The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

De: Katherine Howe

Narrado por: Katherine Kellgren

Connie is looking forward to starting work on her graduate thesis over the summer, when her mother asks her to sell an abandoned house once owned by her grandmother in Salem, Mass. Relunctantly, Connie moves to the small town and inhabits the crumbling, ancient house, trying to restore it to a semblance of order.

Curious things start to happen when Connie finds the name "Deliverance Dane" on a yellowed scrap of paper inside an old Bible, and begins to have visions of a long ago woman condemned for practicing "physick," or herbal healing, on her neighbors in 1690s Salem.

Interspersed with modern-day sections are chapters on the actual witch trials, revealing the fascinating story of Deliverance Dane and how she got caught up in the tragic events. Connie meets an intriguing young steeplejack named Sam, who's also interested in the history of the area. But just as Connie starts to unravel some of the mysteries surrounding Deliverance's identity, Sam has a horrifying accident, and Connie has to figure out a way to save him that involves an ancient and mystical cure. And to do that, she needs to locate the actual "physick book" once owned by Deliverance Dane herself.

Immediately compelling, with powerful historic insight and detail, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane is that rare find - a literary first novel with a very commercial premise and pacing.

©2009 Katherine Howe (P)2009 Hyperion

Reseñas de la Crítica

"In all, a keen and magical historical mystery laced with romance and sly digs at society's persistent underestimation of women." ( Booklist)

Oh my gosh, I couldn't get any sleep!

If you could sum up The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane in three words, what would they be?

Excellent-suspense-twist

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane?

I loved Connie and Sam's love story.

Have you listened to any of Katherine Kellgren’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but I will.

If you could rename The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, what would you call it?

Legacy of a Witch

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed the book, the characters and the narrator!

Wonderful Book!

I feel in love with the storyline and how it wove in and out of the past. Was not crazy about the music that headed each chapter but I could not wait to finish it. Excellent story.

Good book about witches

I am having a really hard time finding good reads about witches. Some are for teenagers. Some are overly sexualized. Some are more fantasy genre. This one is actually good. It deals with witches as real people and from a pragmatic point of view. I am personally not into the Christian (or any religious) ties to the craft, but in this case, it didn't really detract from the story. Because my usual fare is heavy duty murder mysteries, I don't object to the use of cursing, but this book contains very little - for those of you who may be more sensitive to that sort of thing than I.

My only real objection is the narrator. Ms. Kellgren is actually a very good narrator, but didn't quite fit the story line here. Her accent is just a bit heavy on the British and not at all on the New England or even a neutral American. Given the setting, I would have preferred New England. Save Ms. Kellgren for a Brit mystery or a transplant from London to the USA.

Loved it!

Terrific story! Going back and forth from the past to modern times! Wonderful characters incorporating truth with fiction! Enjoyable with lovely narrator.

A Good Story but...

I really enjoyed the Physick Book of Deliverance Dane. I think Katherine Howe has some good story telling in her. The story goes back and forth between colonial times and the early 90s. The historical parts of the book were awesome but I wish modern day Connie had been possibly thought out a little more? I found some of the stuff the main character was oblivious too hard to believe considering she is a HARVARD educated woman pursuing a PHD. She came across as clueless on occasion which I feel was the authors way of telling the story when I much prefer personally other means of getting points across. For example Connie didn't see to put 2+2 together to figure out when of the women she was researching was a midwife or that a receipt and recipe might be the same thing. It is fiction though and otherwise her story telling was good. I would love to know more about the colonial characters and others mentioned though. The narrator was good and has a nice voice, the only issue is sometimes her "voices" of the different characters including the men are all so similar it is hard to follow who is actually speaking. a few times I had to relisten to exchanges between Grace and Connie because I wasn't sure where one began and one ended.

The Physic Book of Deliverance Dane audio

Katherine Howe has written a well developed story and characters. she intertwines fact and fiction which enables the reader to learn while being entertained. I like how Howe at the end of the book notes what was fact and what was fiction. similar to author Steve Berry. the narrator was very good as well. FYI there is no cursing, sex scenes or violence yet a gripping mystery and a little romance. I would read more of Howe's books.

Started weak - ended Strong!

Was worth wading through the unconvincing awkwardness of the first chapters. Howe found her stride and the dialogue became natural, the plot became truly interesting. The story was enriched because she did an excellent job of employing both empirical and magical knowledge to weave her tale -- along with a lot of solid history . Unlike some readers, I thought her handling of the man/woman part was refreshing - not gloppy with romance but definitely making the mutual interest and consummation clear. I plan to try the next book.

That's entertainment

Entertaining historical fiction that kept my attention despite the pretty silly caricature of Harvard U. and an ending designed for Hollywood. Kudos to the narrator. Shelved under "good airplane food."

entertaining story. Fine Narration

The Physic of Deliverance Dane is a really compelling story. It's well written and the narrator Katherine Helgren does a good job of all the character voices.
Jane

Grad students and history buffs will love this

I appreciated the in-depth historical research the author did for this book. In fact, the postscript was one of my favorite parts, as she explained which parts were historically accurate and which had been partly or wholly factionalized. Also, any graduate student or post-graduate will relate to the portrayal of grad student life which was clearly drawn from the author's own experience. I loved this book!