The Fifth Petal

Author, Brunonia Barry has "discovered" another fantastic plot in her newest novel The Fifth Petal.  She has written another terrific storyline about Salem Massachusetts and the memories of the women who were accused there of witchcraft and the history that has shaped that city into the modern times.

I have loved all her books about the Salem residents and historical figures both those who practiced the crafts of magic, lace reading, those with the gift of sight or the gift of listening.  Barry brings to life the history of the women who were punished for their association with witchcraft.  She does her best to absolve them of their crimes through her storytelling.

In this novel we see the story through the eyes of Callie Cahill, who came to salem as a young child with her mother.  She has witnessed a horrific murder scene, as a child,  and now as a young adult she comes back to Salem to see if she can find the answers that are hidden in her nightmares and memory to help bring the murderer to justice.   As she meets people and visits locations in Salem, slowly the memories that have been buried come to the surface.  Between the help of the current police detective and a young man she is developing feelings for , she starts to have visions that will help discover the answers no one has been able to uncover for the past twenty years.  But also linked to this modern day crime is the connection to the women accused of witchcraft  in 1629.

So many different plot lines are developed as we read about Callie, her "aunt" Rose, the police chief and his wife, Towner, and Towner's Tearoom for women who are escaping domestic abuse.  The reader becomes intrigued with the sub plot relationship between Towner and John Rafferty.  Also important to the developments of this novel are the love interest, Paul, and his parents, Finn and Emily Whiting.  We take a look back at the Callie's mother and her friends who were known in town as the Goddesses.

Barry once again brings you a fast paced novel with interesting well defined characters.  A storyline, that with a leap of faith, is a very entertaining explanation of the fate of the famous witches of Salem, Sara Good, Rebecca Nurse, Elizabeth Howe, Susannah Martin, and Sarah Wildes.