Customer Reviews

Susannah Morrow

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Sometimes I wonder what life must have been like for those living in Salem village in 1692. From the modern standpoint, it can be difficult to accept that these people could have been so easily swept away by what is now viewed as mass hysteria and rampant superstition. To me the value of books like Susannah Morrow is that they examine the impact of such unbelievable episodes on the lives of a few ordinary people. Chance's approach, to tell aspects of the story from the perspective of 3 members of one family, provides insight into how what happened could happen. Charity, the first narrator, has just suffered the loss of her mother and is struggling with grief and her own emerging sexuality. Her conflicts are those of the adolescent. Lucas is also struggling with his wife's death and the allure of his newly arrived sister-in-law, Susannah, who is surrounded by an aura of mystery and who possesses the warmth of spirit that so frightened the Puritans. He is a man who recognizes his own sexual needs but views them as sinful. Finally, Susannah herself, a freer thinker who badly wants to embrace her new family but can't manage to crack that Puritan shell surrounding them.
Loss is the central theme of this novel. Loss of loved ones, loss of one's own spirit, loss of personal and community control, loss of logic and reason and trust. Susannah Morrow helps the modern reader to suspend the 21st century mindset and view life from the perspective of those living in a wild, poorly understood environment both natural and of their own making. This is no historical romance, but a nice piece of historical fiction.

Megan Chance has taken the true incident of the Salem Witch Trials and woven an excellent story around the events. Susannah Morrow is an outstanding piece of historical fiction coupled with suspense as we watch the descent into hell of a village and its occupants.

Susannah arrives in Salem Village on the night her sister, Judith, dies in childbirth. Susannah is a attractive and flambouyant, and possesses a somewhat murky past that definitely includes several lovers and possibily a stage career. Needless to say, she doesn't fit in well with the local villagers, though she decides to stay in Salem in order to take care of her sister's widower and his three daughters. As the story progresses, Charity, the eldest daughter, comes to believe her mother's specter is telling her that Susannah is evil; this idea is only reinforced for Charity when she begins to sense the growing attraction between her father, Lucas, and her aunt. Charity, desperate to fit in, begins hanging around with some girls of questionable character, and when they begin to "see" witches, she allows herself to be led into the madness. We watch in stunned silence as Charity herself begins to accuse innocent women and men, and we see the village collapse upon itself as the rumors and accusations grow wilder.

Chance has taken a dark time in America's early history and made it come alive through her tight writing and her excellent use of overlapping points of view. This book will keep you turning the pages until you reach the end, tired and satisfied. Highly recommended.

Although I have read alot of book set during the Salem Witch Trials, this one still stands out to me. Susannah Morrow is a great book, filled with intrigue, seduction, sexual tension, jealousy, and of course accusation. Meghan Chance did a wonderful job giving voices to this characters, based on actual people. This is an all together satisfying book.

"Susannah Morrow: A Novel of Salem" was a very interesting book. I've never read a book dealing with the viewpoint of a condemned witch or anything dealing with the witch's point of view (the jailing to be exact). There were three main characters narrating, Charity, Lucas, and Susannah, although Charity was only showcased once, and I would have liked an additional chapter of her point of view when she became "possessed." While I enjoyed the book for its historical merits, I felt the character development was lacking. I wanted to know more about Charity and her relationship with the girls who cried out against the witches. I wanted to know more about Lucas and why he was so devout to his religion, the family he left behind, his feelings concerning the many children he lost after his wife gave birth, why he felt more passion for Susannah than his wife, and a better transition in his personality concerning his children. Susannah was a wishy-washy character; she was sinful because she lived and slept with men she was not married to, but why did she see this as the only way to escape her life with her father, why did she feel something other than physical attraction for Lucas, and why did she have such a strong maternal instinct? I was left with many questions about the characters. Finally, I would have liked there to be an Epilogue in addition to the Author's Note. The book did have a large amount dialogue, but I felt that it brought to life the story much better than just plain descriptions. And I was interested in how author Megan Chance brought out sexuality during the Salem Witch trials and Puritan time, as that is hardy ever a focal point in books related to this time period. For the historical fiction aspect, I recommend.

This novel started off slowly and I almost put it aside. Still, I continued reading and it grasped my full attention somewhere in the middle and I read excitedly until the end.

At first, I didn't know why so much emphasis was placed on the 'friends' of Charity and her obsession with them. Having no knowledge of the Salem Witch Trials, I didn't see what was developing. I thought Charity's perspective was very emotional and her outbursts tiring, but my patience was rewarded. As the novel switched over to the voices of the two adults, Lucas's and Susannah's relationship evolved, Charity was seen in new light, and the suspense began building. It leaves you in the dark about Charity's later activities and keeps you guessing until the end, so read on!

I'm glad I did!

The hysteria over witchcraft that enveloped Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 endures as one of the most riveting and horrific episodes in our collective past. Before it was over, 19 people were hanged as witches and one man was pressed to death. Hundreds more were imprisoned in hellish conditions while the British crown confiscated their property.

The event has inspired a slew of novels, movies and nonfiction tomes. But with SUSANNAH MORROW: A Novel of Salem, Megan Chance makes this well-trod historical ground look fresh.

The novel blends factual and fictional characters to build a mesmerizing portrait of a society strangled by misguided religious fervor, sexual repression and emotional alienation. Chance's deft use of detail and archaic speech patterns anchor the story, giving it weight and authenticity. At its heart, though, this is not a novel of history or social mores, but an intimate love story.

It's three main characters --- 15-year-old Charity Fowler, her father Lucas and her aunt Susannah Morrow --- take turns telling the story in first person. The narrative focuses on them, never stepping back to allow a broader view of the events.

The story opens with Charity watching as her mother, Judith, lay bloody and dying moments after giving birth. Her father rushes in from the storm. He has brought Judith's sister, Susannah. The two have not seen each other for 17 years, but their connection is palpable as Susannah leans over her sister.

"But then, my mother smiled and it was not a feeble smile like the ones she'd given me or my father," Charity observes. "It was the first real smile I'd seen on her face since the labor had begun and with it came a light in her eyes that stunned me, that raised a blinding hope in my own soul."

A few minutes later, Susannah removes the hood of her cloak, revealing a beauty the reader instantly recognizes as dangerous --- even though Charity does not.

"She was so beautiful that for a moment I fancied 'twas not the fire's gold she was reflecting but some light that came from inside her, something so bright that I suddenly knew where my mother had found the will to birth the baby. She had caught some of that spirit in Susannah Morrow's face. I wondered that it had not been enough to keep her alive."

Susannah is not just beautiful, but sensual, mildly irreverent and scented with the seductive hint of a disreputable past. That she is also nurturing, perceptive and loyal tends to get lost on the women who envy her and the men who lust after her.

Among those men is Lucas, a man so hell-bent on righteousness he fears the sin of looking at his own daughters with pride. When he finally gives in to his desire for Susannah --- and then repeats the lapse a number of times --- it's sexy in a way only resisted passion can be. Here the prose approaches romance territory, stopping just short of slipping into it.

Says Lucas, "I braced my hands on the edges of the barrel and rocked her until the lid became unsettled and I felt the beer spilling over my fingers; I smelled the yeast and malt of it, filling the air along with her scent, lemons and musk and sex."

All three of the central characters feel real, but Lucas is the most compelling. Fearful of making his daughters weak, he denies both them and himself the comfort of a touch or tender word. He's so tortured by his feelings for Susannah he convinces himself that she really is a witch when others make the charge.

The book makes no attempt to answer the question that has lingered for 300 years --- what allowed Salem to be gripped by such cruel insanity? This book trades in relationships. Let scholars grapple with the big societal issues.

Susannah's experiences as an accused witch are based on the experiences of several real-life women who were branded as witches. Revealing Susannah's ultimate fate would ruin the fun. That would be a shame, as this is one of the most entertaining novels of the season.

--- Reviewed by Karen Jenkins Holt

A New Lesson on Old Prejudices

There is a new, young author in town writing serious, readable novels. At least her first is and that is a promise of more to come.

"Susannah Morrow," by Megan Chance is a self-proclaimed "Novel of Salem."
It is the story of a fictional characters set in the history of Salem, Massachusetts in the 1600s. The witch hunts are not pretty. They may, however, speak to us several hundred years after a radical and closed society made them part of our heritage.

This story is told from the viewpoints of three different family members. We see a deluded sixteen-year-old plagued by guilt for her indiscretions, her father, Lucas Fowler, who is trying to be a good man but is caught up in mass hysteria, and her aunt who has brought not only her own physical beauty to town but an independence not frequently seen in either men or women in these times.

Sometimes I found both modern motivation and reasoning lacking in this novel and that was troubling. Then I stopped to reflect that it was not the fault of the author but of the subject matter. I also began to wonder if there really is that much of a difference between these characters' actions and much of what we see in the world today. This story is part of our own history. Is what we see there really so different from what we are witnessing in our own world and even our own time?

Perhaps, then, this book is one that is right for this time and this place. Perhaps it is one that will not only entertain but remind us how important it is to guard our separation of church and state, our right to independent thought.
Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of "This is the Place"

The year is 1691 in Salem Village, Massachusetts, and fifteen-year-old Charity Fowler's mother, Judith, is encountering difficulty in childbirth. Lucas, Charity's father, must brave the weather to go to town to await the arrival of Susannah Morrow, Judith's sister. Upon the death of Judith, Susannah acts as a mother figure to Charity and her six-year-old sister, Jude, while the baby Faith is nursed at neighbors.

But Charity once again befriends the girls that her mother had warned her away from. Even as these girls pretend to practice harmless tricks and gather to whisper stories, rumors of witchcraft abound. And when these same young women appear to be possessed by the devil, they begin pointing accusatory fingers at so-called witches with Susannah's name at the forefront.

The complexity of this tale is compounded by Charity's guilt over a secret her mother took to the grave as well as Lucas' inexplicable attraction to Susannah. This crafty mix of fact and fiction eerily details the almost unbelievable widespread hysteria caused by the devious actions of a few young girls. The true beauty of Ms. Chance's novel is that she has chronicled this story in such a way that shows that characters' actions are timeless and have repeated themselves in similar scenarios throughout history.

1691 Salem, Massachusetts, fifteen-year-old Charity Fowler watches her mother grow weaker as she gives birth. Charity's puritanical and pious father Lucas is meeting his sister-in-law Susannah Morrow, who just arrived from England on a visit, at the docks. Lucas and Susannah return to his home in time to see his wife give birth and die. A troubled Charity soon believes that Susannah is evil incarnate as a disciple of the Devil.

Lucas begins to worry about his daughter whose behavior seems weirder everyday. He reads from the bible to soothe her soul, but that seems to upset Charity more. Worse, Lucas is very attracted to Susannah though the memory of his wife fresh in the ground lingers. As hysteria turns a town into an avenging mob seeking anything remotely different, the former London stage performer Susannah is an ideal target. She is accused of witchcraft and incarcerated followed by the jailing of Lucas as a mad frenzy takes charge of the townsfolk.

SUSANNAH MORROW has plenty going for it as a powerfully vivid look at the Salem witch trials. The story line is loaded with historical information that enhances the novel by bringing to life this odd period (though some might disagree insisting that we still conduct witch-hunts today). The three key characters seem fully developed and genuine, yet the tale never fully takes off as the plot overuses suppressed sexual reactions inside of Hawthorne's circles so that the first person narration in three parts never quite hooks the audience. Megan Chance is a talented author who remarkably radiates a light on the late seventeenth century in New England that historical novel fans will feel is worth the chance of reading.

Harriet Klausner

Upon reading Megan Chance's brilliant novel of hysteria, hypnosis and homicide "An Inconvenient Wife" I was determined to read everything she had written. At the time that included only one other novel, "Susannah Morrow." (By the way there is another author named Megan Chance who writes romance novels. This is the same person but I haven't read any of the romance novels yet so can't vouch for them. But Chance is great so I suspect they're not bad.)

I expected this novel, a story of the Salem witch trials is broken up in three parts told from the perspective of fictional characters: Charity Fowler, a 16 year old girl, Lucas Fowler, her father and Susannah Morrow, Charity's mother's sister.

Charity has the first third. Susannah arrives just as Charity's mother is giving birth to what is her last child and she dies in the process, leaving Susannah to take over running the household. But from the beginning, immediately after her mother's death Charity begins to see her mother's ghosts, warning her of evil and in the company of a black man (the devil.) Not trusting her aunt and believing the village rumors she was once an actress Charity falls into the company of her old friends-who once convinced her to commit a terrible sin. Soon they are visiting the preacher's house, where a black slave (Tituba) begins to teach them spells....

Here Lucas takes over the narrative, telling of the time when the village girls begin to fall to mysterious ailments, barking and shivering, claiming they are being forced to sign the devils book, being pinched by witches-and startling the village into paranoia and suspicion of everyone. At the same time, Lucas' obsession and physical attraction to his dead wife's sister begin to consume him, and he doesn't notice his daughter's dangerous fear and anger until it is far too late...

The rest is Susannah's story. I won't say what she goes through. That would spoil it.

The first person narration in this book is very similar to the kind used in "An Inconvenient Wife" very descriptive but at the same time sparse and a little dreamy. This reflects well with the setting as the village of Salem is so small and isolated, so cold with winter coming on that you can feel the chill winds, find your bones weary with the hard chores and long walks between houses to communicate with anyone, and the constant fear of Indian attack, illness, and evil. It is a perfectly portrayed atmosphere which stays consistent through the novel, though it is seen differently by all three characters.

In the end I enjoyed this immensely but had a very hard time getting into this novel-I picked it up and put it down several times before I reached page 80, but finally things got more interesting and I stuck with it. Aside from the slow start something that dragged the novel down was the fragmented narration-it was great to know what everyone felt about things of course, but I would have loved to have Charity's perspective on the latter parts of the book and because of its lack I completely stopped understanding her. Was she mad with grief, faking madness or something else altogether? How did she really feel about the accusations of over 100 friends and neighbors-one as young as four years old, were accused of witchcraft and 19 where hung for it? For that matter how did others in the village. A wider view would have made this novel better for me, but really it's about one family's experience through the trials, not a novel about the event in whole.

And I believe that this book accomplished what must have been the author's goal-to bring the horror and confusion and mob madness that infected New England to the light and expose what happened in all its lack of glory.

Still I can't say I enjoyed this book as much as "An Inconvenient Wife." In spite of all the history involved, there is really less of a story and plot here because of the fragmentation of the book. However the writing style and overall tone has reinforced my conviction that Megan Chance is an author to watch out for and I plan on reading her third book as soon as I finish this review.

Three stars (but perhaps this is because of suffering by comparison.)

A question for those who know more about the Salem witch trials then me- wasn't there a real charity involved in the trials somehow? Or do I have it wrong that this one was fictional (though the author herself states it in her after note...) anyway, let me know!