Europe Comics delivers yet another telling graphic novel from the experiences of others and their historical tradition. One story from the early settlement of Puritans in America was the account of what turned a community upon itself in the township of Salem.
It is good that the author has used this background of intense religious fervour and fear of the Devil in their midst to set his story. In his introduction Thomas Gilbert says he was drawn to the breakdown of a society grapling with indians and forging an existence from farming in difficult soil and inclement weather. Where they might except God's blessing and provision but when things get hard and hunger bites, they fragment and pick on the weaker members of the community to scapegoat and blame for all their ills and label them as responsible for the devil's curse.
It is a harsh time and women were less than equals in the family, viewed has chattels but lusted after once entering puberty.  The church preaches sin and hell's fires, but the labourers rely more on their own strength at times and resent the money given to the minister and the church when crops still fail and life remains hard.
 In making the female characters the most empathetic and compassionate the author raises the issues and places the women in the story at risk. But in showing their wisdom and simple faith he presents an innocence amid the clouds that duly arise from suspicion and ignorance. So when things go wrong it pays not to be different; demonstrate love where the majority have mistrust and fear in their hearts. In this society the weak can be targeted; the crowd can behave without thought, distruction and death can quickly follow on.
The story is creatively told, Abigail Hobbs is a spirited young girl living at a time when women were misunderstood, and not to be valued outside the kitchen and bedroom. Abigail's courage and love of life are at odds with this time and those she is drawn to and cares about leave her vulnerable.
The story is just the beginning; to be continued in future episodes. There is enough here to allow the reader to reflect and consider the lot of women still in the 21st century. A comic book that is dark, a fiction based on a brutal, extreme time, but with a message that should reverberate through every society where people remain marginalised whether due to gender, faith or background and continued to be blamed for problems. Refugees, migration, homeless and the unemployed. Extremism is prevelent still today; intolerance bubbles under a PC facade and mobs are now driven by political dogma as much as radical beliefs.
 A worthwhile message is conveyed in these pages.
 If we can but see and learn.

Trigger warnings for some images of gore, killings, and some involving animals.

I love reading anything having to do with witches, especially the Salem Witch Trials. It’s terrible what happened, but the faith and beliefs of many went way overboard.

This graphic novel introduces our main character, Abigail, who explains what events changed the Salem she lived in and the domino effect that occurred afterwards. The difference in this telling of the witches of Salem is that Abigail has a secret forbidden love interest. 

I really enjoyed this graphic novel! I believe the art wasn’t the greatest, however, for the particular story, it seemed to fit well. Some of the art had a great creepy factor which I absolutely love. The story overall was good and I would be curious to read more. I’d recommend this to any who enjoy graphic novels and reading about the horrors of the Salem Witch Trials.

Thank you so much to the author, publishers, and Netgalley for the oppressed to read an advance copy of The Daughters of Salem!

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect with this title, but was intrigued.  The art style isn't my favorite, but it was fitting for the setting, if a little simplistic.  I thought that the spin on the story of the Salem Witch Trials was interesting and would like to see how the story continues.  It does paint some common themes that certainly fueled or contributed to the witch trials, but then gave them a twist, or provided different motivation to the characters.  It will be interesting to see where this story will go, but it's probably not my favorite interpretation.

This wasn't what I expected, and honestly I didn't really like it. The writing was very simple, the art was very graphic, and the story line was dull. I don't really see how this could be considered "feminist", but it does show a little how women were/are portrayed, but not with much depth on either side of the story.

I didn't realise this was a comic style book, I've never seen or read a graphic novel before and wasn't sure what to expect.

The storyline was what grabbed my attention as it sounds like a fascinating, feminist take on events in history. 

Sadly the speech bubbles and illustrations put me off reading it and I found I couldn't concentrate on it at all. This will probably be great for anyone who likes reading comics, but I have found a graphic novel is not for me at all and I couldn't finish it so am unable to comment on the story. 

The illustrations don't really appeal much to me either, the faces are ugly and the pictures rather colourless.

The Daughters of Salem (aptly subtitled "How We Sent Our Children to Their Deaths") is a fictionalised reimagining of the Salem Witch trials in 1690s Massachusetts. The main character, Abigail Hobbs comes of age and rejects a local boys proposal which starts off a chain of events that leads Salem into a state of hysteria. Neighbour turns on neighbour, friend turns on friend, all leading up to Salem's darkest time.

I'll read anything that 1) has anything to do with witches or potential witches and 2) anything with mass panic and confusion (you know those end of the world films where everyone runs from tidal waves screaming etc. that's my jam). This seemed to encompass both of those and it has been a bloody long time since I last picked up a graphic novel, 2014 me would be ashamed, so here we are and here's what I thought:

This graphic novel explorers themes of religion, politics, womanhood, survival, fertility and more, a true exploration of real fears that the people of Salem (more so for women) would have experienced day to day. Shown through the beautiful, gory and graphic art work it really brought a sense of panic and the macabre to the story. There is also a small romantic subplot involving a Native American which really added to the whole experience even if it was a bit instalove, a fragment of hope through love in an otherwise morose time.

I enjoyed the theme of sisterhood that this book brought and it was definitely my favourite aspect. In face of all the atrocities and hysteria the story managed to bring together a group of young women who would stand by each other, a haven to escape the patriarchal control of their home. I'm not sure how this will hold up in later volumes when the hysteria reaches its peak but I have a strong belief that these women will stand by the sisterhood til the end.

While I did enjoy certain aspects of this graphic novel it was hard for me to wholly love. Firstly, the writing style was just a bit basic and I couldn't put my finger on who this was aimed at (but I'm guessing young adult?). The language and style of the characters speech was more juvenile than I would expect of a fourteen year old girl so I found it a bit simple, lacking and juxtaposed with the very adult illustrations. I have since however found out that this was actually a translation so it may not a true reflection of the author's original. 

If I'm being picky, the story I found a bit dull, I was compelled enough to keep reading but when I wasn't reading it I wasn't thinking about it at all. The story would often jump from scene to scene changing the subject when in was just starting to enjoy where the current scene was going. I just needed a little more resolve throughout rather than just snippets.

I will read Part 2 when it surfaces in English as it was short and sweet and I really did enjoy parts that I hope will further explored in subsequent volumes.

The Daughters of Salem was...not good. It was meant to be feminist but fell into the stereotypes of women's oppression without actually having anything important to say, and was, quite frankly, borderline racist in places. Study of the history of Salem is already historically about understanding female oppression and scapegoating, and The Daughters of Salem simply didn't add anything to that and ended up adding elements that muddied the waters instead. 

The writing is too simple and cliche'd. It's narrated, so the text doesn't build on what the images show, it just tells us the story that isn't conveyed in the images. It reads like something aimed at a much, much younger audience than it is. Overall I think it simply lacked any real depth.

There are much better books on the subject matter that tackle it much more effectively. If The Daughters of Salem had not been so graphic in its art and violence I might have recommended it as an introduction to pique interest in the subject for middle-schoolers. But its images have an adult audience in mind, where its text appeals to much younger.

This was a very interesting graphic novel. I have read other graphic novels in the past, but this was the first "dark" one I have read. The imagery was often disturbing, to emphasize the darkness of the setting. I don't know a whole lot about the Salem witch trials, and this book has re-ignited my curiosity. It's one of the darkest times in American History. The countless people, women mostly, who were put to slaughter for no reason, it's messed up. 
I look forward to part 2, this book had quite the cliffhanger.

The Daughters of Salem is a grim, gory and dark tale (to be continued; I was under the impression that this is a standalone) that would fall into the Noire genre. 

I wasn't sure who the target audience for this novel was supposed to be. Due to the graphic content I wouldn't recommend it for younger readers, although we follow a young teenager called Abigail and how she enters into womanhood and the changes that she experiences.
Her environment suddenly turns almost hostile towards her. Some things confused me a bit or weren't clear enough. Abigail's father was super shallow and the whole group of women who "initiated" Abigail in the little hut needed a bit more story and background around them. I really wanted a bit more from this graphic novel.

I would recommend it to people who liked Watersnakes, but this wasn't one of my favorites.

This comic was beautiful and peaceful and utterly terrifying.  Gilbert did a very good job at taking very real female fears and turning them into something visually horrifying.  Menstruation, fertility, wantonness, temptation, celibacy, so on and so forth are all present, not to mention stoning, murder, attempted sexual assault.  The illustrations appear both simple yet extremely detailed, which is perhaps why such horrifying images were so incredibly successful in creating a squeamish reaction.

Though not entirely accurate, this historical fiction graphic novel makes use of many notable and iconic pieces of history to create such a tale about the witch trials.  He includes Tituba, Puritanism, xenophobia (specifically in regards to Native Americans), and Salem itself.  

Overall, this graphic novel is something engaging, short and sweet, and perfect for the person who loves creepy tales and stories about witches and of times past.

This graphic novel doesn't seem to know whether it's aimed toward young adults or adults.  On one hand, the writing is extremely simplistic.  The reader follows 14 year old Abigail Hobbs as she tells her perspective of what happened in Salem.  Abigail is a typical 14 year old narrator, and her dialogue, her thoughts, and her interactions are written that way.  However, there are immensely violent, graphic images that made me think maybe this graphic novel isn't aimed for young(er) adults.  This past year has acknowledged the blurry dichotomy between what is and isn't appropriate for kids to see.  Why IS it that scenes showing brains being split open, Native Americans tortured, a dog's head bashed in, and a deer's guts spilled (these all happen in this short graphic novel) are ok for 14ish year olds to see but anything involving loving sexuality or desexualized nudity (shower, bathing, dressing scenes etc.) are off limits for that age group?  Why is gore associated with violence acceptable but love and natural expression aren't?  Anyway, that's a little soapbox I'm standing on, and I promise I'm done with it.  Just something to think about in regards to who the audience for this book is.

Another thing that has me a bit confused on my feelings toward this comic is the creative justice that's being taken with it.  Yes, I am a professional historian, but I don't need things to be 100% historically accurate in order to enjoy them.  I LOVE The Crucible despite its inaccuracies.  But this one...I'm not sure.  Bridget Bishop is portrayed as a young girl instead of an adult woman, The "Devil" is very blatantly depicted as Native American (the "real" Devil figure during the times of the Salem Witch Trials was not reported by any of the accusers of having any kind of Native resemblance).  There are just too many differences that I dislike like because the changes don't do anything to add to the narrative.  If the story were being pushed along for a reason, I understand, but for the comic here, I get the feeling that they're being changed just to show that they can be because creative license.

I hate to be so negative in my review here, but I think there are too many changes/elaborations that don't have a purpose as well as some general lack of clarity about the audience.  The other reviews on Goodreads are very positive, though, so I'm glad to know that this comic is hitting the right kind of readers!

This was my first graphic novel and I must say I very much enjoyed it. The simplistic yet creepy style of the artwork worked tremendously well with the darker tones of this piece. Whilst dark and creepy there were still some beautiful parts to be found, the fire, the girls dancing and the tiny Robin. 

The relationship between the women in this tale shine through and in such a short piece all manner of women are brought to the foreground and sisterhood is very much apparent from the offset. This is something I greatly appreciate in any work of fiction and was delighted to see this spin on Salem. 

Upon finishing I discovered that it wasn't originally in English and had been translated, I wonder if this is what has stopped it from being a 5 star review for me (I wish I could read French and could compare the two!) as it felt that a few of the pages didn't flow as well as the others. 

I am very much looking forward to part two as well as rereading this during Halloween this year!

P.s I created a goodreads for this as there did not appear to be one, please feel free to update with all the relevant details.

This is a work of fiction based on real events of the Salem Witch Trials. I admit I don't know much about the Witch Trials but it does interest me.  

The authors desire is "to show how a society in crisis often turns to scapegoats to explain its suffering, and how "normal" members of a community can be gradually driven to accept the unacceptable". I have to say that the book sets this up really well and I can already see how society is beginning to accept the unacceptable.  This is a book that shows humanity at its worst while also showing that there is still a light there even in darkness. 

The take follows Abigail Hobbs who is a young woman when the story begins. I say woman as she has had her first bleed. Which is really when bad things begin in the town. Abigail fears men as they look at her in lust. She also meets the man in black who is in fact an Indian but to the people of the town he is the devil. The book is in Abigail's point of view and I really enjoyed how we see the town and its people through her. Salem is a town where it's hard to keep secrets. The church is at the centre and there's also a tavern. 

Abigail has a best friend named Elisabeth who is the reverends daughter. She and Abigail go off on adventures and Abigail introduces her to the mani in black. They dance and have fun together and the reverend doesn't know. They tell Tituba who is the reverends Indian slave and she goes with them to translate.  The reverend has the power and influence in Salem. The reverend and his sermons seem comical to me as a reader today but I can also see why it scared people. 

The horrible actions that have and will happen isn't because of witchcraft but of normal things that happen. We learn that the reverend has money problems, Indians attack, there is a famine, mistrust of outsiders and wolves attack. Mistrust takes hold of Salem and the circumstances make it so "normal" people want a scapegoat. I really enjoyed how the story built up and I cannot wait to see the next part. 

I really liked the graphics in this. They were simple and yet managed to be creepy. It was a great effect and they helped show how the story unfolded.

This was not a “pretty” story. It was dark and sometimes disgusting. The art, especially the images focusing on nature, was beautiful. I’m looking forward to reading Part Two...

"The Daughters of Salem" is a retelling of the witch hunts at Salem and I liked that the author focused on the community of women which lived in the village at the time. Unfortunately, none of the characters feel all that well developed and the plot was somewhat rushed. Of course that might be remedied in future installments.