The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane has to be one of the best novels I have read!

Katherine Howe's first book, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, is a soon-to-be bestseller! I am privileged to have read it as part of Barnes & Noble First Look. I must say that this is a wonderfully written page-turner, that allows the reader to have the feel of the era and the area. The cover of the book is very unique (especially as a paperback). The plot moves along nicely, and the transitions between two very different setting, are smooth and without distraction.

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane is a novel that moves between contemporary times and one of the most fascinating times in American history -- the Salem Witch Trials. Connie Goodwin is a Harvard graduate student that needs to spend her summer doing research for her doctoral dissertation. Her mother asks her to handle the sale of her grandmother's abandoned home near Salem. As she delves into the mysteries of the family house, Connie discovers an old key hidden in a seventeenth-century Bible. The key has a name attached to it, Deliverance Dane. This discovery launches Connie on a quest to find out who this woman was, and why was this key hidden in this house?

I highly recommend this book for relaxed reading, book clubs, and for anyone that enjoys historical fiction. A terrific first novel! Do yourself a favor and don't miss out on this novel.

www.physickbook.com

Of Bees and Mist

I had the opportunity to read Of Bees and Mist by Erick Setiawan as part of Barnes & Noble's First Look club. I like magic and fantasy, but this book did not 'do it' for me. Yes, I read it all, and went back to re-read parts to see what I was perhaps missing that other readers were getting from it. I never did find that magic. I did find that the over-exaggeration of magic and metaphors got me les and less 'enchanted' with it. Of Bees and Mist is a fairy tale for adults. It is also somewhat of a coming of age story for it's main character, Mederia, and her miserable life. Her parents were virtually non-existent for her. Meridia's only "friend", Hannah, was/is too obviously Meridia's internal hopes and dreams. Her husband is spineless and lets his mother dictate his life. I cannot recommend reading Of Bees and Mist, despite the many good reviews. However, you may find the magic that was missing for me.

A Fortunate Age

"A Fortunate Age" by Joanna Smith Rakoff is the story of six 20 somethings, starting out in New York. It is set in the late 90s and turn of the century, and follows five Oberlin graduates as they shed their youth and start their lives.
I found that the characters were difficult to follow and I didn't feel that the characters were fully developed. The author focuses each chapter on one character but doesn't go into enough depth in any of them to make me care about them. Smith Rakoff uses flashbacks to try to fill in some of the gaps, but instead of helping, I feel it makes it difficult to keep everyone's story straight. None of the characters in this first novel by Smith Rakoff, is memorable.
The author used language that tries to emulate that of Edith Wharton or Charles Dickens and is used to try to fill the depth of this book. Not a successful endeavor. If there was a plot, I couldn't find it. I finished the book only because I hoped that the next chapter would be better. Instead, I was disappointed and no less confused.