Father of Lies

Gr 7—10—In Salem Village in the late 1600s, just as historical townsfolk including Goody Nurse, Tituba, and John Hathorne are finding themselves on one side or the other of accusations of witchcraft, Lidda Johnson is in a tricky situation. The 14-year-old child in a family that ranges from a nursing infant to a bearded, pipe-smoking older brother, she has lately been hearing voices and now begins to see an apparition. He introduces himself as Lucian and gently (and sometimes not so gently) mocks the schoolmates and neighbors who fling about accusations of devilry. Lidda's older sister doesn't have much patience with the protagonist's oddities, though her younger sister senses that something is wrong. Unlike the adults in Salem and Boston, Lidda sees through the attention-seeking antics of those she comes to think of as "the murder girls." Her efforts to force the truth to light eventually render her mute. The issue of loss of control is central to the story, whether it is Lidda refusing to control her body with stays or trying to control her thoughts when she hears Lucian's voice in her head. Turner's writing smoothly portrays the cold New England countryside and the isolation Lidda feels as she attempts to keep her hallucinations a secret. While the story covers the same ground as Stephanie Hemphill's Wicked Girls (HarperCollins, 2010) and Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Lidda's perspective as a doubting observer gives it a different twist. Endnotes about bipolar disorder direct readers toward that explanation for Lidda's sensory experiences, and historical notes are included.—Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX