The best books about the 1692 “witch” hunts in Salem Village: the fear, horror, and execution of 19 innocent victims

Down Salem Way is a journey back to the horrific Salem witch hysteria era. This book fascinated me because I will read anything connected to the Salem witch trials and the events that led to 19 innocent victims’ executions in 1692. Down Salem Way tells us the story in vivid detail through the eyes of John Wentworth and his beloved wife Elizabeth. They knew many of the condemned, and witnessed their horrific trials and executions. Rev. Nicholas Noyes and Judges Hathorne and Corwin were responsible for these atrocities, after witnessing the ‘afflicted’ (the young girls whose hysterical behavior led to the accusations). This book will take you back to 17th-century Salem and Boston, where the victims were held in another dungeon. 

The story moved me emotionally because I visit Salem all the time, and have always taken a keen interest in the witch trials. This book, although a novel, made me understand, more than the nonfiction books about the era, how these awful events traumatized people, especially those who lost innocent loved ones. I gained a greater understanding of what these people suffered, with this story as told by people who lived there.  

I recommend this book because of my fascination with the Salem witch trials and how they affected innocent victims. I also recommend it because Kathleen Kent is a 10th generation descendant of Martha Carrier, one of the 19 victims to be executed. I believe her personal connection enabled her to capture the setting and the emotions of those involved so distinctly, as she’s writing about her own family members. The story is told by Sarah Carrier Chapman in a letter to her granddaughter, revealing that her mother, Martha, was condemned and hanged as witch in 1692. The Salem Village Sarah lived in was in the throes of simmering hostility, an ominous foreshadowing of the horror to come. This is a novel, but because these people actually lived, suffered, and grieved, and as I believe I have a spiritual connection to Salem during this time, it struck a chord deep within me.

Diane Foulds, a descendant of one of the victims condemned to death during the Salem Witch Trials, thoroughly researched many of the people involved in the events that led to the execution of 19 innocent victims. I am not a descendant, but these events have fascinated me since childhood, because they were so outlandish and led to such unnecessary tragedy. In this book you will learn about not only the victims, but the ‘afflicted’ young girls whose wild, unfounded accusations and theatrics during the trials convinced the judges that many people were witches. It is easy to connect with each individual, as the book centers on them, to understand why the entire episode was character-driven. It is even easier to sympathize with the victims and appreciate how they suffered. 

Whatever your level of interest in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692—you will learn much, and be entertained at the same time. It captured my interest because I’ve always been fascinated with the Salem witch trials and Salem history. It is the true story of Mehitabel Braybrooke of Ipswich, an ancestor of Donna’s. She recreated Mehitabel’s difficult life in painstaking detail, after digging deep to retrieve authentic court records, facts about Mehitabel’s family life as the illegitimate daughter of an indentured servant, and serving time in the Ipswich jail on a witchcraft accusation. She eventually married the man she loved (a rarity in 1692 Salem and Ipswich) and had children, living into her 70s. This story brought me back there as if I’d been transported. Donna did a masterful job of writing authentic dialogue and showing (not telling) us how perilous life was in the 17th century, for these 19 innocent victims who were wrongly accused, imprisoned in dungeons under horrid conditions, and hanged (and one man pressed to death). 

It gave me a greater understanding, appreciation, and emotional connection to the era and place where I’ve had a strong spiritual connection to since childhood.

I recommend this book because Nathaniel Hawthorne is my favorite author, a historical figure whose connections to his birthplace of Salem, Massachusetts influenced his religion, his politics, his writing and haunted him through life. His cousin Susannah Ingersoll lived in the House of the Seven Gables, my favorite house in the world, Salem’s most famous landmark, and the subject of Hawthorne’s most famous novel. I have always been fascinated with the Salem witch trials, and know that Hawthorne’s great-great-grandfather “Hanging” Judge John Hathorne condemned 19 innocent people to death on false accusations of witchcraft. Nathaniel added the ‘w’ to his name to distance himself from his notorious ancestor. You will learn about how he met his wife, Sophia Peabody, also a Salem native, and how she inspired him. It helped me understand Nathaniel as a person as well as a famous author, and further inspired me to write my novel.