Join the PS! Book Club on Monday, March 21st at 7pm when we discuss The Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian. This historical fiction novel is set in the Boston of 1662, a precarious environment for women. The author confronts Puritan society from the perspective of a young woman, Mary Deerfield, second wife of an older, influential mill owner who is as cruel as he is powerful.
The universal themes of the balance of power in a marriage, privileges of wealth and position, domestic abuse, and consequences of being an independent thinking woman are rendered with historical attention to detail in this courtroom procedural and mystery.
After one of his violent drunken rages, Mary knows she must divorce her husband to save her own life. Read along with your friends in the Poolesville Seniors Book Club to see if Mary can overcome the socially sanctioned brutality of her community and the accusation that she is a witch.