Father of Lies by Ann Turner

On the outside, Lidda appears to be normal. She tends to her baby brother Thomas and does chores with her sisters Charity and Susannah. On the inside, however, she is an absolute mess. After recently going through puberty, she begins hearing a voice speaking to her in her head. Terrified at first, she thinks this is the work of the Devil himself. But the voice calls himself Lucian, and he is both seductive and powerful. Then strange things begin to happen to other girls in her village. They have weird fits and point to various others as being witches. With the whole town in rising chaos, Lidda has to figure out who she is before it's too late.

From the very first page this book is interesting. I have not read much on the Salem Witch trials since The Crucible in 11th grade English class, so I was both hesitant and excited to pick up this book. Lidda's thoughts are so well-written that even I felt raw with confusion and frustration. Reading on inside her head was deliciously claustrophobic as Lidda figures out what is happening around her. There isn't much to say about supporting characters, and Lidda literally hogs all the attention. Which is okay, ultimately, as it helps to preserve her innocence in the story. My only complaint would be that it's a fairly short book for such a large topic. I would have liked a few more chapters, at least. At times genuinely spooky, Ann Turner delivers a top-notch story of the Salem Witch trials.

Overall Rating: 4 Stars