The Devil in the Shape of a Woman:Witchcraft in Colonial New England - Carol F. Karlsen

Written by Carol F. Karlsen
Read by Jo Anna Perrin
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

· Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
· Release date: 05-08-18
· Publisher: Tantor Audio

“A pioneer work in . . . the sexual structuring of society. This is not just another book about witchcraft.”—Edmund S. Morgan, Yale University

Confessing to “familiarity with the devils,” Mary Johnson, a servant, was executed by Connecticut officials in 1648.

A wealthy Boston widow, Ann Hibbens was hanged in 1656 for casting spells on her neighbors.

The case of Ann Cole, who was “taken with very strange Fits,” fueled an outbreak of witchcraft accusations in Hartford a generation before the notorious events at Salem.

More than three hundred years later, the question “Why?” still haunts us. Why were these and other women likely witches-vulnerable to accusations of witchcraft and possession? Carol F. Karlsen reveals the social construction of witchcraft in seventeenth-century New England and illuminates the larger contours of gender relations in that society.

“Absolutely fascinating and complex. The narration is clear and pleasant to listen to and Karlsen’s scholarship is still deeply relevant. Her illumination of the social circumstances leading to early American conceptions of witchcraft is nuanced and refuses to be reductive, which is refreshing as so many will describe witchcraft trials and outbreaks as being only due to one or two cultural circumstances. Karlsen is a brilliant historian as well as a wonderful story teller. Absolutely excellent.”