OCTOBER 1 2008
AMERICANWAY 77
ANY LESSER
writer with
28 books under his belt
would likely be contentwith
sticking towhat hasworked
for him in the past. Instead,
75-year-old famed fiction
author Philip Roth takes
some daring departures in
his upcoming 29th novel,
Indignation
(Houghton Mif-
flin, $26)—and readers are
rewarded handsomely for
his efforts.
Set in 1951, with the Ko-
rean War as its backdrop,
Indignation
focuses on
Marcus Messner, a sopho-
more at a private Baptist-
affiliated university in rural
Ohio.Messner grows upas a
Jewishbutcher’s son inNewark, New Jersey, butmoves away,
selfishly yet reluctantly, as his doting father endures amental
breakdown. Messner’s grades at school are superb; he is aim-
ing tograduate number one in his class. Heworks a part-time
joband stays out of trouble,worried that amisstep could lead
tomilitary service in Korea. As an account of societal anxiety
duringwartime,
Indignation
rings true on every page.
ThebookdetailsMessner’s struggle to keephis headdown,
succeed academically, and stay away from the battlefield as
a series of distractions threaten to derail him: a succession of
obnoxious roommates; a rigiddeanof students; anunexpected
visit from his normally unflappable mother, who’s greatly af-
fected by the degeneration of her husband; and—most of
all — an intelligent but psychologically unstable non-Jewish
beauty, Olivia Hutton, who dangerously consumes Messner’s
thoughts after their passionate first date.
Roth is typically more adept at depictingmale characters
than females, and, true to form, his insights into the mind of
a young man trying to avoid the military machine are dead-
on. But Roth’s critics should give him credit for his portrayals
of the two key females in
Indignation
, as they are strikingly
genuineandhe’s takengreat care incrafting them. Roth isalso
noticeably restrained inhishandlingof adult themes. Thebook
walks amore tasteful line thanmany of his previous efforts.
Captivating from start to finish, the novel assumes a new
dimension early on that will leave readers shocked. Despite
Roth’s changes in style, one thing is decidedly the same: his
undeniable skill as a storyteller.
KATHLEENKENTRECALLS
sitting at her
grandmother’s kitchen tablewhen shewas
eight years old, listening to stories about
Martha Carrier, a woman convicted of
witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, and
hung for the crime in 1692. Carrier is
Kent’smother’smaidenname, but not until
years laterdid theyoungerKent realize the
shared surnamewasmore thanmere coin-
cidence. “The story, forme, wasmore than
just a history lesson,” she says.
Now, Kent has borrowed from that
family tale in conceiving her first novel,
First-time authorKathleen
Kent spent five years scour-
inghistorical records inorder
touncover her family’s role in
theSalemwitch trials. This
month, she shares afictional-
izedaccount of her findings in
her newnovel,
TheHeretic’s
Daughter
. ByStaceyYervasi
WITCH
Veteran author
PhilipRoth re-
turnswith a new
novel and a fresh
approach.
By
SteveWeinberg
OldDog,New
Tricks
The Heretic’s Daughter
(Little, Brown &
Company, $25), based on the life of her
ancestorMarthaCarrier. “Itwas the story
that I was compelled to write,” she says.
“It never leftme.”
Kent took a circuitous route in becom-
inganovelist,workingfirst incommodities
for several years and then as a contractor
for the Department of Defense. She’d pre-
viously written stories, screenplay treat-
ments, and poetry in her spare time, but
nothing book-length. It wasn’t until she
retired from the business world that she
decided to tackle the task of telling her
family’s extraordinary history.
Kent traveled to New England to do
research, and she remembers sitting in
the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem and
getting chills while reading the words of
Martha. “To my knowledge, she was the
only woman to confront her accusers and
her judges and say, ‘Shame on you,’” she
says. “She very bravely and vociferously
proclaimed her innocence until the end.”
The Heretic’s Daughter
, which is set a
year prior to the beginning of the Salem
witch trials, is told through thefirst-person
narration ofMartha’s daughter Sarah, who
isnineyearsold inthebookbutwasactually
six at the time of her mother’s death. Kent
used as many passed-down family stories
as she couldandalso incorporated the con-
fluence of events— smallpox, the threat of
Indian raids, repressive religious hierarchy
— thatprecipitated thewitchhysteria. “It’s
not a book of pure history,” she says. “But I
hope that it isanauthentic renderingof the
lifeand times of theCarrier family.”
Kent plans to continue the exploration
ofherancestry in twomorebooks; thenext
will serve as the prequel to
The Heretic’s
Daughter
. Her family has been supportive
of her literary efforts, andhermother even
assists in the research. Their collaboration
is fitting, given that the book serves as a
touching tribute to apast generation. Says
Kent: “What I hope
TheHeretic’sDaughter
shows is the pride and the standing in awe
ofwhat our forebears have accomplished.”
HUNT
