The Heretic's Daughter

The Heretic’s Daughter (2008) is the debut novel of author Kathleen Kent. Upon publication, it immediately made the New York Times bestseller list. Kent followed this title with two other best-selling historical fiction works: The Traitor’s Wife (2010) and The Outcasts (2013). She also wrote a crime fiction trilogy that was nominated for an Edgar Award. A resident of Texas, Kent was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters in 2020 for her contribution to Texas literature.

In writing The Heretic’s Daughter, Kent drew on her family history since her great-grandmother from nine generations earlier was tried and executed during the Salem witch trials in 1692. The book falls under the categories of Historical Thrillers and US Historical Fiction.

This study guide and all its page citations are based on the Little, Brown and Company 2008 Kindle edition of the novel.

Content Warning: This guide describes and analyzes the source text’s depiction of graphic violence, torture, and execution. This study guide and the source text also reference death by suicide.

Plot Summary

Set in the communities of Andover, Billerica, and Salem, Massachusetts, the novel briefly references locations in Connecticut as well. While the narrative starts with a letter written in 1752, the story’s main events take place between December 1690 and October 1692. These dates roughly coincide with the witch persecutions in Salem. The final chapter includes a summary of the subsequent lives of the book’s characters from late 1692 to May 1735. The story is told using first-person narration from the perspective of Sarah Carrier, the daughter of a woman who is tried and executed for witchcraft. Sarah’s age fluctuates in the novel. She begins her tale as a 70-year-old widow, narrates the bulk of the story between the ages of nine and 11, and wraps up the tale at age 53. In describing the ordeal of the Salem witch persecution and its tragic effect on one family, the novel examines the themes of A Community in Crisis, The Dangers of Theocracy, and Legacies of the Past.

The novel opens with a letter from 70-year-old widow Sarah Carrier Chapman. She’s writing to her granddaughter to offer an unconventional wedding gift: the story of the Carrier family. They survived the dark period of witch persecutions in Salem, Massachusetts, during the 1690s, and Sarah wants her granddaughter to understand the family’s resilience and strength by telling their story.

The narrative then skips back to December 1690, when Sarah is only nine years old. She and her family are fleeing a smallpox epidemic in the town of Billerica. Sarah is accompanied by her mother and father, Martha and Thomas Carrier. Her siblings are three older brothers named Richard, Andrew, and Tom, as well as a one-year-old sister named Hannah. They’re seeking refuge at the home of Martha’s mother, Grandmother Allen, who lives in the town of Andover.

While Martha has been a resident of the Puritan colony of Massachusetts all her life, her husband Thomas comes from Wales. He’s seven feet tall, and there are rumors that he fought in the English Civil War and may have been the executioner who beheaded King Charles I. Consequently, the community regards Thomas with suspicion. Grandmother Allen advises Martha and Thomas to attend Sunday church services to conform to people’s expectations, and they grudgingly agree.

Shortly afterward, Andrew shows signs of smallpox infection, and the family is placed under quarantine. Thomas sneaks his two daughters to Billerica to stay with the Toothaker family. Mary Toothaker is Martha’s younger sister. Sarah much prefers her kind and amusing aunt and uncle to her stern and undemonstrative parents. She’s especially captivated by her cousin Margaret, who speaks to invisible beings and welcomes Sarah’s friendship.

A few months later, Sarah and Hannah are taken back home, but Sarah resents her parents for removing her from the pleasant Toothaker family. Nevertheless, Martha cautions her daughter not to judge by appearances. Uncle Roger has coveted the Allen farm and spreads lies about the Carrier family. Roger’s son, Allen, tries to set fire to the family’s barn. Sarah is wary of her mother’s advice because Martha has a reputation for being outspoken and gets into more than one argument with the neighbors.

By the winter of 1691, witch hysteria has broken out in Salem. Soon, accusations are flying around the colony, and anyone who has a petty grievance begins pointing fingers. Martha is accused of witchcraft but refuses to flee to save herself. She tells her husband that someone must stand up to the religious authorities. Tragically, Martha is executed, and all her children except Hannah are arrested and imprisoned. Sarah undergoes the travesty of an investigation and the horror of confinement in the crowded and deplorable conditions of the Salem jail. However, she and her brothers are freed after spending months in captivity. Martha made her daughter promise to tell the truth someday about the witch trials, and Sarah preserves her mother’s legacy by recording the story and passing it on to her granddaughter.