This novel takes place in Massachusetts primarily in 1991 and with interludes in the late 1692 during the infamous Salem witch trials.
The main character is Constance “Connie” Goodwin, a 20-something graduate student in colonial American history. When the novel starts, Connie has just passed her oral exams and is in search of a solid research project. Before settling on a dissertation topic, she is called to assist in the sale of her grandmother’s long-abandoned house in Marblehead, Massachusetts.
She must first clean up the house, and so decides to stay there for the summer. The house has running water, but no electricity or telephone. Remember, 1991 is before the age of cell-phones; so Connie is often in a phone booth calling on a pay phone!
One of the first things Connie comes across, is an old family Bible. When she picks it up, she feels a strange electric charge and a key with the name Deliverance Dane. Suddenly, Connie thinks that she has found her research topic. She spends much of the summer tracking down this Deliverance Dane person, who, Connie discovers, had a “physick book”, which contained recipes for folk remedies, but might also have labeled its owner as a witch.
The book was a fun read, but fell apart near the end. I did find the author’s spelling attempt at the Boston accent to be annoying and unnecessary.
Read: April 13, 2021
3 Stars
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