The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

October's book was perfect for Halloween, a story about witches, both in old colonial times and more recently in 1991.  It was a story about subtle witches, using their "craft" for good purpose, more so to using it in healing.  Most of us, 11 out of 12 liked and enjoyed the novel, to different degrees.  One person said they just couldn't get into it, and struggled reading it.

The book, going back and forth through time periods stretching hundreds of years on US soil, illustrated the connections between Mother/Daughter and then lineage through time. ***see the end of article***  Some liked the character development and could definitely see this book as a movie.  Some of us didn't know the Salem Witch time period so wanted to delve more into that after reading this book, some liked the history of the book.  Some members wished the book would have been "scarier."

Our leader shared with us that the book is published in 20 some countries.  We talk about the mother/daughter relationships in the book, and how women have been perceived over the centuries.  We talk about the women's influence as midwives.  What has changed for us women in these 300 plus years, included the right to vote.

We talked about being a preservationist like Sam, or a historian like Connie.  Both are important, and some of us were more inclined like Sam, wanting to preserve history, but some said you can't save it all!  We agreed they complimented each other in this novel, glad she weaved that part into the storyline.

We had quite a discussion about Arlo.  In Ch 2, Connie talks about how she came to have Arlo with her at Harvard.  Some noted this with interest, while others, just flew over that information.  At the end of the book, the last chapter, we see an older couple sitting and observing a dog, sitting by a tombstone, which is revealed to have started with the letter "D."  Someone thought that maybe Deliverance came back as a dog, and someone else suggested, that the dog was the same dog through the years for the family lineage, and the tombstone, marked "D" for dog.  Fun that she wove that part into the storyline.

One question in the discussion was whether Christianity is contradictory or complementary to magic in this story.  In this story it is complementary, but we don't think it has been in the realm of Christianity.  You choose, someone said, what side.  Another said it was fascinating to read that the witches in this book found it important to have that connection with God.

We also talked about magic -- what does it mean?  It can mean many different things, there is magic that is spiritual, magic that is dark, magic that is fairy tale and optimistic, like a leprechen.  We even recognized we have the Magical Kingdom, so there is "magic" in the real world!

I found this story to be an easy quick read, one I personally did not want to put down.  The "witches" of the colonial days used their gift for healing, obtaining herbs to help along with their spells.   Having the book weave around Connie working on her doctoral dissertation while at Harvard and going back to her mother's family home near Salem is enticing, leaving us to wonder how these two worlds will combine.  We find out when she finds a key in a Bible.  Like someone said at book club, I can easily see this as an interesting movie.  Someday. 

Thanks to one of our members, here is the lineage
Deliverance & Nathaniel Dale, dates mentioned 1681-1692
Mercy & Jedediah  Lamson, 1715-1763
Prudence & Josiah  Bartlett, 1741-1798
Patience (Patty) 1747
Sophia & Lemuel
Grace & Leo Goodwin
Constance  Goodwin