When Light Breaks Through
When Light Breaks Through takes us beyond the witch trials to tell a riveting, expansive story about Salem Village. In 1692, twelve-year-old Ann Putnam becomes notorious as a ringleader of the “afflicted children” whose accusations of witchcraft against the people of Massachusetts and Maine lead to twenty executions and untold misery.
Five years later, Joseph Green, a young schoolteacher who is in love and eager to marry, takes on the ministry of Salem Village that no one else will have and sets about mending the bitter divisions in the church and the village that the witch trials have intensified. As Joseph marries Elizabeth and they enter the life of the village, he gradually earns the respect and trust of his congregation, eventually taking some dramatic actions that move the people to confront their future together as a community.
Nine years after Joseph’s arrival, Ann asks his help, seeking forgiveness and the chance to become part of the community that has shunned her since the devastating effects of her actions during the witch trials. Together, they delve into the darkness of her past, uncovering startling truths about her family and her childhood motivations. Standing before the neighbors whose loved ones she has sent to jail or to their deaths, she makes an appeal that could finally unite the people in forgiveness.
The compelling narrative takes us from what begins as daring, adolescent games invented by Abigail Williams, the other ringleader in the witch trials, to the intense, often shocking drama of the trials themselves, and to the small farming village in 17th-century Massachusetts where Joseph Green pursues his quest to unite a bitterly divided people.
When Light Breaks Through is a fact-based historical novel. Its characters are based on real people. Its account of the witch trials and the public events surrounding them is grounded in public documents and historical research. The private history—relationships, thoughts and conversations, daily life—is imagined in the process of bringing them to life.
Praise for When Light Breaks Through
–Booklife by Publisher’s Weekly
–Kirkus
–K. C. Finn for Reader’s Favorite
“This humane historical fiction from Murphy (author of After the Voyage) delves into the complexities of the witch trials of Salem Village at the dawn of the 18th century, offering a surprisingly hopeful look at how betrayal, loss, and guilt can change the lives of a community and shape history—but also at how those wounds can be healed. . . . what sets the novel apart is Murphy’s heartening examination of later events, as minister Joseph Green becomes an appointed preacher in Salem Village years later and transforms the famously miserable town into a space for healing and community. He meets Ann and other participants in the dark history and helps them navigate ways in which they can find confession and forgiveness amongst one another.”
–Booklife by Publisher’s Weekly
“I was immediately drawn into reading Brenda Murphy’s When Light Breaks Through for its compelling characters and thought-provoking themes of forgiveness and peace. I particularly liked the story’s richly detailed and evocative worldbuilding of 17th-century Salem Village, the farming community, family life, disputes within and between families, land disputes, and power struggles. The characters and the story sprang to life through those details. “
–Saifunnissa Hassam for Readers’ Favorite