Time of the Witches

Author: Anna Myers
Recommended Age: 12+
Publisher: Walker and Company
ISBN: 978-0-545-22863-3
Year Published: 2009
No. Pages: 197
Genre: Historical Fiction
Main Character Gender: Female
Read & Reviewed by: Kat





“Mama, I want to charge Rose as a Witch.”

“That's ridiculous my dear,” said her mother. “Rose can not be a witch. The girl still owes us a year of service. Maybe next year.”

Welcome to the absurd Salem Witch Trials, where 19 accused witches were hanged in 1692 on the flimsy accusation of a group of girls.

Drucilla Overbey is an orphan from birth. She has moved houses many times and finally has found a place she can call home with the Putnam family on the outskirts of Salem Village. Graceful and charming outwardly, Dru's adopted mother, Ann Putnam, exhibits odd behaviour behind closed doors, which includes crying fits and an attempted suicide. This is the result of the loss of several children - Ann is convinced her miscarried babies were murdered by enemies trying to harm her family. Although she is strange, Dru feels drawn to Ann, the mother she never had.

When a new reverend and his family move into town, Mistress Putnam sends her daughter and Dru to seek the answer to the 'murders' of her deceased children from Tituba, the reverend's servant. She also becomes close friends with Reverend Parris and a 'valuable ally in his quest to bring righteousness to this forlorn community.' Life takes a strange turn as girls begin to fall ill. Accusations of witchcraft fly as the girls point fingers at villagers- often at the encouragement of Ann Putnam. Caught up in the groupthink of her peers and the Putnams, Dru becomes one of the accusers and finds herself swept up in the hysteria and caught in a dangerous game- one ruled by blackmail, fear, threats and a will to live.

Time of the Witches is written in first person, which made me feel closer to Dru and gave me someone to be with. Anna Myers wrote in a diction and dialect that was appropriate for the era of the 1600's, which made this novel more .

Myers also used the characters, plot and plot devices to make me feel strongly about the novel. For example, when Dru was being double crossed or when the mood was prickly, I felt a sense of unease and queasiness.

The many subplots - relationships with the younger Putnams, trips to Reverend Parris’s house, Ann Putnam's dead children and most of all Dru's relationship with Gabe, the boy that was born at the same time as her - kept this novel interesting and multi-layered it as well.

The fact that this novel was written from the perspective of the accuser, and not, like most novels about witches, from the angle of the accusee, allowed me to see this time period in a new perspective.

Myers used real people in her novel - Ann Putnam, as well as Reverend Parris were leading accusers of witchcraft and almost all of the people accused and hanged in this novel were based on historical ‘witches’.

By reading Time of the Witches, I learned a lot about this time period: accusing someone of witchcraft was one way to settle land or financial disputes, or a family feud. The accusing girls were also either faking to gain attention or to make an impression, or they were accusing witches by fear of being accused of witchcraft themselves. If they accused others of witchcraft, how could they themselves be a witch? Often they were swept up in the power of suggestion - because so many of their peers were being 'tormented' by and accusing witches, they believed that they were being tormented by the 'witches' as well.

I rated this book a 9/10 because of the plot, writing style and mood. It fell short of a ten because I wasn't in Dru's head enough and I think Myers should have focused on the witches themselves more than she did. I recommend this novel to anyone 10 and older who would like to learn more about this time period in a quick, engaging read.