Kathleen benner duble bookstore

Description

Based on actual events in the author’s own family history, The Sacrifice by Kathleen Benner Duble offers a unique perspective of the Salem witch trials by delving into the devastating effects the trials had on families not just in Salem but throughout Massachusetts.

The year is 1692. In Salem, Massachusetts, witches have been found, and widespread fear and panic reign mere miles from ten-year-old Abigail Faulkner’s home of Andover. When two girls are brought from Salem to identify witches in Andover, suspicion sweeps the town as well-respected members of the community are accused of witchcraft. It isn’t long before chaos consumes Andover, and the Faulkners find themselves in the center of it all as friend turns against friend, neighbor against neighbor, in a desperate fight for the truth. Abigail and her sister, Dorothy, together must find a way to persevere during a period marked by terror, adversity, and ignorance.

Recommended for ages 10-14.

Categories: Bookstore, ChildrenTags: book, descendant, fiction, middle grade

Questions by Jenny 

Your fascination with Madame Tussaud is obvious. What led to your decision not to set the book from her perspective, but rather from the perspective of an invented street kid?

When writing historical fiction, I try to stay as close to the real facts as I can. At the time of the Revolution, Madame Tussaud was in her late twenties/early thirties. As a protagonist for a YA novel, she was obviously too old. But because I loved her story, I still wanted to examine the French Revolution from her perspective—that of someone who had been involved on both sides of the issues. When I saw a morning show about a man who was able to recall details of anything he saw after just a few minutes looking at it, I thought I could create an young artist with that skill—and that artistic ability would be one that would probably have captured the attention of someone as detail oriented as Madame Tussaud.

What are the challenges of researching a book like this?

I love writing historical fiction, but as with most books that take place in the past, as a writer, you are often guessing about the personalities of real people. For instance, it is documented that the Comte d’Artois was in debt and loved to gamble. From that detail, I had t

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