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Kathleen Kent, a national bestselling author and a tenth-generation descendant of Martha Carrier, was awarded the David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Historical Fiction. In her first book, The Heretic's Daughter, which has been published in over a dozen countries, she paints a haunting portrait, not just of Puritan New England but also of one family's deep and abiding love in the face of fear and persecution. The Traitor's Wife, originally published in hardcover as The Wolves of Andover, is her second novel.
Kathleen Kent's third novel, The Outcasts, was the recipient of the American Library Association's 2014 top choice for Historical Fiction, as well as the recipient of a Will Rogers Medallion Award for Western fiction. Her fourth book, titled The Dime, is both an Edgar-nominated and a Nero-nominated contemporary crime novel set in Dallas, based on a short story published in the crime anthology, Dallas Noir. The New York Times picked The Dime as one of their "Latest and Greatest" in crime fiction, March 2017. The author lives in Dallas.
Kathleen Kent's website
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A Letter from Kathleen Kent
Dear Readers,
Martha Carrier, my grandmother back nine generations, was hanged as a witch in
1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. Called the "Queen of Hell" by Cotton Mather,
Martha was unyielding in her refusal to confess and went to her death rather
than join the accused men and women who did so and were spared.
I've read countless historical sources about the trials, including the
transcripts that captured verbatim Martha's defiance to the court. But it was
the stories of my mother and my maternal grand parents that defined more clearly
the courage—and obstinacy— that set the Carriers apart.
All the Carrier tales I heard as a child were enthralling. The children made
bows and arrows and practiced shooting objects off each other's heads. Their cow
was fed pumpkins so she would give golden milk. Martha's husband Thomas was,
according to local gossip, a soldier for Cromwell and the executioner of King
Charles I of England. Thomas was over seven feet tall and, when he died at 109,
two coffins had to be fitted together to bury him.
Sarah is the central character of The Heretic's Daughter, and Martha did
have a daughter with that name. She was arrested ...
Anita Amirrezvani was born in Tehran, Iran, and raised in San Francisco. For ten years, she was a dance critic for newspapers in the Bay Area. She has received fellowships from the National Arts Journalism Program, the NEA's ... (more)
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Melanie Benjamin was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. An avid reader all her life - as a child, she was the proud winner, several years running, of the summer reading program at her local library - she still firmly believes ... (more)
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The Heretic's Daughter
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