The First Witch of Boston: A Novel

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Hero archetypes

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Synopsis

2025 Goodreads Choice Award Finalist for Readers’ Favorite Historical Fiction “Andrea Catalano draws a tender, intimate portrait of a marriage and a bold defense of an independent woman ahead of her time.” —Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code A gripping and intimate novel based on the true story of Margaret Jones, the first woman to be found guilty of witchcraft in seventeenth-century Massachusetts. Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1646. Thomas and Margaret Jones arrive from England to build a life in the New World. Though of differing temperaments, cautious Thomas and fiery Margaret, a healer, are bound by a love that has lasted decades. With a child on the way, their new beginning promises only blessings. But in this austere Puritan community, comely faces hide malicious intent. Wrong moves or words are met with suspicion, and Margaret’s bold and unguarded nature draws scorn. Soon, Margaret is mistrusted as more cunning woman than kind caregiver. And when personal tragedies, religious hysteria, and wariness of the unknown turn most against her, even the devotion Margaret and her husband share is at risk. Inspired by actual diary entries and court records, The First Witch of Boston is at once the riveting story of a woman unjustly accused and a love story set amid the political and social turmoil of both Old and New England. Harrowing, and with a deep understanding of the human heart, history is brilliantly imagined.

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Is The First Witch of Boston: A Novel appropriate for my child?

Suitable for most readers 16 and up.

This historical novel depicts the persecution and execution of a woman accused of witchcraft in 1640s Massachusetts. Contains themes of religious hysteria, false accusations, imprisonment, and execution, plus moderate historical violence and implied loss of pregnancy.