Synopses & Reviews
Suzanne Weyn brings her trademark mix of history, romance, and the supernatural to the Salem Witch Trials.
Elsabeth James has powers she doesn't fully understand. She is descended from midwives, mind readers, and a fortune-teller who was put to death because she foresaw the death of Mary, Queen of Scots. She can hear people's thoughts and sometimes see what they see. She has supernatural gifts, but not evil ones.
When Elsabeth sails with her sister, father, and governess to America, however, she does not foresee that their ship will be wrecked in a storm. Alone for the first time in her life, she washes up on a South Carolina plantation, where she falls in love with a boy she meets there and learns magic and healing from an unexpected source.
As her powers grow, her stay is cut short, and she is sent as a servant to Salem, Massachusetts. There she accidentally allows an evil spirit to enter the village. When a group of girls start to say they're bewitched and accuse villagers of witchcraft, Elsabeth must find some way to save herself and the boy she loves.
Review
Praise for Suzanne Weyn's Distant Waves:
* "Weyn's take on the infamous disaster is wholly original."
- Booklist, starred review
"Told in gripping first-person narrative, this novel features interesting characters and creates a strong sense of time and place, while exploring the mysteries of the spirit world."
- School Library Journal
"Weyn weaves fantasy together with factual threads of the Spiritualist movement, Nikola Tesla's inventions and the celebrity-studded passenger list of the doomed ocean liner....A page-turner."
- Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
Suzanne Weyn brings her trademark mix of history, romance, and the supernatural to the Salem Witch Trials.
For 15-year-old Sarah Owen, having a scientist father is a blessing and a curse. He doesn't bat an eye at her pyschic abilities, since he researches them; and she knows more about the invisible worlds of microbes, electricity, and gravity than most girls in the 17th Century.
But when Sarah travels to the Americas with her father to do more research, she's shipwrecked and lands for a time on the Gullah Islands. Later, when the plantation owners find her and send her north to Salem, Massachusetts, her abilities get her into trouble.
Can Sarah save herself when she's accused of witchcraft? Or will she and the rest of the innocents she's accused with be found guilty...and sentenced to hanging?
About the Author
Suzanne Weyn has written many books for young adults including Distant Waves, Reincarnation, Empty, and Invisible World. She lives in New York, and you can find her at www.suzanneweynbooks.com.