BOOK REVIEW: 'The Map of True Places': Salem's a Witchy Place for Zee Finch
The patches worn by uniformed police officers in Salem, Mass. bear the image of a traditional witch in full flight, complete with pointy hat and broomstick. They commemorate, if that's the word, the 1692 Salem witchcraft trials *, which put the town 16 miles northeast of Boston on the tourism map, along with Hawthorne's House of the Seven Gables and the reconstructed 171-foot long East Indiaman sailing ship "Friendship." It's a tourist paradise and the good folk of Salem are smart enough to make the most of the town's rich history.
To Hepzibah "Zee" T. Finch, PhD, the central figure in Brunonia Barry's "The Map of True Places" (Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins, 432 pages, $14.99) it's the town where she grew up as a wild child teen, stealing boats and taking them for joy rides, living with her mother Maureen and her Hawthorne obsessed dad Finch. Zee is all grown up now, working as a psychotherapist for Liz Mattei, MD, a Boston psychiatrist.
When she was 13, Zee's mother committed suicide, triggering her nautical joy riding. She always made sure the boats would be quickly located by the owners. Her dad develops a gay relationship with a younger man named Charles Thompson, who acquires the nickname Melville, from Nathaniel Hawthorne's friend Herman Melville. The real life Herman Melville -- who dedicated his 1851 masterwork "Moby-Dick" to Hawthorne : “To Nathaniel Hawthorne: In token of my admiration for his genius” -- was bisexual and the friendship between the two literary lions could have been sexual.
Fifteen years after Maureen Doherty Finch's suicide, Zee Finch believes her life has developed some focus, although her actions planning the wedding to Michael, a man whom Mattei introduced to Zee, belies the perfect life that Zee seems to be dreaming of. She's living with Michael but the relationship is fraying. Throughout this genre-twisting novel, Barry uses the art of celestial navigation, developed by Salem native Nathaniel Bowditch (1773-1838), who is considered the founder of modern maritime navigation. His book "The New American Practical Navigator, first published in 1802, is still carried on board every commissioned U.S. Naval vessel.
Zee's navigation through her complicated life takes a hometown twist when one of her patients, Lilly Braedon, commits suicide. At about the same time Melville leaves Finch, who is suffering from Parkinson's disease; Zee takes a leave of absence to become Finch's caregiver and tries to come to terms with Lily's death, which has several Salem connections. If anything, Barry gives us a few too many subplots, but I was attracted to the second half of the novel, which to me at least, resembled a Robert B. Parker crime novel. I'm a big fan of the late, great -- and prolific --Parker, who died at age 77 in 2010, especially his Jesse Stone and Spenser novels set in the same part of New England as Barry's book.
One of the novel's more intriguing characters is Hawk, who works as a crew member on the sailing ship Friendship. He meets Zee when she asks her uncle Mickey Doherty if he can recommend someone who can install railings and grab bars to make her dad's house safer. Mickey is another character; he owns a bar and is a pirate re-enactor, complete with a monkey on his shoulder. Real pirates don't say "aaaargh" and don't have parrots on their shoulders, Mickey says.
If you like genre-bending novels with a surprise ending, I recommend "The Map of True Places."
* * *
To Hepzibah "Zee" T. Finch, PhD, the central figure in Brunonia Barry's "The Map of True Places" (Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins, 432 pages, $14.99) it's the town where she grew up as a wild child teen, stealing boats and taking them for joy rides, living with her mother Maureen and her Hawthorne obsessed dad Finch. Zee is all grown up now, working as a psychotherapist for Liz Mattei, MD, a Boston psychiatrist.
When she was 13, Zee's mother committed suicide, triggering her nautical joy riding. She always made sure the boats would be quickly located by the owners. Her dad develops a gay relationship with a younger man named Charles Thompson, who acquires the nickname Melville, from Nathaniel Hawthorne's friend Herman Melville. The real life Herman Melville -- who dedicated his 1851 masterwork "Moby-Dick" to Hawthorne : “To Nathaniel Hawthorne: In token of my admiration for his genius” -- was bisexual and the friendship between the two literary lions could have been sexual.
Fifteen years after Maureen Doherty Finch's suicide, Zee Finch believes her life has developed some focus, although her actions planning the wedding to Michael, a man whom Mattei introduced to Zee, belies the perfect life that Zee seems to be dreaming of. She's living with Michael but the relationship is fraying. Throughout this genre-twisting novel, Barry uses the art of celestial navigation, developed by Salem native Nathaniel Bowditch (1773-1838), who is considered the founder of modern maritime navigation. His book "The New American Practical Navigator, first published in 1802, is still carried on board every commissioned U.S. Naval vessel.
Zee's navigation through her complicated life takes a hometown twist when one of her patients, Lilly Braedon, commits suicide. At about the same time Melville leaves Finch, who is suffering from Parkinson's disease; Zee takes a leave of absence to become Finch's caregiver and tries to come to terms with Lily's death, which has several Salem connections. If anything, Barry gives us a few too many subplots, but I was attracted to the second half of the novel, which to me at least, resembled a Robert B. Parker crime novel. I'm a big fan of the late, great -- and prolific --Parker, who died at age 77 in 2010, especially his Jesse Stone and Spenser novels set in the same part of New England as Barry's book.
One of the novel's more intriguing characters is Hawk, who works as a crew member on the sailing ship Friendship. He meets Zee when she asks her uncle Mickey Doherty if he can recommend someone who can install railings and grab bars to make her dad's house safer. Mickey is another character; he owns a bar and is a pirate re-enactor, complete with a monkey on his shoulder. Real pirates don't say "aaaargh" and don't have parrots on their shoulders, Mickey says.
If you like genre-bending novels with a surprise ending, I recommend "The Map of True Places."
* * *
* Reviewer's Note: The actual witchcraft trials took place in several counties, not just Essex, of which Salem is the county seat. According to Wikipedia, "The best-known trials were conducted ...1692 in Salem Town. Over 150 people were arrested and imprisoned, with even more accused but not formally pursued by the authorities. All twenty-six who went to trial before this court were convicted. The four sessions of the Superior Court of Judicature in 1693, held in Salem Village, but also in Ipswich, Boston and Charlestown, produced only three convictions in the thirty-one witchcraft trials it conducted. The two courts convicted twenty-nine people of the capital felony of witchcraft. Nineteen of the accused, fourteen women and five men, were executed by hanging. One man, Giles Corey, refused to enter a plea and was crushed to death under heavy stones in an attempt to force him to do so. At least five more of the accused died in prison."
About the Author
Born and raised in Massachusetts, Brunonia Barry lives in Salem with her husband and their beloved golden retriever, Byzantium. Her previous novel, "The Lace Reader", was also set in Salem. Her website is www.BrunoniaBarry.com.
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Pre-K through 8th Grade
Enrolling Now for 2017-2018!
Call 304-522-2644 for further information
