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jazzy_daveMalcolm Gaskill "The Ruin Of All Witches" (Penguin)
Hugh and Mary Parsons were perhaps the most miserable couple in Springfield, Massachusetts circa 1650. Mary suffered from severe, untreated mental illness, and cantankerous brick maker Hugh managed to alienate everyone in town. The pair quarreled constantly and each accused the other of witchcraft. Moreover, the residents of Springfield attributed all kinds of misfortunes, from bad milk to mysterious illnesses, to the devilish actions of Goodman and Goodwife Parsons, and were all too delighted to testify against them. As the reader can imagine, this tale does not end well.
Author Malcolm Gaskell does a good job of showing the reader just how difficult life was for American colonists in the demon-haunted seventeenth century. All in all, this is a thoroughly researched account of an obscure time period.
Hugh and Mary Parsons were perhaps the most miserable couple in Springfield, Massachusetts circa 1650. Mary suffered from severe, untreated mental illness, and cantankerous brick maker Hugh managed to alienate everyone in town. The pair quarreled constantly and each accused the other of witchcraft. Moreover, the residents of Springfield attributed all kinds of misfortunes, from bad milk to mysterious illnesses, to the devilish actions of Goodman and Goodwife Parsons, and were all too delighted to testify against them. As the reader can imagine, this tale does not end well.
Author Malcolm Gaskell does a good job of showing the reader just how difficult life was for American colonists in the demon-haunted seventeenth century. All in all, this is a thoroughly researched account of an obscure time period.
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Date: 2023-04-23 07:48 pm (UTC)