Chelsea native Andrea Catalano is celebrating the success of publishing her first book, “The First Witch of Boston,” a historical novel that focuses on the story of Margaret Jones, the first woman in the Massachusetts Bay Colony to be tried for witchcraft.
Catalano was recently in the Boston area on a promotional tour, appearing at book-signing events at bookstores in Melrose and Newburyport.
At the event in Melrose, Catalano, attired as fashionably as ever as was her trademark while growing up in Chelsea [before the family moved to Saugus], enlightened the audience with compelling passages from the book and her own story of the passion, resilience, and determination it took to publish her first novel.
Andrea’s remarks were well received by an audience that included her mother, Ann Catalano, and friend, Julie Addonizio Driscoll and Leanne Dishion. Throughout the lively talk, Catalano’s strong Boston accent was present, though she currently lives in Denver with her husband and their two children. Her vibrant personality and eloquence also shone brightly throughout the presentation.
In her eight-year [2016-2024) journey between writing and selling the book, “The First Witch of Boston,” Catalano and her husband, Robert Ferrier, welcomed their second child and “Covid-19 happened,” necessitating her to home-school her older child for close to two years.
“There were a lot of interruptions in between starting the book and finishing it,” said Catalano.
In 2023, Catalano met her acquiring editor at Lake Union Publishing at the Historical Novel Society Conference in San Antonio.
“She recommended an agent, and by the end of 2023, I had a two-book deal,” Catalano said proudly. “It was really awesome.”
What was the inspiration for writing, “The First Witch of Boston?”
“As a graduate student, when I was doing my research for my dissertation, I came across the mention of Margaret Jones’ execution,” said Catalano. “I found it to be a fascinating story. I said to myself, ‘someday, I’m going to circle that ground and think about making that into a novel.’ It took me almost 20 years to do that, but I did it.”
Catalano said she was also inspired to write about Margaret Jones “because I had recently lost my godmother (Shirley Goodman), and my godmother was a very independent, free spirit, who really spoke her mind and didn’t really care what society thought. Her spirit was an inspiration for Margaret Jones.”
Catalano conducted years of research for the book. She describes “First Witch” as “a historical fiction narrative of Margaret Jones, who was the first woman tried and executed for witchcraft in 1648 in Massachusetts.”
According to Catalano, the book is written from two points of view, that of Margaret Jones’ husband, Thomas (who was also arrested on charges of witchcraft, but the charges were dropped), and that of Margaret Jones’ during the trial.
“At one point somebody in the publishing industry suggested to me that I should write a book about a famous man’s wife or daughter or lover, and that kind of just rubbed me the wrong way,” said Catalano. “And I thought, ‘how about I write a book about a famous woman’s husband or son – that was why I decided to write the first half of the novel from the husband’s point of view.”
A former pageant winner
Andrea Catalano, daughter of John Catalano and Ann Catalano, grew up on Warren Avenue in Chelsea and attended Mary C. Burke School (kindergarten) and Our Lady of Assumption (K-8).
“I started writing in the fourth grade at OLA,” said Catalano. “There was no turning back. I was hooked.”
Catalano took ballet, tap, and jazz lessons at Broadway Dance Studio under the direction of Joyce Sartorelli “from the time I was three until I graduated high school,” becoming a student teacher at the famous studio.
“Joyce was somebody that you looked up to and idolized just because of her presence when she walked into a room,” said Catalano. “She just pushed all of us to strive to be the very best possible people that we could in everything that we did – academically, dance wise – just positive forces in the world.”
Always versatile in her abilities and an outstanding student, Catalano won the title of Greater Suffolk County Junior Miss in 1994 at the scholarship pageant.
“I remember it caused a little bit of scandal because I chose to wear a black gown, and that was kind of a no-no at the time,” recalled Catalano. “But I said, ‘no, black’s my favorite color, I’m wearing black.’ That pageant probably paid for most of my freshman year of college,” recalled Catalano.
Catalano continued her education at Our Lady of Nazareth, a prestigious high school nestled on a neighborhood hill in the town of Wakefield.
Continuing her passion for writing, Catalano published pieces in Our Lady of Nazareth’s literary magazine and school newspaper.
“I was really into poetry at the time,” she reflected. “That was more my jam that anything else.”
Praise for her college experience
Catalano attended Suffolk University, an excellent institution located in Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood, after receiving a four-year scholarship.
Catalano said Suffolk’s outstanding study-abroad program gave her the opportunity to travel to multiple countries, noting that her overall college experience truly influenced her life in a positive way.
“I did a month-long tour of the Czech Republic, and I studied for a semester in London,” said Catalano.
Catalano received a degree in History, with a minor in English, graduating with highest honors (summa cum laude). She wrote for Suffolk’s literary magazine and was a disc jockey on her own radio show called “Hello Kitty.”
Earns a master’s degree at University of Cambridge
Catalano pursued a Master of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge, a highly prestigious school in the United Kingdom and one of the oldest in the world.
“It was like a dream come true [to attend Cambridge],” related Catalano. “My area of concentration was 17th Century British and American History.”
After receiving her degree, Catalano returned to Boston and “tried to get a job in an archive or a museum and found it to be an extremely difficult field to break into.”
She took her first job as an online editor for a website before entering the field of education as a teacher.
“I taught eighth grade history at Collins Middle School in Salem [Massachusetts],” said Catalano.
Her goal of being an
author begins in Denver
When her husband received a job offer in his hometown of Denver, “We moved there and that’s when I started writing in earnest. I began pursuing my dream of writing a novel.”
In order to keep that dream alive, Catalano worked in various job she termed “side-hustles.”
“I was a bartender, a perfumer’s apprentice, and I was also very active with Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers – I did a lot of volunteer work with that group,” said Catalano.
While a resident of Denver, Catalano “wrote two-and-half novels.”
“I got a literary agent in 2008, and I tried shopping my second novel quite a bit, but of course it was not a very good time economically to be a debut author – nobody was taken a shot on anybody who was a debut author in 2008,” said Catalano. “It didn’t really get very far. It got lots of glowing rejections.”
Catalano parted ways “amicably” with her literary agent after eight years.
“Right after we parted ways in 2016, I started writing this book, “The First Witch of Boston.”