The Devil in the Shape of a Woman, Carol F. Karlsen
The Devil in the Shape of a Woman, Carol F. Karlsen
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The Devil in the Shape of a Woman
Witchcraft in Colonial New England

Author: Carol F. Karlsen

Narrator: Jo Anna Perrin

Unabridged: 9 hr 10 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 05/08/2018


Synopsis

Confessing to "familiarity with the devils," Mary Johnson, a servant, was executed by Connecticut officials in 1648. A wealthy Boston widow, Ann Hibbens was hanged in 1656 for casting spells on her neighbors. The case of Ann Cole, who was "taken with very strange Fits," fueled an outbreak of witchcraft accusations in Hartford a generation before the notorious events at Salem.

More than three hundred years later, the question "Why?" still haunts us. Why were these and other women likely witches—vulnerable to accusations of witchcraft and possession? Carol F. Karlsen reveals the social construction of witchcraft in seventeenth-century New England and illuminates the larger contours of gender relations in that society.

About Carol F. Karlsen

Carol F. Karlsen is professor emerita of history at the University of Michigan.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Chris

Incredibly captivating. I read this as research for a novel I'm writing, but quickly fell under Carol Karlsen's narrative spell. Scholarly and well-researched -- and filled with beautifully drawn characters.......more

Goodreads review by Steve

For a revised dissertation, this book is quite good. Karlsen doesn't focus only on Salem, either. This is a study of how women were demonized early in the history of the northeast colonies. There are some charts with statistics to make the point that women were overwhelmingly targeted as "witches" i......more

The Devil in the Shape of a Woman is both fascinating and frustrating. Its subject matter (witchcraft accusations in New England between about 1630 and 1692, which is the date of the Salem "outbreak") is compelling in that sort of oh god I can't look trainwreck fashion; I found it frustrating becaus......more