"The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane" by Katherine Howe [3 1/2]

While clearing out her grandmother's cottage for sale, Connie Goodwin finds a parchment inscribed with the name Deliverance Dane. So begins the hunt to uncover the woman behind the name, a hunt that takes her back to Salem in 1692 ... and the infamous witchcraft trials.

But nothing is entirely as it seems and when Connie unearths the existence of Deliverance's spell book, The Physick Book, the situation takes on a menacing edge as interested parties reveal their desperation to find this precious artifact at any cost.

What secrets does The Physick Book contain? What magic is scrawled across its parchment pages? Connie must race to answer these questions - and reveal the truth about Salem's condemned women - before an ancient family curse once more fulfils its dark and devastating prophecy ...

This novel sounded so engrossing when I read the write up from the back cover ... sorry to say I was a little disappointed with it. It starts very slowly ... to the point when you think how exciting can uni life be and what more do we need to know about it.

So the story does pick up once Connie gets to her grandmothers old house and she starts to clean up and finds the name of Deliverance Dane in an old Bible. From there she begins to do some research into the name and this is where the novel gets engrossing. I loved the way the author flashes back into 1692 and tells the story of Deliverance and her daughter and through a couple of generations. I just wished there was a little bit more of that as it was very interesting.

The plot with Connie does become predicable and very soon you realize where the story is heading and how it will turn out ... that is what is disappointing about it. I did like the way the author has taken the line of what if witchcraft was real, it puts a slightly different twist to the novel. A must read is the author's postscript at the end of the novel, it gives some very interesting insight into the 1690's and what was going on in Salem and a little of her family history and how she is related to one of the condemned women back then.

An interesting read, did enjoy it eventually.

I rate this book 3 1/2 stars.