So the chill goes down the spine all around. And when they get close to it, it seems to them to materialize as three women, who then fly swiftly away. Stacy Schiff's other books include Saint-Exupery: A Biography and A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America.Įlena Siebert Photography/Courtesy of Little BrownĪnd at one point, two men who've heard her testimony that day see a strange unnatural creature making unearthly noises by the side of the road. And you can imagine how that went over in a place where women were meant to be submissive and meek and silent." "And one of their first acts after the witchcraft has been diagnosed is to interrupt a minister in meeting. "Their limbs are paralyzed, they contort, they're going into trances, and they're screaming - night and day, screeches," Schiff tells NPR's Renee Montagne. The witch trials were set in motion by two young Salem girls in the grip of strange and disturbing symptoms. In her book The Witches, author Stacy Schiff follows the buildup of fear and outrageous tales of consorting with the devil. How?įor the pious Puritans of early America, witchcraft was a crime of the highest order.īack then, the term "witch hunt" was not just an expression: In 1692, 19 women and men were hanged and one pressed to death with stones after being found guilty of witchcraft. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title The Witches Subtitle Salem, 1692 Author Stacy Schiff
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