The First Witch of Boston by Andrea Catalano

The First Witch of Boston

A Novel

Andrea Catalano

Amazon Publishing · Print & ebook · September 1, 2025

2025 Goodreads Choice Award Finalist for Readers’ Favorite Historical Fiction “Andrea Catalano draws a tender, intimate portrait of a marriage and a bold defense of an independent woman ahead of her time.” —Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code A gripping and intimate novel based on the true story of Margaret Jones, the first woman to be found guilty of witchcraft in seventeenth-century Massachusetts.

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Who it’s for
A tender marriage and an independent healer’s story unfold amid seventeenth-century religious suspicion.
Genres
Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, The Occult & Supernatural
Published
Amazon Publishing, September 1, 2025

About this book

2025 Goodreads Choice Award Finalist for Readers’ Favorite Historical Fiction “Andrea Catalano draws a tender, intimate portrait of a marriage and a bold defense of an independent woman ahead of her time.” —Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code A gripping and intimate novel based on the true story of Margaret Jones, the first woman to be found guilty of witchcraft in seventeenth-century Massachusetts. Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1646.

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Thomas and Margaret Jones arrive from England to build a life in the New World. Though of differing temperaments, cautious Thomas and fiery Margaret, a healer, are bound by a love that has lasted decades. With a child on the way, their new beginning promises only blessings. But in this austere Puritan community, comely faces hide malicious intent. Wrong moves or words are met with suspicion, and Margaret’s bold and unguarded nature draws scorn. Soon, Margaret is mistrusted as more cunning woman than kind caregiver. And when personal tragedies, religious hysteria, and wariness of the unknown turn most against her, even the devotion Margaret and her husband share is at risk. Inspired by actual diary entries and court records, The First Witch of Boston is at once the riveting story of a woman unjustly accused and a love story set amid the political and social turmoil of both Old and New England. Harrowing, and with a deep understanding of the human heart, history is brilliantly imagined.

Love Under Suspicion

A tender marriage and an independent healer’s story unfold amid seventeenth-century religious suspicion.

Come here for

  • A marriage tested by suspicion in Puritan Massachusetts
  • A woman’s story grounded in diary entries and court records

Expect

  • Intimate historical fiction with personal and social stakes
  • A harrowing account of an unjust accusation

Where it sits

Historical Fiction66%
Historical Romance40%
The Occult & Supernatural35%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Historical Fiction
  • Gothic Romance
  • Women's Fiction
Authors
Andrea Catalano
Publisher
Amazon Publishing
Published
September 1, 2025
Format
Print & ebook
Reading lane
Historical Fiction