I, Tituba: Black Witch of Salem

Part I relates the story of Tituba from her birth to her arrival in Salem. Part II begins with the witch trials and ends with Tituba’s execution in Barbados in the 1700s. The Epilogue, narrated by Tituba’s spirit, brings the story from the century of her death to that of the present-day reader. Following the Epilogue are two sections that Condé included in the original French publication: a Historical Note on the Salem witch trials and the real-life Tituba, and a Glossary of West Indian and author-invented terms.

The narrative opens with the story of Tituba’s conception, when her mother, Abena, is raped on a slave ship. Abena’s slave owner in Barbados discovers her pregnancy and gives her to Yao, another slave. At seven, Tituba witnesses the public hanging of her mother for fighting off a rape attempt. Yao commits suicide, and Tituba is sent off the plantation.

A spiritual healer named Mama Yaya adopts Tituba and teaches her herbal healing practices and spiritual arts. After Mama Yaya dies, Tituba lives on her own. She continues to communicate with the spirits of Abena, Yao, and Mama Yaya but ignores their warnings when she falls in love with a slave named

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