In the shadowed heart of 17th century Boston, where whispers of witchcraft and sin permeate the air, "Hour of the Witch" by Chris Bohjalian unveils the harrowing tale of Mary Deerfield, a 24-year-old Puritan woman ensnared in the throes of a violent marriage. With her porcelain skin and delft blue eyes, Mary might have been a coveted bride in England, but in the rigorous New World, she finds herself tethered to Thomas Deerfield—a man whose cruelty is as vast as his influence. When a drunken rage leads Thomas to drive a three-tined fork into Mary's hand, she knows she must escape not only her marriage but also the suffocating grip of a society where the devil is seen lurking behind every misstep. As Mary seeks freedom, her journey becomes a perilous navigation through a maze of societal judgment and hypocrisy. Her attempts to save herself from a life of brutality thrust her into the center of a chilling witch hunt, transforming her from a victim seeking justice into a suspect standing on the precipice of ultimate despair. Objects tainted by darkness found in her garden, the mysterious death of a boy under her care, and the eerie screams of a servant girl paint Mary as a consort of the devil in the eyes of her community. "Hour of the Witch" is not only a testament to the endurance of the human spirit in the face of unspeakable odds but also a riveting exploration of the dark chapters in American history where truth was often stranger and more terrifying than fiction.