Crane pond: A Novel of Salem - Brossura

Francis, Richard

Brossura

ISBN 10: 1609453514 ISBN 13: 9781609453510

Casa editrice: Europa Editions, 2016

Riassunto

Usually told from the perspective of the victims, the Salem Witch Trials are a forever story. The vestiges of a particular strain of American social hysteria remain with us even today. In Crane Pond, Richard Francis reveals a side of the history that is not often recounted, as he skillfully constructs a portrait of Samuel Sewall, the only judge to later admit that a terrible mistake had been made. 

In a colony on the edge of survival in a mysterious new world where infant mortality is high and sin is to blame, Sweall is committed to being a loving family man, a good citizen, and a fair-minded judge. Like any believing Puritan, he agonizes over what others think of him, while striving to act morally correct, keep the peace, and (hopefully make time to) enjoy a hefty slice of pie. His one regret is that only months before he didn't sentence a group of pirates to death. What begins as a touching story of a bumbling man tasked with making judgements in a society where reason is often ephemeral, quickly becomes the chilling narrative we know too well. And when public opinion wavers, Sweall learns that what has been done cannot be undone.

Crane Pond explores the inner life of a well-meaning man who compormised with evil. It presents an unflinching portrayal of Sewall's efforts to piece together a new perspective from shattered preconceptions, vividly tracking his search for atonement, for peace, and ultimately for a renewal of hope. At once a searing view of the Trials from the inside out, an empathetic portrait of one of the period's most tragic and redemptive figures, and an indictment of the malevolent power of religious and political idealism, it is a thrilling new telling of one of America's founding stories.

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Recensione:

"Historical fiction written with integrity and skill, from an author who knows how to deploy his background knowledge to get inside his subject's skin... In short, it goes straight on to my (small) list of historical novels that draw out the capacities of the form and allow readers to brush against the pleasures and terrors of the past." -- Hilary Mantel

"An entertaining and stimulating novel, richly peopled, that brings Salem, and the forms of belief that gave rise to it, to life with freshness, energy, intelligence - and with terrible and arresting proximity." --The Spectator

L'autore:

Richard Francis was educated at Cambridge and Harvard. He has written 17 books, both fiction and
nonfiction, including a number of books on American history and thought. His award-winning novels and books of nonfiction have been published by leading houses in London and New York, including Fourth Estate, Simon & Schuster, Harper Collins, W.W. Norton, Faber & Faber, and Pantheon. He and his wife live in Bath.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Europa Editions
• Data di pubblicazione: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1609453514
• ISBN 13: 9781609453510
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 350