First time author Katherine Howe comes onto the scene with an incredibly powerful novel - The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane. It's a hard book to characterize. Is it a literary novel, a mystery, a paranormal or historical fiction? It's a bit of each and more. Howe moves flawlessly between contemporary times and the Salem witch trials in the seventeenth century, a disturbing period in our history. The idea for this book came to her while working on a PhD in American and New England Studies. Howe is a descendant of Elizabeth Howe and Elizabeth Proctor, two women who were accused of witchcraft in Salem.
Harvard graduate student Connie Goodwin is doing research for her doctoral dissertation when her mother, Grace, asks her to clean out her grandmother's house in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Connie moves in and reluctantly begins cleaning the abandoned house. While looking through a seventeenth century Bible an old key falls out with scrap of paper that has a name written on it - Deliverance Dane. Curiosity and the need for an original source for her dissertation set Connie on a journey of discovery that leads to a mysterious book of spells. As the pieces of the puzzle fall into place Connie finds she is tied to Deliverance Dane's dark past in ways she could not have imagined.
Howe paints pictures of vivid period detail. Seventeenth century history, architecture, clothing and food come alive. She puts real people in her story and it lends an air of authenticity to the plot. Yes, plot and characters are intriguing and memorable but what really makes this book so special is the magical connection between Connie, the contemporary heroine, and Deliverance, a strong, independent woman in her own time.
It's common for a reviewer to hear lots of advance hype about a book and then be disappointed. In this case the accolades are all true. The ingenious plot, the super twists and the intricate turns make a reader's pulse quicken. It's a fantastic page turner, makes you believe there are witches walking amongst us today. Pick up a copy when the book is released in June and prepare to be transported.
Publisher: Voice (June 9, 2009)
ISBN: 978-1401340902
Pages: 384
Price: $25.99
Gail Pruszkowski reviews for "Romantic Times BOOKreviews" magazine and her work has been published in the "Cup of Comfort" Anthologies.
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