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Books like The devil in the shape of a woman
A sobering, meticulously researched unmasking of the economic and social anxieties that turned colonial women into monsters. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with The devil in the shape of a woman.
- somber
- thought-provoking
- oppressive
- reflective
- 01
What Were the Salem Witch Trials
Joan Holub
A brisk, accessible journey into one of history's most fascinating and chilling moments of mass panic.
- 02
Witches, Witch-Hunting, and Women
Silvia Federici
A sobering, fiercely analytical exploration of how capitalist expansion has historically and continually relied on the systemic persecution of women.
- 03
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane
Katherine Howe
A dual-timeline mystery steeped in the smell of old paper, hidden magic, and the lingering ghosts of New England's dark past.
- 04
Religion and the Decline of Magic
Keith Thomas · 1971
A monumental, deeply immersive journey into the superstitious minds and precarious lives of early modern English people.
- 05
Drawing down the Moon
Margot Adler · 1979
An immersive, empathetic journey into the living rooms and forest clearings of America's modern magical revival.
- 06
The witches of Eastwick
John Updike
A lush, darkly satirical plunge into the intoxicating and destructive power of female desire in a stifling New England town.
- 07
Witches, midwives, and nurses
Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English · 1971
A sharp, righteous unearthing of how the modern medical establishment was built on the ashes of women's traditional healing.
- 08
Complete book of witchcraft
Raymond Buckland · 1986
A structured, encouraging workbook that feels like sitting in the classroom of a wise, pragmatic elder.
- 09
When God Was a Woman
Merlin Stone
A paradigm-shifting archaeological journey that unearths the suppressed history of the divine feminine and the origins of patriarchal myth.
- 10
Tituba of Salem Village
Ann Petry · 1964
A suspenseful, atmospheric descent into the paranoia of 1692 Salem, told through the eyes of a woman whose very survival is on the line.
- 11
Slewfoot
Brom
A dark, gothic descent into colonial paranoia where an outcast's alliance with an ancient spirit ignites a terrifying and triumphant vengeance.
- 12
A midwife's tale
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich · 1990
An intimate, meticulously researched window into the daily rhythms and quiet labors of an eighteenth-century woman's life.
