Anyone interested in Puritain-American history, or the Salem Witch Trials, would appreciate Katherine Howe's
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane. In it, PhD student, Connie, is supposed to be working on her dissertation proposal over the summer when her mother asks her to clean up her deceased grandmother's abandoned house. As she begins, she discovers the name, Deliverance Dane, and a secret key--all of which leads to a book-length investigation in search for the identity of Deliverance Dane, and her so-called "physick book". Howe moves between past and present: Connie's present-day search and the historical setting of Salem, Mass during the 17th century. The latter is most interesting, as we learn a variety of new and insightful details about the Witch-trials. And while the overall work is entertaining, it possesses too many flaws (flat characters, hokey magic and cliched romance) to be as scary as I had hoped it to be.
I had a different reaction because I wasn't looking for, nor expecting, a "scary" story. I was looking for a narrative about life in Salem around 1690 and I got it. I wanted a story to help me visualize my ancestors' lives.
ReplyDeleteI got the picture and a sense of life at the end of the 17th century. I also enjoyed the emerging description of the house in the modern-day story line. I could picture the overgrown house, the dust, and the brittleness that comes with age.
I did appreciate going back and forth in time between the two story lines. "Time travel" is something people do when thinking about their forebears.
I am happy that the cover caught my eye because I did enjoy the book.