RA Crossroads: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

When I was in middle school, I had to do a report on the Salem witch trials, which launched an approach/avoidance relationship with the topic that has sustained. So it's no surprise that when given a copy of The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, I pretty much stopped everything to read it.

It is a time-slip story of the Salem witches, Ph.D. studies, and women. Blending a slowly building pace with a keen sense of both place and time (the 1690s and today), Howe writes of Connie Goodwin and her research into the line of magical women from her past. Based on the intriguing idea that there might have been some magic occurring in Salem during the witch trials, Howe conjures a tale about the lives of the women that inherited the magic.

It is a book that immediately makes you reach for some history. Howe only skirts around the edges of what readers want to know. What really happened? How were the trials conducted? For that, turn to two great narrative histories of the era, Mary Beth Norton's In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692  and Carol Karlsen's The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England. Norton contextualizes the period in a rich blend of military and social history. Karlsen aims her sights directly on the accused women and, like the subtext Howe infuses into her story, details how they were perceived as a danger to the community’s social order.

Although it's fictional, perhaps the best way to slip back in time with Howe is to read Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. The weight of his play will leave you harrowed, angry, and aching over what occurred in Salem. Since plays should be seen as well as read, consider Nicholas Hytner’s bold 1996 adaptation, starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder. For another film take, try PBS's Three Sovereigns for Sarah, featuring Vanessa Redgrave. This dramatization of history evokes the moment Mercy tries to defend her mother’s reputation. 

Another evocation of Mercy can be found in Sarah Carrier, the heroine of Kathleen Kent’s starkly beautiful The Heretic’s Daughter. Echoing some of Howe’s sections on the trials, Kent relates the horror of 1692 through the eyes of ten-year-old Sarah as she watches her mother and brothers stand trial for witchcraft.

If you can drag your attention away from the trials of Salem, Possession by A.S. Byatt makes a great read-alike. It shares the same details of library searches, a beautiful weaving of worlds and times, and a heavy, lush weight. More literary than Howe, Possession works well as The Physick Book’s older sister. Another great next read is Maria V. Snyder's Poison Study. Similar in pace and sharing the same portentous feel, deft hand at describing magic, and attention to details, it is a fantasy story that features a strong female point of view and addictive storytelling.

Finally, if the appeal of The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane is Connie and her struggle to figure out her life, consider Robert Hellenga's The Sixteen Pleasures. Involving the same sense of mystery and detail, as well as having a similar pace and tone, it introduces Margot Harrington and her quest to discover herself and figure out the contents of a book. Readers who enjoyed Connie’s search for the "physick book" and her moments of self-reflection will find Margot’s journey irresistible.