Customer Reviews

I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have a hard time reviewing this work: on the one hand, the background of this sometimes lyrical novel provides an insight into one of the slighted players in the infamous Salem Witch Trials of the 17th C, Tituba, the slave of Rev. Samuel Parris; on the other hand, although purporting to 'use' history to explore broader themes, Conde takes many liberties with actual events and other elements, which distort the narrative. To me, the best parts of this novel are the beginning and the end (the created 'history' of Tituba); also, the characterizations of Tituba, John Indian (her husband), Benjamin Cohen (a Jewish immigrant who becomes both Tituba's owner and lover), and the 'spirits' to whom Tituba talks, are vividly drawn. We see Tituba's origin in the brutal rape of her mother, Abena, by a Englishman while she is on her way to Barbados enslaved, and Abena's hanging for rebelling against another sexual assault. This has a profound effect on Tituba, and on her relations with men generally and whites in particular. As the story progresses, factual elements come into play: Tituba ends up in the service of Samuel Parris; she befriends his wife, daughter, and niece, only to be betrayed in Salem by everyone, including her faithless husband; she is found guilty in the trials (of which Conde includes an actual transcript of Tituba's deposition, but little else about the trials themselves). Conde adds fictional narrative to fill out the next stage of Tituba's life: sold to Benjamin Cohen, who frees her; her return to Barbados, where she encounters 'maroons'(free black men and women who live in hiding, plotting to overthrow the white regime) and where she will meet the same end as her mother. There are some wonderful scenes in this book, which realizes Conde's goal of reminding the reader that Tituba was a 'real person', not just a footnote.
However, there are also several elements that jar the reader out of this narrative (as the Afterward clearly illuminates). As I was reading the book, modern words such as 'feminist' appear; the section with the most incongruities was the insertion of Hester Prynne, from Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter', in Tituba's cell during the Salem trials (although Hawthorne's story took place about 50 years earlier). The two women have several conversations that are obviously meant to bring home a modern sensibility. When I realized who Tituba's fellow prisoner was, I frankly -- and literally -- groaned. But Conde doesn't stop there: in this version, Hester doesn't live to have the scarlet 'A' emblazoned on her bodice. The scenes with Hester also illustrate two running themes that seemed to be beaten into the story: men are pretty much scum, and whites -- especially Puritans -- are pretty much evil and can't be trusted (the one exception is Benjamin Cohen, part of another persecuted group). Conde has a good grasp of the failings of Puritanism (it's known that many Puritans 'dabbled' in things like palm reading, even though it was obviously 'ungodly'); however, she creates a different origin for the Salem witch trials than is historically correct, and simplfies historical characters to the point that they are almost ridiculous. By the time I got to the Afterward (one out of the four stars I gave this book is for that alone), I was pretty annoyed at the liberties Conde took with language and history. The Afterward did, however, help me understand some of what Conde intended, and her work in the context of modern Caribbean literature. An interview with Conde is included, and in it she states, "Do not take 'Tituba' too seriously, please." Conde says that the story is part "parody", and that Tituba is a "mock-epic" heroine. Although I 'get it' now, the fact that the Afterward had to explain to me what the book meant (and much of the explanantion contained there seems to contradict itself)signals that the book failed on many levels. This is especially true in the Foreward, written by Angela Davis, which seems to take the book's messages very seriously; in thanking Conde for her vision, Davis says Tituba "dies as a revolutionary", and that this work is Tituba's "revenge" for being ignored by mainstream history. While I agree that Tituba needs more attention, I think that she also deserved more than this version of her life, without the inclusion of literary characters and simplistic stereotyping of men.

I truly loved this book, I sat and read it through in one day - and I'll probably read it again. I don't do that often. "I, Tituba" does not claim to be a historical treatise - what it is, is a work of insightful imagination. I've been to Salem, I've read just about everything there is to read about the witch trials, and it is true that Tituba gets short shrift. It's also true that there is probably very little in the way of documentation to prove anything about her. It's the nature of the beast called Slavery. That anyone cared enough to give her form and substance is a tribute to her story and her life. There is far too much invisible history for very similar reasons. May there be more authors with the craft and the wisdom to bring it to life.

This book was excellent! I was required to read it for an english class in college and I literally couldn't put the book down! I loved the fact that Conde chose to write her novel on Tituba's life before and after the witch trials, instead of just another book about the trials. Conde gave Tituba a personality, character and above all, a life. Before reading this novel, all I knew about Tituba was that she may have been a leading cause in the commencement of the witch trials. I had never thought about what her life was like before she came to the "new" world, or what her life was like after the witch trials. I recommend this book to anyone, even if you don't enjoy reading, Conde will interest even the least of readers.

I was glad to see that this book was about Tituba and her life instead of just about the Salem Witch Trials. She had a life before and after that tragedy, and the author has made that life one that kept me interested until the end. I probably didn't need all the references to penises, but I did enjoy reading about a life so different from mine. I liked Tituba very much as presented by this author. I think Americans need to read more international literature for the exposure to other cultures, and this book is a good place to start. Even though she was from Barbardos, Tituba is a woman, and I share that bond with her. I liked the way she doubted, but never completely lost faith in her fellow human beings. I've been to Salem, and what the author says is true: Tituba as a real person has really been forgotten. This book reveals her, finally.

I bought this book years ago at in the gift shop of The Witch Museum in Salem, MA. Never got around to reading it until now...I can't believe I waited so long! I've only started reading it, but the first 5 chapters alone have been superb. Highly recommended!

I had to write a review on this book for a college course. I'm glad I had the opportunity to read the story, it was a wonderful read. I received 100% on the review.

Condé engages the reader with a story that is multilayered and captivating with voluntary and involuntary enslavement, passion, rebellion, and the interconnectedness of the spiritual and natural world.

She paints a vivid picture of slavery in Barbados through the eyes of Abena and her daughter, the main character, Tituba. Tituba is not born a slave but enters into this bondage for want of a man. It is at this point that her problems arise. Willingly transferring oneself from a world of freedom to a world of bondage creates a mountain of issues insurmountable by mere human strength.

Although Tituba's role in the Salem Witch Trials serves as one of the main focuses of the novel, the experiences that lead to the accusations are what capture the reader's attention. Condé also weaves the thread of a Trinitarian model of the three woman family with Tituba, Abena, and Mama Yaya. She is guided and warned by their spirits but chooses to forge her own path. If you are ever entranced by a gentleman, think twice before you leave the bush. You'll have to read the book to get that one.

This book is definitely a keeper. For those that follow the names of the people involved with the Salem witch trials, you will really appreciate this book. The author gives you a whole new perspective that the others I have read didn't. Although there is some fiction in here, it definitely follows history from the other side.

Call it historical novel or whatever you wish, this is one of the greatest books I have read and paralles in a vague but definitve way some texts of García Márquez.

Maryse Conde is a Guadelupean black writer who has lived in a number of Antillean islands, West African countries, England, France and the U.S. She has lectured at prestigious universities on West Indian literature and related topics and has written a number of novels and plays.

In the 1980s Ms. Conde found documentation of about the then frequent witch trials conducted in the puritanical New England in the late 17th century, among them a rather laconic mention of a black woman slave Tituba from Barbados who was accused of witchcraft ("hoodoo") in Salem, Mass. 1692, then sold for the price of her prison fees and the cost of chains and shackles. Very little more was known about Tituba.

Ms. Conde decided to give life to Tituba, as she said: "a reality that was denied to her because of her color and her gender" and "because a black person is supposed not to have any history except the colonial one". In a fascinating, in places ironic but always highly compassionate thread, Conde recreates Tituba's completely unjust life story as a fictional rendition in the best Condean dreams-on-a-historical-basis format, which carries a heavy reality component to it, as some dreams do. In an almost surrealistic but still in a definite down-to-earth way, the book offers, almost compels, a highly liberating treatment that does not preach or idealize in the slightest but forces the reader into a new rearrangement of her/his mental orientations, be they connected with the unjust human history or its present forms; historical parallels of exploitation, repression and sheer insanity; racism; misogynism; black feminism; spirituality; cultural history; social ethics - - whatever is your angle after having read the unjust life story of an extraordinary woman.

The book is furnished with a thoughtful foreword by Angela Y. Davis and an afterword with an enlightening interview of Ms. Conde. The English translation from the original French is a pleasure to read.

This was a wonderfully written book, I felt as though Tituba wrote herself. I was immediately taken in and couldn't wait to finish, but after finishing...wanted to read more. A great read!