"Schiff brings to bear a sensibility as different from the Puritans' as can be imagined: gentle, ironic, broadly empathetic, with a keen eye for humor and nuance. Hilary Mantel, Times Literary Supplement David McCullough, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Wright Brothers Few writers combine as she does superb scholarship and an exceptional gift for language with amazing reach and agility of mind. "History in the hands of Stacy Schiff is invariably full of life, light, shadow, surprise, clarity of insight, and so it is again and then some in her latest work, The Witches. By sidestepping most of the popular theories, The Witches stands out from much of the existing literature." The first major commercial nonfiction book on the subject in decades. Now and again she inhabits her characters, yet she maintains throughout the authority of an omniscient narrator who is firmly in charge." The various parts of the narrative unfold in apparently seamless succession. Schiff's skills as a writer extend to such formal matters as structure, pacing, and point of view. Her recreation of courtroom scenes is especially convincing one feels, almost palpably, their pulsating mix of words, actions, and-above all-emotion. Indeed, readers may experience her narrative as a virtual tour of the time and place. This enables her to provide deep, richly textured background for specific moments and situations. Moreover, she has mastered the entire history of early New England. "Her research is impeccable no previous writer has scoured the documentary record to such great depth. " beautiful retelling of one of our ugliest tales." Schiff is at her best, infusing a historical event with as much life, mystery, and tragedy of any novelist." Every page of The Witches is almost scandalously pleasurable." (4 Stars) It's unsettling, gripping stuff, rendered in the burnished sentences of a master prose stylist. A Time Magazine "Top 10 Nonfiction Books of 2015" pickĪ Boston Globe "Best Nonfiction Books of 2015" pickĪ Washington Post "Notable Nonfiction of 2015" pickĪ San Francisco Chronicle " Best Books of 2015" pickĪn O, The Oprah Magazine " 16 Books To Start 2016 Right" pickĪ Chicago Tribune "The Best Books of 2015" pickĪ Houston Chronicle "15 Notable Books of 2015" pickĪ Bustle "11 Nonfiction Books By Women Every Book Club Should Read" pick
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