salem (mass.)

In 1752, Sarah Carrier Chapman writes a letter to her granddaughter revealing a secret she has buried in her heart for over half a century. After Sarah and her family arrived in Andover, they encounter a community stricken by superstition and fear due to Native-American raids and the spread of a plague. Suddenly the Puritans believe that heretics in their town are responsible and the witchcraft trials begin. Sarah's mother Martha is among those who are arrested.

Describes the social and religious conditions surrounding the Salem witch hunts, the extensive trials and executions, and the aftermath of the hysteria.

Examines the witchcraft hysteria in Salem Village in 1692, including the history of witchcraft, the principal participants in the accusations, the trials and judgment, and its legacy in American history.

Follows the Pyncheon family who lived for generations under a dead man's curse until his death restored their house.

Towner Whitney, descended from a line of mind readers and fortune tellers, returns to Salem, Massachusetts to recover from several traumas and discovers that her great-aunt Eva has suspiciously drowned, and local cop John Rafferty looks into the mystery while falling for Towner.

Presents information for young people on what really happened in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, when a group of girls and young women accused certain people in the village of witchcraft, leading to the executions of innocent men and women.

Examines the Salem witch trials from a seventeenth-century perspective, discussing the people involved, including the accused, the accusers, the confessors, and the judges; the role of gossip; and the influence of external factors such as the Indian wars on the Maine frontier.

Lauren Durough leaves her life of privilege to take a part-time job transcribing the journal entries of Mercy Hayworth, a victim of the Salem witch trials, and as she is pulled into Mercy's life, she discovers many of Mercy's traits and trials live on in her ancestor, Lauren's new boss.