The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

By: Katherine Howe

Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren

A spellbinding, beautifully written novel that moves between contemporary times and one of the most fascinating and disturbing periods in American history - the Salem witch trials.
Harvard graduate student Connie Goodwin needs to spend her summer doing research for her doctoral dissertation. But when her mother asks her to handle the sale of Connie's grandmother's abandoned home near Salem, she can't refuse. As she is drawn deeper into the mysteries of the family house, Connie discovers an ancient key within a seventeenth-century Bible. The key contains a yellowing fragment of parchment with a name written upon it: Deliverance Dane. This discovery launches Connie on a quest-to find out who this woman was and to unearth a rare artifact of singular power: a physick book, its pages a secret repository for lost knowledge.
As the pieces of Deliverance's harrowing story begin to fall into place, Connie is haunted by visions of the long-ago witch trials, and she begins to fear that she is more tied to Salem's dark past then she could have ever imagined.
Written with astonishing conviction and grace, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane travels seamlessly between the witch trials of the 1690s and a modern woman's story of mystery, intrigue, and revelation.©2009 Katherine Howe; (P)2009 Hyperion

solid!

I quite enjoyed listening to this book and being transported into the world that the author creates. It's not perfect, and some of the characters were not especially believable, but I highly recommend it if you're looking for something in the vein of "The Secret History of the Pink Carnation". (To be fair, the quality of the writing in "The Physick Book" is about 10 times better than "Pink Carnation", but the parts set in the past in "Pink Carnation" are about 10 times more engaging.)

Hurray!

This is the first intelligent historical thriller I've encountered since The Historian. I couldn't stop listening. My one qualm was with the narrator, who, like so many other narrators and actors, seems to think that everyone from Massachusetts sounds like a Kennedy or even better, like they are from Maine. While this annoyed me, it wasn't enough to keep me from thoroughly enjoying the story.

Good idea bad execution

The idea for this novel was good it's the way it is carried out that is a problem.The parallel story lines opened the story to a lot of repetition which quickly bothered me as I listened to this audiobook.The writer Kathrine Howe is also overdescribes when it really isn't necessary . I didn't really like the lead character Connie either . She was as other reviewers have wrote is dumb for a PHD candiate. For me honestly there were no characters that I cared about .It made it hard for me to get through the book.The author did a through job of researching the history of the witch trails that you can hear throughout the only really interesting story of the colonial witches.The endings for both stories were somewhat predictable. Overall this book is just okay ,nothing too exciting or mentally demanding.

New Englanders Must!

Wonderfully written and very well performed. This book is very enjoyable as well as having a more than realistic historic appeal.

The Best Book I Read This Year!

This book was probably one of the best books, if not the best book, I read all year. I LOVED everything about it, from the rich history in the lives of those living during the Salem Witch Trials, to the historical relevance that was imparted on those living today. It was educational, entertaining, and so enthralling! I'd recommend it for anyone who loves magical realism, historical fiction, mystery and plot twists, and learning a little something from their entertainment.