Salem is a bit of a literary darling. Nathaniel Hawthorne, considered America’s first great novelist, wrote glorious novels about Salem including The Scarlet Letter (1850) and The House of the Seven Gables (1851), and the Salem Witch Trials inspired Arthur Miller’s award-winning play, The Crucible (1953). These books are prerequisites on any Salem reading list.
Here are a few other titles we love:
Salem Witch Trials
- A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft, by Derby Square Press
- The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege, by Marilynne Roach
- Six Women of Salem: The Untold Story of the Accused and Their Accusers in the Salem Witch Trials, by Marilynne K. Roach
- A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience by Emerson Baker
- In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 by Mary Beth Norton
- Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies by Elaine G. Breslaw
- A Salem Witch: The Trial, Execution, and Exoneration of Rebecca Nurse by Daniel A. Gagnon
Modern Witch
- HausMagick: Transform Your Home with Witchcraft, by Erica Feldmann
- Reading the Leaves: An Intuitive Guide to the Ancient Art and Modern Magic of Tea Leaf Divination, by Sandra Mariah Wright and Leanne Marrama
- Lighting the Wick, by Sandra Mariah Wright and Leanne Marrama
Cookbook
- Salem’s Cookin’, by The Salem Chamber of Commerce
- What Salem Dames Cooked, by Derby Square Press
Non-Fiction
- Maritime Salem in the Age of Sail, by Division of Publications National Park Service (U.S.)
- Our Silent Neighbors: A Study of Gravestones in the Old Salem Area, by Betty J. Bouchard
- Salem Cornerstones: Cornerstones of a Historic City, by Joseph Flibbert, K. Goss, Bryant Tolles, Richard Trask, and Jim McAllister
- Salem Serves: Sites and Stories from the Military and Patriotic Heritage of Salem, Massachusetts, 1626-WWII, by Bonnie Hurd-Smith
Graphic Novel
- Witch City, by Francis Sweeney
Fiction
- The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs, by Katherine Howe
- Death of an Empire: The Rise and Murderous Fall of Salem, America’s Richest City, by Robert Booth
- The Heretic’s Daughter, by Kathleen Kent
- The Lace Reader, by Brunonia Barry
- The Physic Book of Deliverance Dane, by Katherine Howe
Young Adult Novels
- Conversion, by Katherine Howe
- How to Hang a Witch, by Adriana Mather
- Witches! The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem by Rosalyn Schanzer
For Children
- Piece by Piece, words by Susan Tan, pictures by Justine Wong
Click the links above to order some of our favorite “Salem bookshelf” titles online, or plan to do some shopping next time you’re in town. Wicked Good Books, Salem’s independent book store located right on the Essex Street Pedestrian Mall sells many of these titles. Piece by Piece is available at the Peabody Essex Museum shop (no admission required to shop, but we recommend exploring the museum too!). Others can be picked up in museum shops following your visit to the Salem Witch Museum and The House of the Seven Gables, and if you’re searching for some new Salem reading material along with other uniquely Salem souvenirs don’t miss Trolley Depot on Essex Street or The Marble Faun on Pickering Wharf.
Tags: Family, Things To Do
