What’s Behind the Salem Witch Story Mini-Boom?

After spending a few days in Salem, Massachusetts, shooting a promotional video for her forthcoming debut novel, The Heretic’s Daughter, Kathleen Kent came to Manhattan so Little, Brown could introduce her to a small group of media over lunch. As we got settled at our tables, Kent talked about the five years she spent researching the history around the Salem witch trials, during which one of her ancestors, Martha Carrier, was hung by prosecutors after maintaining her innocence; her refusal to cave in to the witch hunt led Cotton Mather to dub her the queen of Hell.

Over dessert, I asked Kent what she thought might be behind the sudden surge of interest in Salem fiction—her novel was one of two such books pegged for buzzworthiness at this year’s BookExpo, along with Brunonia Barry‘s The Lace Reader. (One major difference: Barry’s novel is set in the present day.) “There may be a sense of disquiet or unease about the effects of religious fundamentalism,” she speculated, noting that reporters in Europe frequently pressed her on possible contemporary parallels. Her own focus, she added, was on the ways in which women and children become the first victims of fanatical movements. (Publisher Michael Pietsch offered another theory, wondering if interest in Salem might be an extension of concerns over what we’ve been hearing about interrogation techniques at Guantanamo Bay and other government facilities over the last half-decade.)

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