Confess by Juliette van der Molen

Welcome to Halfman, Halfbook for my stop on the Blog Tour for Confess Juliette van der Molen and published by Twist It Press.

About the Book

1692 Salem, Massachusetts – Based on the life of Dorothy Good, the youngest person accused of and imprisoned for witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials, Confess tells the story of the trauma surrounding this nearly forgotten child from one of the darkest chapters in early American history. A colony is plunged into turmoil filled with misunderstandings, fear, intolerance, religious fervour, and an egregious abuse of power. Over the course of the year, more than two hundred people are accused of witchcraft and thirty are found guilty. Nineteen will be sentenced to death.

Four-year-old Dorothy and her mother, Sarah Good, are arrested for witchcraft.

Dorothy will confess.

Sarah will hang.

This is Dorothy’s story…

About the Author

Juliette van der Molen is an ex-pat poet living in Wales. She is an intersectional feminist and member of the LGBTQ+ community. Her work has appeared in The Wellington Street Review, Nightingale & Sparrow, Burning House Press and several other publications. Her poetry has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of The Net. Juliette is also the Poetry Editor for Mookychick Magazine. She is a spoken word performer and has had the honour of appearing in several venues in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Her books include; Death Library: The Exquisite Corpse Collection, Mother May I? and Anatomy of A Dress.

Extract: A Hex On All Your Houses

a bit of thread, black
tied tight around this
Hathorne poppet who cares
not enough to know my
name, but removes me
from the world, all the same.

a bit of thread, red
knotted over the mouths
of Ann & Mary, who bled
untruths from tongues
loosed, cries and shakes
just from my stare, enough to
induce—
this witch, unawares.

poppets, poppets
dance for me,
slide through fire,
singed with flame,
with coals for feet,
may the heat of your lies
burn within, your lips
blotted black with sin.

i call for justice,
i call for power,
i call in the name of:
the weak,
the poor,
the unwashed,
the unwanted.

i bind your cords as
these threads burn,
i still your tongues
& break your power.

this little girl,
unjustly handled,
robbed of youth—
has grown into
what you fear,
manifested power
no longer denied.

through this hex
i heal & protect.

My Review

In February 1692 a four-year-old child watched as her mother, Sarah Good, was arrested by magistrates and took her into custody. Almost four weeks later they came back to arrest the child, Dorothy. They were both charged with the same offence, witchcraft.

This was the Salem Witch trials and of the 200 or so people who were arrested 20 of them were to lose their lives. Dorothy Good was arrested after the Putnam’s made complaints against her. She was bullied and coerces into testifying against her mother. And it was this ‘confession’ that condemned her mother to the gallows. It is not known if Dorothy was killed at the same time.

This collection is the result of Juliette van der Molen hearing about these trials and Dorothy’s arrest. She then scoured the records to discover the scant details that exist about her. It is split into four sections, the first is on her incarceration and trial, the poems are charged with emotion, from the howling as her mother is taken away in Farewell, the unfounded accusations in Devil’s Issue and when they arrest her in Poppet Mine and where a square of flannel twisted into a doll is the sole source of comfort she has as she is taken away.

The second part is the sentencing and judgement where the poems take on a really dark element, in particular When The Moon Is Dark and Banished. The third section is titled Of Revelation and Precedence and is about Ann Putnam, the accuser of the Good’s and her later revelations. Criminalis Carolina is incredibly powerful. Finally, there is Voice and Remembrance, a poetic tribute the those that lost their lives because of unfounded hysteria

i could hold them,
fold them, in my heart
or let them go in the tides
these prayers
these spells
Sinking ships in maelstroms
as my soul divides

At times, Confession makes for grim reading but van der Molen has written this collection to be a voice to the unheard and almost unknown Dorothy Good. It is also a warning against the way that mob rule and the fear of certain types of people can mean that the modern ‘witch hunt’ is still with us.

Three Favourite Poems
Pact
When The Moon Is Dark
Remember Me

Don’t forget to visit the other blogs on the blog tour