The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

This was one of those books where I became so engrossed I could hardly put it down to eat, sleep, or brush my teeth. I stayed up until 1 am reading and the next morning I woke at 6 just so I could finish it! It's not that I think the author, Katherine Howe, is a phenomenal writer (she had a strange fascination with the word "glimmering"), but her story gave me the pleasant sensation of being incredibly entertained whilst still learning something constructive. It would be nice if Stephanie Meyer had realized that entertainment and substance can occur together before she Twilighted a generation of impressionable young minds into the black hole teenage emotions and fangs.... won't go down that path right now though.

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane is categorized as historical fiction and the story is premised on this question: what if the women accused in the Salem Witch Trials were actually guilty of witchcraft? 

Set in Cambridge and Marblehead, Massachusetts, the narrative goes back and forth between the story of Connie Goodwin, a PhD candidate who has just inherited the job of cleaning up her Grandmother's crumbling 17th century house which has been abandoned for twenty years, and a line of 17th century women whose possession of the gift of magic usually brings them more pain than pleasure. The mystery begins when Connie discovers a small key and a piece of paper with the name "Deliverance Dane" written on it. From there on out it's alternately a treasure hunt, mystery, and mild academic thriller. There were some hokey hocus pocus kind of moments, but overall I highly recommend this one!