5. As Mercy was portrayed at the book’s end, do you think she “got what she deserved”?

6. Why did the townspeople fear Sarah’s father, Thomas? Why did Martha write down his
life story in the red book that she later asked Sarah to hide? What would have happened
to the family if that book had been discovered?

1. I think during this time period there were more men that carried out "justice". Had there been a woman during this time period to speak with reason against this atrocity, it may have ended differently.

2. I believe Martha finally saw Martha as being a victim of her own circumstances.

3. It wan't hard to imagine the uncle being killed by the father. However, self-loathing did him in.

4. In an effort to save my children, I would've advised them as Martha did. What mother wouldn't all they knew to save their child?

5. Not sure still about this one.

6. It's amazing how rumors can breed fear, loathing, misconception & mistrust. Had the book been discovered, it may have cleared the family name, heritage or condemned them.