Update

I finished The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, and I really liked it! As a librarian and former English student, I enjoyed the descriptions of the different libraries Connie visited while conducting her research into the person of “Deliverance Dane,” having to sift through ginormous card catalogs to find what she hoped would be the “physick book” (the story’s present day is 1991, at the beginning stages of digitizing card catalogs). We find out about Deliverance as the author shifts to 1692, the famous date of the Salem witch trials, at which Deliverance was tried, convicted and executed (I found out there was a real Deliverance Dane, and she actually survived the witch trials). We also uncover more about Deliverance’s daughter and grandaughter, Mercy and Prudence, as Connie discovers Prudence’s journal. The author skillfully weaves between the past and present and uncovers secrets that I did not see coming. She includes real people, such as the judge who presided over the Salem witch trials, as well as Sarah Wildes, Rebecca Nurse, Susannah Martin, Sarah Good, and Elizabeth Howe, all women who were tried and executed. The author herself (Katherine Howe) is descended from Elizabeth Howe, as well as Elizabeth Proctor, who survived the trials. It blends mystery, suspense and romance without much explicit sexual content or harsh language (a plus in my book!). An interesting read!