Frances Hill

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Frances Hill (b. 1943 in London, England) is the author of several books on the Salem Witch Trials, including the widely acclaimed A Delusion of Satan. Hill seeks to retell the story of the trials in order to better understand the psychological and social causes for the witch-hunt. She theorizes that much of the hysteria centered around the witch hunt was actually caused by various outside stresses, such as the repressive theology of the Puritan religion, the constant fear of Indian attacks, and the political struggle between the families of the "victims" and those accused of witchcraft. (Betty Parris and Abigail Williams lived under the roof of the domineering Puritan minister Samuel Parris, who was a political ally of the Putnam family, one of whom, Ann Putnam, Jr., was among the "afflicted.")