The Heretic's Daughter

The novel presents multiple instances in which characters must grapple with past events by writing them down or in which they fail to do so. The act of recording history symbolizes a desire to memorialize it and relates to The Legacies of the Past as a theme. The red book is the history of the Carrier family that Martha has written. She recognizes the importance of preserving the past as a way to keep a family’s story alive for future generations. When she knows that she won’t live to protect the book, she entrusts it to Sarah’s care. Martha has kept the book a secret from Thomas because he would rather forget the violent deeds that he once committed. However, his wife is more pragmatic. She recognizes that all lives contain dark and light elements. Recording only those facts that are complimentary distorts the truth.

Salem struggles with the same problem but reaches a different conclusion. Rather than acknowledge the harm that was done by a group of arrogant clerics and hysterical townsfolk, the village changes its name and destroys the documentation of its folly. As Sarah wisely points out, no one is fooled by this attempt to erase history. Individually, Sarah struggles with her family narrative. She has heard rumors and gossip about her father’s involvement in the English Civil War but fears to know the facts. She doesn’t grapple with the truth until she’s an old woman. Acknowledging it then frees her to write her own addition to her family’s history and pass it on to her granddaughter.