The Physic Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

Three Stars

I have always had a little fascination with the Salem Witch Trials ever since I did my History Day project on them in 8th grade. I can still spout off some pretty random facts about it all if you’re ever curious.

Interesting fact about this book, the author is a descendant of two accused witches; one survived the trials, the other did not.

This is another multi-generational, dual-time period story. I have found in the past that I usually don’t like the present-time narrator in these stories and would much rather just read the past story. This time around I didn’t mind Connie, the current-time narrator, so much. She wasn’t exactly my favorite, and she did bug me at times, but what Katherine Howe got right is that she didn’t add in any unnecessary extras about her life. Connie’s story was mostly her search for Deliverance’s story.

And research she does. Katherine Howe is an American History academic, thus, so is Connie. There is a lot of specifics on how Connie conducts her research which could become tiresome and drag the story down. But I actually found it quite interesting. I’ve always loved history (it’s really just more stories, right?) and even research has been entertaining for me , so learning about different ways to track someone down through history was pretty fascinating for me.

I believe this book came about first as research, then a storyline was worked in to make it a novel and not another history book. Parts of the plot feel really forced, like Connie’s love interest. It starts off well then gets a little weird when it ties in to a historical storyline, ending in such a way that I was left thinking “Wait, that’s not how it goes …”

I also really, really did not like the climax. I really thought it was stupid and what she considered to be her ‘only option’ was unrealistic and dumb. I still think it was dumb, but am less angry at it now.

That said, I actually did enjoy the book. It’s a very nice mix of fiction and fact into a story that flows well and moves quickly. Dumb moment aside, I do recommend this as a fun interesting read.