When author Katherine Howe was studying for her doctoral exams in American and New England Studies at Boston University, a teaching research seminar on New England witchcraft was required. Two of her ancestors included Elizabeth Proctor, who survived the Salem Witch Trials, and Elizabeth Howe, who was hanged on July 19, 1692. As writers are often advised to cover topics they know, Howe’s rich historical family background became the inspiration for her debut novel The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, a story about witches and witchcraft in the late 17th century.
The novel moves between contemporary times and the Salem Witch Trials. Harvard grad Connie Goodwin is spending the summer completing the research for her doctoral thesis. Connie’s studies are interrupted when she is asked to handle the sale of her grandmother’s house near Salem. She discovers a key containing a fragment of parchment with the name Deliverance Dane written upon it. Connie begins her quest to discover the identity of Deliverance Dane and in the process uncovers a rare and powerful artifact.
Toward the end of the book, I think the reader must suspend belief, but true devotees of psychic healing and Wicca may disagree with me. Transitioning well between 1692 and 1991, I thought the novel was well researched, and the blend of mystery, intrigue, romance and history kept me engrossed.