Edward Vallance
The Trials of Goody Parsons
The Ruin of All Witches: Life and Death in the New World
By Malcolm Gaskill
Allen Lane 336pp £20
Witchcraft in the New England colonies is almost entirely associated in the public imagination with the craze in Salem, Massachusetts, that erupted at the end of the 17th century. Yet on both sides of the Atlantic, prosecutions rarely reached epidemic proportions, with a scattering of cases making it to the courts every few years as long-simmering accusations finally became substantive enough to require the attention of early modern officialdom.
Malcolm Gaskill’s new book is a rich and beautifully written microhistory of one such case: that of Hugh and Mary Parsons of Springfield. Springfield itself was an anomaly. No New England ‘bible commonwealth’, it was instead, in the words of the historian William Pencak, ‘America’s First Company Town’. Located by the Connecticut River, Springfield had originally been part of the Connecticut colony, but through the lobbying of its founder, William Pynchon, it was incorporated into Massachusetts. The terms of the agreement with the Massachusetts Bay colony and Springfield’s geographical remoteness from Boston effectively left Pynchon with considerable freedom of action. He became the town’s chief magistrate, CEO and spiritual leader rolled into one. Pynchon’s objective was to maximise his returns from the fur trade rather than establish a godly community. Settlers were in Pynchon’s pocket for their land, employment and supplies. The debts marked in Pynchon’s ledger book were a key source of tension in the small and isolated plantation.
Hugh Parsons, a brick maker, arrived in Springfield around 1645. His skills ensured that he was in high demand and he was given a four-acre homestead and other land in the settlement. That same year, he met Mary Lewis, originally from Wales, who was working in the settlement
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
Of the siblings Gwen and Augustus John, it is Augustus who has commanded most attention from collectors and connoisseurs.
Was he really the finer artist, asks Tanya Harrod, or is it time Gwen emerged from her brother’s shadow?
Tanya Harrod - Cut from the Same Canvas
Tanya Harrod: Cut from the Same Canvas - Artists, Siblings, Visionaries: The Lives and Loves of Gwen and Augustus John by Judith Mackrell
literaryreview.co.uk
As Apple has grown, one country above all has proved able to supply the skills and capacity it needs: China.
What compromises has Apple made in its pivot east? @carljackmiller investigates.
Carl Miller - Return of the Mac
Carl Miller: Return of the Mac - Apple in China: The Capture of the World’s Greatest Company by Patrick McGee
literaryreview.co.uk
We are saddened to hear of the death of Edmund White.
We've lifted the paywall on Richard Davenport-Hines's 2014 review of White's Paris memoir.
Richard Davenport-Hines - Scenes from a Literary Life
Richard Davenport-Hines: Scenes from a Literary Life - Inside a Pearl: My Years in Paris by Edmund White
literaryreview.co.uk