I was not well acquainted with Chris Bohjalian when his novel Hour of the Witch was announced as the Barnes and Noble book club selection. I knew that he is a reasonably well respected author, but I’d only read one of his books previously (The Double Bind, which is not one you often hear about) and was lukewarm about it. Still, since I don’t usually love the book club picks (The Cold Millions, Good Neighbors, Florence Adler Swims Forever), I was excited for a book that sounded more up my alley. Almost everyone in the book club said to me independently, Audra, this is going to be one you’ll like. They were right, but I think they were thinking more about the book being about witches (I read lots of fantasy, and Ninth House has been by far my favorite book club selection) and less about its focus on systematic sexism and power structures, which—for me—is the real appeal of this one.
What’s it about?
When Mary, a wealthy Puritan woman, petitions to divorce her abusive husband, she becomes an object of curiosity in her patriarchal and strictly religious society. During the divorce trial, Mary is scrutinized and criticized, and as it goes on Mary realizes that her emancipation from her husband may not be the only thing at stake; her independent spirit and quick mind may brand her as a witch in the minds of her neighbors.
What’d I think?
It takes a bit to get into this book. At first, I was a bit thrown by the dialogue, which is intentionally very dated (lots of thous and prithees and the like). I don’t know why I wan’t expecting it, considering when the book is set, but I wasn’t. The first half is quite slow and a bit repetitive. It is written very well, it is clearly meticulously researched, and it does an excellent job of orienting the reader in Bohjalian’s world of saints and sinners, but it does drag a little. There’s enough there to keep you reading, but it doesn’t light that I must tell everyone I know about this book fire. I think the novel would have been better slightly rebalanced, with a bit shaved off the first half and given to the latter half, which moves very quickly, but overall I enjoyed it. I was engaged with this world, and even in the moments when I was at my most frustrated at the slow-moving plot, I was still invested and interested enough to keep reading. I never set the book aside in frustration or complained to friends or family, as I’m wont to do with books that actively irritate me. So I think the pacing is fine, but it might have been better.
I’m always interested in stories about power. Ruminations on privilege and social status take a book to the next level for me. While stories about women’s lack of power during the era of the Salem Witch Trials are hardly a new concept, they are always interesting. The sad truth of the matter is that it was dangerous for a woman to be a person back in those days. If she was anything but a perfect wife and “helpmeet” to her husband, she could be killed… and her murderers would blame her for it. That’s an inherently terrifying position to be put in and lends itself well to dramatic narratives. Mary is a smart woman, but she is not a rebellious one—or, at least, not one that we would call rebellious today. She believes in the religious doctrines she has been taught. She silently endures her husbands physical and emotional abuse with nary a complaint for years. She dresses properly, speaks meekly, and is near constantly apologetic. In our world, Mary would seem overly compliant. The fact that she is seen as outspoken and ill-behaved is horrifying. All she does is think for herself and dare to suggest that she does not deserve to be abused.
For women even more outside the social norms—like Mary’s older, unmarried friend Constance—life is even worse. Mary is well-behaved. She is kind. She is a loving daughter and, until he stabs her hand and crushes her bones, a devoted wife. She is a second-class citizen because she is a woman. She is mistrusted because she is barren. And yet she is not entirely without privilege. Both her father and her husband are wealthy, and she is white and a member of the church in good standing. These privileges do not erase the difficulties of being a woman in such a rigidly, horrifically patriarchal society, but neither are they insignificant. Mary was in a horrific situation, but she was able to escape it, however briefly, because of her status and social class. She is educated, and her parents are wealthy enough to keep her when she flees to her home. Bohjalian does a really great job of depicting this nuance, and I mean this in the best possible way: if I didn’t know, I might’ve thought that Hour of the Witch were written by a woman. Feminism isn’t a subject you necessarily expect men to get right, and I was very pleased that Bohjalian did.
I also just really enjoyed the twists and turns in the second half of the book. I was surprised, but not shocked by some of the plot developments because they are set up, but not too obviously.
Learning about the Puritans was also a nice benefit of reading this book. I did not know that they were so bizarrely terrified that forks were the devil’s instrument. As a general rule I’m not all that into history, but little facts like that are fascinating. The little day-to-day facts, like how the Puritans would all—by today’s standards—have horrific table manners are what I find interesting. I wonder what details of 2021 will seem the weirdest to people from our future looking back at us. We do a lot of weird stuff. It could be anything.
What’s the verdict?
While I might not have picked Hour of the Witch for myself, I still really enjoyed it. It’s a courtroom drama packed inside a historical fiction story that centers on power structures and the dangers inherent to a deeply unbalanced social dynamic. It takes some time to get into it as it has a somewhat slow start and uses old-timey dialogue that sounds weird to the modern ear at first, but the payoffs in the second half make up for the slow start. This is probably not a book for everyone, but if you like historical fiction or stories that challenge the social status quo, Hour of the Witch is likely one you should put on your TBR.
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