Review of The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

By Katherine Howe

 

Harvard graduate student Connie Goodwin needs to spend her summer doing research for her doctoral dissertation. But when her mother asks her to handle the sale of Connie’s grandmother’s abandoned home near Salem, she can’t refuse. As she is drawn deeper into the mysteries of the family house, Connie discovers an ancient key within a seventeenth-century Bible. The key contains a yellowing fragment of parchment with a name written on it: Deliverance Dane. This discovery launches Connie on a quest – to find out who this woman was and to unearth a rare artifact of singular power: a physick book, its pages a secret repository for lost knowledge.

As the pieces of Deliverance’s harrowing story begin to fall into place, Connie is haunted by visions of the long-ago witch trials, and she begins to fear that she is more tied to Salem’s dark past then she could have ever imagined.

This book was referred to me by a bookseller in Seaside, OR. The shop is called Beach Books and was situated in this little town by the Sea. As you walk by there is this beautiful, lazy cat hanging out on the couch in the window. She of course drew us in to check out this little store. I love B&N but I completely adore small, comfy book shops! I was recommending that she read A Discovery of Witches and she said I would love this book and she was right!

So you know that I love a good witch story and again this one did not disappoint. Ms. Howe was able to flow smoothly from the witch trials of 1692 to 1991 and relate the family history of Connie with mystery and intrigue. She made the story come full circle of not just Connie and her relationship with her mother but with all of her ancestors throughout Salem’s history. Of course she finds love along the way! I love a good love story but it is so much better when a fantastic story is woven into that so it gives it depth and emotion that would otherwise have made it seem cheap.

Ms. Howe is a first time author and she was flawless! She should have been writing books long ago! This is a 5 star book for me! If you love witches then you will love this book. Very cleanly written with exquisite grace and conviction.