I am going to say right off the bat that had this been written from Martha Carrier's perspective I think I would have liked this book more. Instead it was written through her daughter's eyes and because of that you only know what her daughter knows. Which isn't much considering she's under 13 for much of the book and living in the 1600's for God's sake where kids weren't privy to the adult information. This book was for me the life of a young girl on a farm in the 1600's with a bit of "Salem Witch Trial" thrown in with that story. I loved the writing and I'm impressed by this first time author for doing a wonderful job of making me feel like I was living in a dungeon and without a shower for most of the book for that matter. I just think I would have enjoyed the adult perspective better because there were alot of things (as the reader)I had questions about that I feel only Martha could have answered for me.