Goodreads Summary:
"A fresh present-day story infused with an original take on popular history. Forget broomsticks and pointy hats; here are witches that could well be walking among us today. This debut novel flows with poetic charm and eloquence that achieves high literary merit while concocting a gripping supernatural puzzler. Katherine Howe's talent is spellbinding." --Matthew Pearl, author of The Poe Shadow and The Dante Club A spellbinding, beautifully written novel that moves between contemporary times and one of the most fascinating and disturbing periods in American history-the Salem witch trials.
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 upon 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.
Written with astonishing conviction and grace, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane travels seamlessly between the witch trials of the 1690s and a modern woman's story of mystery, intrigue, and revelation.
My Thoughts:
I read this book as the September pick for my book club. I knew that it would be a rough read for me as I don't generally enjoy historical fiction but I thought that would be a side note, and I think perhaps that was the case for some readers. I was seriously annoyed by the tone and time shift in this book. I wanted to stop reading it several times. I didn't even finish it in time for the book club discussion. Part of that was because of my new 6 days a week work schedule and part of it was a admittedly a motivation issue.
This book read like a grad student's paper (yes I am aware the main character is a grad student) in that it was dry and hard to swallow from time to time while randomly being really good.
As you can tell I didn't love the book. I think if you enjoy historical fiction you might like this read. Also if you have a thing for the Salem Witches you would likely enjoy this read. Be warned though, if you are like me and have PTSD from college, reading way way way too many academic articles you may be annoyed by this book. Also if you don't love it when a book flip flops between time and story lines you might have the same frustrations with this book.
While writing this review I was listening to absolutely nothing and it was awesome.
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