The Heretic's Daughter

In her forties, Martha Carrier, Sarah’s mother, is known in the community for speaking her mind. She isn’t afraid to stand up to authority figures and doesn’t fall into the typical role of a docile wife. While not overly demonstrative, Martha cares deeply about her children. To spare their lives, she makes Sarah promise to tell the inquisitors what they want to hear, even if it means accusing Martha of witchcraft, and instills in her daughter the importance of preserving family history.

Martha has recorded the Carrier family history in a secret red book that she entrusts to Sarah after her arrest. She tells her daughter, “This book is our history and a family’s history lasts only so long as there is someone left to tell it” (179). At her trial, Martha stands alone as the only woman who refuses to gratify her judges by confessing that she’s a witch. This prompts religious leader Cotton Mather to call her “a rampant hag” (238). Martha goes to her death because she believes that standing up to tyranny requires personal sacrifice.

Martha’s husband, Thomas Carrier is seven feet tall, which makes him physically distinctive, but is also an outsider to the Massachusetts colony. Born in Wales, Thomas fought for the crown until he decided that tyrannical monarchies must end. During the English Civil War, he supported Crowell’s faction and became the executioner of Charles I. Sickened by the conflict in his native land, Thomas came to the colonies for a fresh start, where he met and married Martha.

His ideals of freedom from tyranny eventually inspire his wife to take a stand against the theocratic rule in Massachusetts. Rather than bow to autocratic religious authority, she sacrifices her life. Thomas is devastated by his wife’s decision but doesn’t attempt to dissuade her from it. After her execution, he raises their children and creates a prosperous life for the family in Connecticut, where he dies at the age of 109.

Sarah’s cousin, Margaret Toothaker, is two years older than Sarah. Some members of the family view Margaret as odd because she speaks to invisible beings that no one else can see. Margaret forms a strong emotional bond with Sarah when the latter comes to stay with the Toothaker family to avoid the smallpox epidemic. A family property dispute soon parts the cousins. Margaret reunites with Sarah in the Salem jail after both are accused of witchcraft. She nurses her cousin through a fever and conveys a message she receives for Sarah from the deceased Martha. This message of love and forgiveness diminishes Sarah’s guilt over testifying against her mother. A few years after Margaret’s release from jail, she’s abducted by a raiding party and is never seen again.

Margaret’s father and Sarah’s charismatic uncle, Roger Toothaker differs greatly from his undemonstrative brother-in-law, Thomas. Although Roger is a farmer, he considers himself a surgeon and an expert in detecting witches, and he’s skilled at magic tricks. His outward charm hides a weak and avaricious side. He tries to claim the Allen farm, saying that his wife, as Grandmother Allen’s eldest child, should have the property rather than Martha. To escape his problems, Roger drinks heavily and dallies with sex workers at the town tavern. He’s eventually imprisoned for witchcraft. Rather than testify that his wife and daughter are witches, he dies by suicide by taking an overdose of foxglove (digitalis) to induce a heart attack. He leaves Thomas a note to ask for his forgiveness.

Mary is Roger’s wife, Martha’s sister, and Sarah’s aunt. Because she’s kind and nurturing, Sarah feels more affection for her Aunt Mary than for her mother, who is undemonstrative by comparison. While Mary is a sympathetic character, she’s also passive and does nothing to stop her husband’s moral decline. Late in the novel, she’s also jailed for witchcraft. When Sarah tries to approach her in prison, she drives the girl away. A few years after her release, Mary is killed during the Indigenous raid when Margaret is abducted.

Roger’s eldest son is Allen Toothaker. Like his father, he bears a grudge against the Carrier family and covets the farm they inherited from his grandmother. He threatens several times to burn the Carriers out of the property and on one occasion is even caught trying to set fire to the barn. After his father’s death, Allen assumes control of their property and proves an able administrator. The witchcraft trials have taught him to keep his distance from the Carriers, and he stops trying to gain control of their property.

As a young teen, Mercy Williams was abducted by Indigenous people and taken to Canada. She remained with a tribe for about three years before the Carriers ransomed her back. Her face bears smallpox scars, and Sarah describes her as ugly. Mercy has a scheming temperament and often steals food and household items from the Carriers. She later claims that Richard Carrier got her pregnant and must marry her. After Martha exposes Mercy’s lies and turns her out of the house, Mercy works at the tavern and pursues a vendetta against the Carriers, harassing Sarah and hurling accusations of witchcraft at the family. In the novel’s final chapter, Sarah briefly mentions that Mercy died in a drowning accident.

Tom is the brother to whom Sarah is closest. He’s only slightly older than his sister. His temperament is empathic and sensitive, which makes Sarah feel as if she must look out for him. After Tom successfully protects the family from the attack of a rabid dog, he proves to Sarah that he’s capable of taking care of himself and his younger sisters, too.

Richard is Martha and Thomas’s eldest son. He’s in his late teens when the novel opens. Unlike Tom, Richard is quiet and keeps to himself. He has a brooding temperament but loves his family and is loyal to them. Like his brothers, he’s jailed for witchcraft but is released. Afterward, he marries a local girl and becomes a prosperous farmer.

Andrew, a middle child in the Carrier family, is the one most severely afflicted by the smallpox epidemic. Although he survives, his mental abilities are impaired. During his incarceration in the Salem jail, he develops an infection from the manacles and nearly dies of blood poisoning. While delirious from fever, Andrew insists that he doesn’t want his arm amputated. Miraculously, his body is able to fight off the infection, and he recovers. Like his brothers, after the ordeal of the witchcraft trials, he lives a prosperous life as a farmer in Connecticut.

Hannah is Sarah’s youngest sister. At the beginning of the story, she’s only one year old and is sent with Sarah to the Toothaker farm to avoid the smallpox outbreak. Hannah’s life is characterized by change and disruption. She’s taken from her mother, then taken from Aunt Mary, and then returned to her mother, who is then sent to jail. Hannah experiences separation anxiety because of all this early trauma. After Martha’s incarceration, she’s placed with Reverend Dane’s family, where she remains permanently. However, the instability of her early years will haunt her for the rest of her life.

Ames is a young doctor who treats diseased and injured prisoners in the Salem jail. He’s a friend of Sarah’s father and offers information about Thomas’s past in England. Ames also knows the facts surrounding Roger Toothaker’s death and communicates this information to Sarah. He helps boost Sarah’s morale during the darkest days of her imprisonment.