SALEM BELLE, A TALE OF 1692

A tale of vengeance and superstition set against the Salem witchcraft tragedy of 1692. Rejected by the beautiful Mary, the Salem Belle, the bitter Trellison accuses her of witchcraft, mistakenly thinking himself motivated by religious faith. Mary is quickly tried and convicted, and her brother James and her fiancé Walter must try to rescue the persecuted woman. Published eight years before The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hawthorne transformed three scenes from Wheelwright's novel for his own and in doing so covertly elaborated his lifelong theme - original sin and the possibility of redemption. Scholar Richard Kopley has recovered The Salem Belle for 21st century literary study and introduces and annotates the novel providing relevant historical details and analysis of the novel's place in American literary history. 224pp.