united states

Rose Earhart has a gift for giving characters and settings immediate life. With only a few lines, she creates rich mental pictures of Old Salem and its doomed inhabitants. The story is great from beginning to end, and sparked a desire to read more about Salem and the witch trials. The author walks a fine line quite adeptly between hope and despair, never letting us forget the intrinsic joys of living, even in the midst of terror and death. The only problem with the novel is a confusion about how old Dorcas actually is when she's writing this diary. It is clarified later in the tale, but that clarification seems to contradict what was implied at the beginning. If you can let this slide, you're in for an engrossing experience. In fact, I didn't let it slide, and I still found myself caught up in the tale. Dorcas Good's strength is in its characters and the dark path which Rose Earhart leads us down with them. I'm looking forward to more journeys with this author. Highly recommended for those with a taste for slightly eerie fiction with historical roots.

Dorcas Good was born into a violent home where every day her father would beat her and her mother, Sarah. Then at the age of four her life was turned around, and life became much worse for her and her mother. A day after her mother gave birth to her second daughter, Mercy, she was accused of witchcraft and was brought to jail. After a few days of Dorcas living with her abusive father she too was brought to jail. Join Dorcas as she tells you about her normal life before jail, her horrible tales of when she was in jail, the sight of her mother's death (the only accused witch in Salem to be hanged without black cloth covering her face), and life after jail when her father brought her to the bar at night and "sold" her to the sailors and other men. Some people say that Dorcas went crazy after she was freed from Salem prison, she even claims to have met the devil himself. I, personally, enjoyed this book. I would not recommend this book to big criers. As I was reading about the part of Sarah Good's death I was crying so much that the words in the book were all a big blur and I had to stop reading. This book will make you cry with Dorcas as she goes through the deaths of her mother, best friends, and even her very own love, Jack Quelch. It will make you believe the unbelievable stories told to you through the eyes of a 'Child Witch of Salem'.

Rose Earhart has captured the flavor of life in the era of the Salem Witch Trials. She has the ability to make one feel that they're living alongside young Dorcas and her mother,Sarah, and witnessing all of the horrors and abuse heaped on top of them. I felt that I were witnessing the actual condemnation and suffering that both Sarah and Dorcas were subjected to. Ms Earhart has a very special talent and I'm looking forward to her future books. I usually don't read a book in one sitting, but this one kept me up until 3:00 AM. Highly recommended.