Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian

Reviewed by Christy

            Mary Deerfield is a deeply unhappy woman. The twenty-four year old Puritan is the second wife to a seemingly respectable man twice her age. Because of this, she has a daughter-in-law who is around her age and “grandchildren” as well. The arrangement feels odd but she accepts it as God’s will. Even though her husband, Thomas, is an angry and violent drunk, she commits to being an even better wife than she was the day before. Until one night, Thomas goes too far and stabs her through the hand with a three-tined fork. Mary refuses to keep living in fear of her husband’s mercurial rages and wishes to seek a divorce.

            In 1662, divorce is no easy feat, and Mary must make her case in front of the magistrates who will then decide what’s best for her. Over two days she must listen to witnesses discuss what a good man Thomas is, and how they never witnessed any abuse or even heard Mary discuss it. The request for divorce is denied. Mary must go home to her abuser. Because of this, and because Thomas’ rages are becoming more frequent and starting to happen even when he’s not drunk, Mary becomes desperate.

            Though Hour of the Witch is marketed as a thriller, it is a courtroom drama more than anything. The story is slow and methodical while still being engaging. I found Mary to be an interesting character because, while she is very pious, she struggles with the restrictions of the time without fully understanding why. She chalks it up to her being sinful because, after all, she has made note of her son-in-law’s good looks. She also travels to the docks often to watch the sailors unload their cargo. It makes perfect sense she would be more attracted to men closer to her age. But, of course, she doesn’t see it that way. These are transgressions for which she will be punished.

            I believe it is a credit to the story that I liked it as much as I did while listening to the audiobook. The narration is very flat, and the narrator does little (if anything) to differentiate between the characters. I found myself rewinding more than usual to make sure I understood who was speaking. I was so baffled with this choice of narrator that I did some digging and discovered that she is the author’s daughter and has narrated several of his audiobooks. Well. That solves that mystery.

            There is also some repetition throughout the book that is grating (particularly references to a fork as “the Devil’s Tines” and Thomas’ insistence that Mary has “white meat for brains”.) The latter one will probably be stuck in my head for a while. Bohjalian must’ve particularly liked that turn of phrase because he used it again and again and again. Overall, however, I think it is a well-paced, slow burn drama that is satisfying. I just would not recommend the audiobook.