
The First Witch of Boston
A Novel
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.
We earn from qualifying purchases.
- 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
Nearest books
Matched by what the books are about, then ordered by what their readers also loved.
Boleyn TraitorPhilippa Gregory52% match
A Family MatterClaire Lynch54% match
The Bane WitchEJ Lavery, Ava Morgyn57% match
A Circle of Uncommon WitchesPaige Crutcher58% match
No Rest for the WickedRachel Louise Adams, Jeremy Carlisle Parker55% match
Isola: Reese's Book ClubAllegra Goodman53% match
The Astral LibraryKate Quinn53% match
The Last WitchfinderJames Morrow67% matchShares Historical Fiction and The Occult & Supernatural
For younger readers: Witch Child, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Witches
Start with three books, and this one can be the first.
Members get a new edition every morning: a route out from their books to essays, research and talks, with the reason for each.
Start with this bookAbout 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.
Continue reading
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 Fiction | 66% |
|---|---|
| Historical Romance | 40% |
| The Occult & Supernatural | 35% |
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