商品簡介
In Salem, accusation has become a weapon, and the institutions charged with delivering justice are helping to spread the panic. Against the witchcraft persecutions of 1691-1692, Rachel Dyer emerges as a courageous opponent of proceedings shaped by deception, religious authority and judicial power. Her determination to protect her sister Mary Elizabeth places a deeply personal bond within a crisis that threatens accused individuals and the principles by which a community claims to judge them. The colonial settlement and its surrounding roads, shore and wilderness provide the ground for a Gothic historical novel of confinement, confrontation and contested truth. Trials unfold under the pressure of accusers and authorities, while the jail and dungeons reveal the human consequences of unchecked suspicion. George Burroughs stands among those who defend the accused and challenge the proceedings, sharpening the novel's central conflict between obedience to established power and resistance in the name of justice. Beyond its fictionalised treatment of the Salem witch trials, the novel examines a society divided between inherited Old World authority and emerging ideas of New World freedom. Rachel's defiance brings moral courage and independence into direct conflict with persecution, while multiple trials expose how accusation can acquire the force of proof. The result is a distinctive work of colonial American fiction in which public judgement, private loyalty and republican ideals meet under extraordinary pressure. This book was out of print for decades and is now republished by Alpha Editions. It has been restored for today's and future generations. This edition is not just a reprint - it's a collector's item and a cultural treasure.
