Condemn Me Not

I’ve listened to a lot of witch-trial narratives, and *Condemn Me Not* stands out because it refuses to glorify suffering. Susannah isn’t a saintly victim—she’s furious, skeptical, and occasionally petty, traits that make her feel achingly human. Moore’s choice to focus on her inner life, rather than the spectacle of the trials, ratchets up the tension. The jail sequences, with their claustrophobic atmosphere and flickering candlelight, are where the audiobook truly excels. Peterson’s narration sells it: her Susannah starts as controlled and measured, but as the noose tightens (literally and metaphorically), her voice fractures just enough to make the desperation feel visceral. The jailhouse scenes are the strongest—Moore’s descriptions of the damp straw and the way the women’s whispers echo in the dark are practically tactile. That said, the pacing stumbles in the latter third. The final confrontation with the magistrates feels rushed compared to the meticulous buildup, and some of the secondary characters blur together in the feverish jailhouse scenes. Peterson’s performance is stellar, but a few lines—particularly in the epilogue—land with a clunky, overly modern cadence that jars against the historical tone. Still, those quibbles don’t ruin the experience. By the time the audiobook ends, you’ll be haunted by Susannah’s defiance, and by the chilling reminder that the worst cruelties are often committed not by monsters, but by people who believe they’re doing God’s work.