From Fiction to History: 'The Heretic's Daughter'

Fiction: The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent

 Sarah Carrier, the young daughter of Martha Carrier, feels constantly at odds with her little world, where work and life are hard but not always that long. But the trials of childhood are nothing compared to the brutality and danger that sweeps into Salem, Massachusetts as the hysteria over witchcraft takes hold of the small village. Sarah's mother is one of the first to be accused and imprisoned on the charges of witchcraft, and Sarah can do little to help her mother--or avoid suspicion herself. Kathleen Kent is a 10th generation descendant of Martha Carrier, which makes this fictional take from Sarah's point of view even more poignant.

History: The Salem Witch Trials, a Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege by Marilynne K. Roach

'The Salem Witch Trials' is an incredibly thorough look at the Salem Witch Trials through a day by day chronicle of Salem Village in 1692 and 1693. Each entry includes information about any important happenings in the village that day, known weather conditions, as well as other pertinent information designed to give the reader an inside look at Salem, its inhabitants, and the trials that made the village infamous. Marilynne K. Roach's book places the events in Salem in their chronological context, allowing readers to have a clearer view of what happened--and, in many cases, a clearer look at why it may have happened.

History: A Storm of Witchcraft, The Salem Witch Trials and the American Experience by Emerson W. Baker

In A Storm of Witchcraft, Emerson Baker argues that the Salem Witch Trials were the result of a "perfect storm" rather than one particular factor, such as the popular theories regarding ergot poisoning or hysteria influencing the girls of Salem to accuse others of witchcraft. A Storm of Witchcraft takes a look at the events in Salem--and the American colonies as a whole during this time period, which saw a general rise in accusations of witchcraft--through a broader political and historical context. Baker also explores how the trials have inspired an enduring legacy, despite early attempts by the Puritan government to suppress the trial from the public mind.

Featured Book: The Salem Witch Trials by Marilynne K. Roach

I admit, like many people, that I have a certain fascination with some rather depressing and even gruesome aspects of history. I remember reading about the Salem Witch Trials when I was a young girl and was always fascinated by the sense of mob hysteria that took over th etown. A few years ago I purchased The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege by Marilynne K. Roach to help refeed my childhood fascination. The book is about what you would expect from the title--a day by day account of life in Salem as well as the nearby towns and villages, including (of course) the proceedings of the witch trials. Although I've had this book for a few years, I've yet to get through it... it is very, very thorough. Below is an excerpt of one of the smaller 'entries' included in the book.

September 9th, 1672; Friday; Salem Town

The Grand Jury heard testimony concerning Giles Corey. The court had summoned witnesses to testify about him and his wife, but if he were scheduled to stand trial today, he did not cooperate. Although pleading innocent to all the indictments as they were read, he refused to answer when asked the formality of how he would be tried. Giles was expected to answer "By God and my country." Until he spoke those precise words, his case could not proceed. This situation, despite his not-guilty plea, was technically known as a "standing mute" and, under English law, was punishable by [pressing under heavy weights] until he cooperated. ... The court postponed Giles Corey's trial.

Review: Treacherous Beauty: Peggy Shippen, the Woman behind Benedict Arnold's Plot to Betray America by Stephen H. Case and Mark Jacob

[A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher upon my request.]

When most people consider the role that women played in the American Revolution, they probably turn right to women like Abigail Adams or Molly Pitcher, who both supported the revolution in their own ways.  But what about the women who did not support the revolution or who even worked against it?

Treacherous Beauty: Peggy Shippen, the Woman Behind Benedict Arnold's Plot to Betray America by Stephen H. Case and Mark Jacob is the first modern popular biography of this enigmatic and often ignored figure in American history--Peggy Shippen, the wife of the infamous Benedict Arnold. Peggy, born Margaret, was born into the world of Philadelphia's high society. Not much is known about her early childhood, although Case and Jacob suggest that she received an above-average education for her sex and learned much about finances through her father and mother. She came of age during the American Revolution in British-occupied Philadelphia and developed a strong social reputation. She was considered to be one of the most beautiful women in the city and frequently attended balls and other social gatherings with others of her rank--and British soldiers, including one John André, who would later play an important role in the "Benedict Arnold plot."

Peggy was considered to be beautiful, loving and sweet, but she was not Benedict Arnold's first choice for a new wife. Case and Jacob point out that many of the lines Benedict used in his courting letter to Peggy were, in fact, recycled from letters he had written to a previous potential wife. However, the two were eventually married  and what soon followed is the subject of much debate and controversy, even today. How much of a role did Peggy Shippen play in Benedict Arnold's decision to become a spy for Britain? Did she know about his betrayal?

Although the title of the book labels Peggy to be the woman "behind" the plot, I don't think that the authors, if it was their attention to paint her as the mastermind, successfully provided enough evidence to suggest that Peggy was in fact behind the betrayal. Unfortunately, much of Peggy's correspondence was destroyed or burned in the wake of the plot, perhaps to save her reputation. In the past, Peggy's involvement in the plot to  has been downplayed at best and completely ignored at worst--"the poor innocent wife of Benedict Arnold," as she was called after news of his betrayal broke out. And although they do not provide a strong case for Peggy being the woman "behind" the plot, Case and Jacob provide ample information which not only indicates she knew about Benedict Arnold's betrayal--but that she helped him as well.

The plot to betray America is, understandably, the real meat of the book. Because there are gaps in the recorded history of Peggy's life, some of the narrative focuses much more on the actions of Arnold--whom Peggy often followed--and John André, who left behind a more tangible historical trail than Peggy Shippen. However, Case and Jacob have made excellent use of the resources they had to create an interesting and rounded narrative of Peggy's life--from her birth in pre-revolutionary American to the betrayal of the revolution and to her last years in England, where she spent most of her time dealing with poor state of her family's finances and securing a future for her children.

I recommend Treacherous Beauty: Peggy Shippen, the Woman Behind Benedict Arnold's Plot to Betray America by Stephen H. Case and Mark Jacob to readers who are interested in the American Revolution, 18th century, or women's studies in the 18th century.

Featured Book: Treacherous Beauty and Mark Jacob and Stephen H. Case

I'm actually in the process of reading this book for review at the moment, but I thought I would feature it once as a teaser for my review! In my pre-teen years, I was a bit obsessed with the American Revolution... but I'm ashamed to say I can't remember ever reading about Peggy Shippen before, even as a sidenote or footnote to Benedict Arnold's story. This book is definitely providing some interesting information about a lesser known historical figure.

Treacherous Beauty: Peggy Shippen, the Woman behind Benedict Arnold's Plot to Betray America by Mark Jacob and Stephen H. Case

Histories of the Revolutionary War have long honored heroines such as Betsy Ross, Abigail Adams, and Molly Pitcher. Now, more than two centuries later, comes the first biography of one of the war’s most remarkable women, a beautiful Philadelphia society girl named Peggy Shippen. While war was raging between England and its rebellious colonists, Peggy befriended a suave British officer and then married a crippled revolutionary general twice her age. She brought the two men together in a treasonous plot that nearly turned George Washington into a prisoner and changed the course of the war. Peggy Shippen was Mrs. Benedict Arnold.

After the conspiracy was exposed, Peggy managed to convince powerful men like Washington and Alexander Hamilton of her innocence. The Founding Fathers were handicapped by the common view that women lacked the sophistication for politics or warfare, much less treason. And Peggy took full advantage.

Peggy was to the American Revolution what the fictional Scarlett O’Hara was to the Civil War: a woman whose survival skills trumped all other values. Had she been a man, she might have been
arrested, tried, and executed. And she might have become famous. Instead, her role was minimized and she was allowed to recede into the background—with a generous British pension in hand.

 

In Treacherous Beauty, Mark Jacob and Stephen H. Case tell the true story of Peggy Shippen, a driving force in a conspiracy that came within an eyelashof dooming the American democracy.

Review: Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage by Hugh Brewster

[A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher upon my request.]

It has been almost 100 years since the Titanic's ill-fated maiden voyage that took the lives of over 1,500 people. Since that fateful night, the story of the Titanic has been told again and again (and again) through books and film and even a successful Broadway musical. The question on many people's minds as the anniversary of the Titanic disaster looms is: Do we really need more books about Titanic?

Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage: The Titanic's First-Class Passengers and Their World by Hugh Brewster answers this question with a resounding "yes." Although hundreds of studies have been published on the Titanic disaster, Hugh Brewster's newest book is not a rehashing of the same old "Titanic" story that we have heard time and time again. In many books, the story of the Titanic is the story of the ship itself: how big she was, how many people were aboard her, how she struck the iceberg and ultimately, how she sank. Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage avoids making the Titanic center stage and instead thrusts the reader into the world of the most famous and noteworthy of Titanic's passengers. The story of the Titanic presented here is not a cold tally of the dead or a countdown of her lifeboats, but a human story about real people who lived and died and made human decisions that night, allowing the reader to "... place ourselves on that sloping deck and ask, 'What would we do?'"

It's clear from the outset that Brewster has done his research, not only on the Titanic (he has published previous works about the ship) but on the world of its first-class passengers and most remarkably, their personal lives. After all, it is one thing to read about the disaster and see an offhand remark about "Lucile Duff Gordan, a popular designer," or "Frank Millet, a popular artist and writer," who survived and did not survive the disaster, respectively. It is quite another to be presented a history of their lives--their loves, their losses, their passions and their personality--while eventually learning of their actions during the voyage and the impact that their life or death had on their world. Some readers may notice that Brewster sometimes has to rely on speculation, such as remarking that perhaps Lucille Duff Gordon wore a certain dress on a particular evening. Most of his speculations are based on research (in the previous example, Brewster is referring to a dress which was included in Lucille's cargo inventory) and, in my opinion, are simply a necessity of writing about what is ultimately a human story.

Brewster's writing is always engaging, always clear, and a pleasure to read. There are black and white photos related to the narrative included throughout the book, including some more uncommon photos of the passengers and first-class rooms. Included in the postscript of the book is a concise guide to the passengers mentioned in the book, with basic information about their lives, whether or not they survived the sinking, and (when applicable) their fate after the Titanic disaster.

I highly recommended Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage to anyone who has an interest in the Titanic, whether they are picking up their very first books about the incident or have been studying the ship for years. It is definitely a worthy addition to the long list of Titanic studies, and I would say it's one of the most interesting and important newer Titanic books to come out in recent years. I would also recommend this to anyone with an interest in the end of the Edwardian age, especially early 20th century American politics, Edwardian fashion and social history.

Quick Reviews: Fasting Girls, Hollywood Monster and Vive La Revolution.

Fasting Girls: The History of Anorexia Nervosa by Joan Jacobs Brumberg is an updated edition to Brumberg's critical study on the history of anorexia nervosa which was first published in the 1980s. Fasting Girls traces the history of the modern disease anorexia nervosa as well as the history of food refusal among young women, which dates back at least as far as the 16th century. Brumberg is careful to differentiate between these earlier historical cases of "fasting girls" and our more modern conception of anorexia nervosa. Brumberg argues that anorexia nervosa did not fully develop until the mid-late 19th century when increased social stability and heavy emphasis on mealtime as a sign of status in the growing upper middle class allowed for the development of a mental disorder which revolved around the consumption and control of food and weight.

Brumberg's writing tends toward the academic, but most readers shouldn't have trouble following her linear narrative which begins in the 16th century and continues until the 1980s, with a brief addition that was written at the start of the new millennium. Fasting Girls: The History of Anorexia Nervosa will appeal to anyone interested in the history of this mental disorder as well as the history of "fasting girls" in the 16th through the 19th centuries. The book will also be of interest to students or professionals in the mental health and wellness field.

Hollywood Monster: A Walk Down Elm Street With the Man of Your Dreams by Robert Englund recounts the now famous horror actor's early years in the theater and in Hollywood before landing his most iconic role: that of Freddy Kreuger in the first A Nightmare on Elm Street film and subsequent franchise. Although the memoir seems marketed as a book which focuses on Englund's "career" as Freddy Kreuger, it's actually more of a general overview of Englund's career and personal life. Englund's career before the first Nightmare film, which may be surprising to fans who only know him from the Nightmare franchise, includes classical theater roles, bit parts in plenty of older Hollywood flicks and small roles alongside growing major stars like Sally Field and Henry Fonda. Englund, of course, recounts his time filming A Nightmare On Elm Street and its many sequels as well as his other work during and post-Nightmare, such as his acclaimed role in the mini-series V.

The memoir is very casual but still engaging. The major flaw with this memoir is that Englund does not focus on any particular topic for very long. He briefly mentions roles or events or people but rarely goes into any great detail about any of them. Fans of Englund's portrayal of Freddy Kreuger will enjoy some anecdotes about the behind the scenes hijinks, but may be disappointed that there isn't really much dirt, gossip or secrets revealed in the course of the narrative. I would recommend Hollywood Monster for hardcore fans of the Nightmare franchise or readers who enjoy a casual, if sometimes flighty, Hollywood memoir.

Vive La Revolution: A Stand-Up History of the French Revolution by Mark Steel is a casual history of the French Revolution told in a conversational and comedic tone. Vive La Revolution covers the basics of the French Revolution, including its origins, major events and players and the subsequent consequences and results of the revolution. Steel's presentation of the revolution is noticeably sympathetic towards the revolution and most of its supporting figures. Some readers may find this refreshing, considering the glut of books in recent years which are more sympathetic toward the French royal family. However, Steel's argument that negative portrayals of "pro" revolutionary figures are mostly based in biased myth and legend is sometimes lost when Steel relies on legends or myths in his descriptions of aristocratic or royal figures. I would have preferred for the author to point out the inaccuracies of popular conceptions of all figures of the revolution, not just the ones he personally supported. The book also occasionally suffers from a lack of basic fact checking, such as mixing up the sister of Louis XVI with the sister of Marie Antoinette and then later, the niece of Louis XVI.

Despite these flaws, the book does manage to cover the revolution in a way that is engaging, especially for casual readers. I would mainly recommend Vive La Revolution to readers looking for something easy to read about the French Revolution, despite its occasional flaws, or readers who are fans of Mark Steel's comedic writing.