NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK!
The New York Times bestseller
Named one of USA Today’s 10 Best Reads of 2009 - By Katherine Howe
A gripping supernatural puzzler . . . spellbinding.
A fresh and mesmerizing modern-day mystery of witches and witchcraft set in the real world.
terrific debut novel. . . . A beautifully written, historically captivating thriller.
A devilishly delightful read.
Compulsively readable. . . . A page-turner.
Katherine Howe blends the history of the long-ago witch trials with the tale of a 1991 Harvard student to create a toothsome smoothie of a summer read.
Howe has a sixth sense for when to sprinkle a little suspense, a little romance or a little humor into the brew.
t has definite [Alice] Hoffman vibes, but with a little Da Vinci Code, Stephen King, and academic discourse thrown in to create a charming and different mix. . . .Howe is masterful.
Katherine Howe’s beloved first novel, THE PHYSICK BOOK OF DELIVERANCE DANE (Voice; April 6, 2010; $15.99/Trade Paperback), debuted at #2 on the New York Times Hardcover Fiction Bestseller List. Scholars of the Salem witch trials have long asked why the accusers chose to ruin so many lives, but Howe asks, what if the women really were witches? What if the magic was real? As Booklist notes in its starred review, “Howe’s vividly detailed, witty, and astutely plotted debut is deeply rooted in her family connection to accused seventeenth-century witches Elizabeth Howe and Elizabeth Proctor. . . . A keen and magical historical mystery [it’s] laced with romance and sly digs at society’s persistent underestimation of women.” Paced like a thriller, set at a university, and plotted around the search for a breakthrough in a historical mystery, it will keep you turning pages long into the night.
In the novel, Harvard graduate student Connie Goodwin finds the name “Deliverance Dane” on a scrap of paper inside an old Bible. This discovery launches Connie on a quest to discover Deliverance’s identity, a journey that becomes even more compelling when she begins to have visions of a woman condemned for practicing “physick”—herbal healing—on her neighbors in 1690s Salem. When Connie’s boyfriend, Sam, has a horrifying accident, she realizes the only way to save him involves an ancient and mystical cure. Before time runs out, she needs to locate the actual physick book once owned by Deliverance Dane. As the pieces of Deliverance’s harrowing story fall into place, Connie begins to fear that she is more tied to Salem’s dark past than she could have ever imagined.
Compellingly written, with powerful historic insight, THE PHYSICK BOOK OF DELIVERANCE DANE is that rare find, a literary novel and commercial blockbuster that makes the past come alive.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Katherine Howe is completing a PhD in American and New England Studies at Boston University. Two of her ancestors were tried as witches in 1692. Elizabeth Proctor survived the ordeal; Elizabeth Howe did not. The idea for The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane developed while Katherine was studying for her exams, walking her dog through the woods between Marblehead and Salem, Massachusetts. She lives in Marblehead with her husband.
THE PHYSICK BOOK OF DELIVERANCE DANE
By Katherine Howe
Published by Voice on April 6, 2010: Trade Paperback Reprint; Price: $15.99
Includes a Reading Group Guide and Author Interview
ISBN: 978-1-4013-4133-6
Also available as a Hyperion Audiobook and eBook.
#1 IndieNext pick for June 2009
To request a review copy or an interview with Katherine Howe, please contact:
Allison McGeehon: 917-661-2054 / allison.mcgeehon@abc.com For more information, please visit
PhysickBook.com
www.KatherineHowe.com
www.everywomansvoice.com