Book Group: Deliberate Evil

Join your neighbors for a book group discussion of Edward J. Renehan’s new book Deliberate Evil: Nathaniel Hawthorne, Daniel Webster, and the 1830 Murder of a Salem Slave Trader, a contextualized account of the murder of Captain Joseph White. Residents of Salem’s downtown frequently walk past the Gardner-Pingree house on Essex Street but may not know the extent to which the Captain’s murder in that house provides a fascinating glimpse into antebellum Salem’s economy, politics, and class conflict. Facilitated by licensed city guide and former professor Rebecca Johnson, we’ll explore how the murder and its aftermath continue to be relevant today.