I just finished The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe. The protagonist is a grad student in Early American History (as is Howe), who ends up being descended from a woman tried as a Salem witch (as is Howe). Hmmmm....
I enjoyed the mystery that was the heart of this book, but I had it figured out well in advance of our heroine. She was searching for Deliverance Dane, whose name she found in key in her Grandmother's house. (Spoiler alert...) Deliverance Dane's daughter was named Mercy, Mercy's daughter was named Prudence, then came Patience, then Temperance. And the heroine's mom is Grace, her grandmother is Sophia, and her name is Connie (which I quite readily figured out came from Constance). And all these women had only one single child...always a daughter. She was an only child, as was her mom, as was her grandmother. Yet it took her forever to glean that this Deliverance Dane that she was searching for was her own ancestor. Connie goes to Harvard, for God's sake...I thought you had to be smart to go there.
Anyway, besides THAT little bit of silliness, I did enjoy this book. There was a little more flowery description than I care for, causing me to do a bit of skimming. But the story was ultimately interesting and satisfying. I learned some history, too...always a plus. I expect some other interesting novels to come from this author.
IT sounds interesting, although I don't generally like to be smarter than the heroine. I just finished The Help for BC, now I'm reading Cutting for Stone.
Posted by: Margaret | Sunday, October 04, 2009 at 09:09 PM