In a book club and starting to plan your reads for next year? Check out our 2025 picks.

Book Club Discussion Questions for The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent

Summary |  Excerpt |  Reading Guide |  Reviews |  Beyond the Book |  Read-Alikes |  Genres & Themes |  Author Bio

The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent

The Heretic's Daughter

A Novel

by Kathleen Kent
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Readers' Rating:
  • First Published:
  • Sep 3, 2008, 352 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Oct 2009, 368 pages
  • Rate this book

  • Buy This Book

About this Book

Book Club Discussion Questions

Print PDF

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

  1. How was Sarah changed by living with her cousin Margaret? How was she changed by returning to her family?

  2. What was it about Martha's character that seemed to antagonize so many neighbors?

  3. What do you think was the most compelling reason that Martha was eventually brought to trial?

  4. Discuss the various factors that lead to the witch hysteria.

  5. Why did Martha choose to take a stand of innocence knowing that a refused confession meant death?

  6. Why did Thomas, despite his size and capabilities, not seek to persuade or deter Martha from her course of action?

  7. Why did the community of Salem, and the magistrates, so easily believe in and rely on "spectral evidence"?

  8. How has reading the book changed your opinions about the men and women hanged as witches?

  9. Are there modern day "witches"?

  10. Can we, or should we, redefine the meaning of the word "witch"?


Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Back Bay Books. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Beyond the Book:
  The Salem Witch Trials

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket
    The House of Doors
    by Tan Twan Eng
    Every July, I take on the overly ambitious goal of reading all of the novels chosen as longlist ...
  • Book Jacket: The Puzzle Box
    The Puzzle Box
    by Danielle Trussoni
    During the tumultuous last days of the Tokugawa shogunate, a 17-year-old emperor known as Meiji ...
  • Book Jacket
    Something, Not Nothing
    by Sarah Leavitt
    In 2020, after a lifetime of struggling with increasingly ill health, Sarah Leavitt's partner, ...
  • Book Jacket
    A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens
    by Raul Palma
    Raul Palma's debut novel A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens introduces Hugo Contreras, who came to the ...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Pony Confidential
    by Christina Lynch

    In this whimsical mystery, a grumpy pony must clear his beloved human's name from a murder accusation.

Who Said...

A truly good book teaches me better than to read it...

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

H I O the G

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.