watched today as Giles Corey was presst to death between the stones. He had lain so for two days mute. With each stone, they told him he must plead, lest more stones be added. But he only whispered, More weight. Standing in the crowde, I found Goodwyfe Dane, who, as the last stone lower'd, went white, grippt my hand, and wept. Salem Towne, 16 September, 1692


While clearing out her grandmother's cottage for sale, Connie Goodwin finds a parchment inscribed with the name Deliverance Dane. And so she steps into a mystery that dates from 1692 in Salem.... and the infamous witchcraft trials.

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 secret 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 women - before an ancient family curse fulfils its dark and devastating prophecy.




As it was leading up to Samhain I thought this would be a good book to delve in to. LOL It gives a slightly different take on the whole Salem story as it flows between Deliverance's story (and some of her descendants) and the current day Connie. The to'ing and fro'ing was easy to follow and keep track of what happened to which character and when - always important for the flow of the whole and the enjoyment of the tale.

A few interesting twists but I was still managed to suss several important "reveals" before they were duly revealed...... though it didn't spoil things. The book did, however leave one gaping hole: was the curse broken by Connie's extreme measure towards the end.... or not?

An enjoyable and entertaining read.... you just need to suspend belief a little. :0)

Posted to teuffi, a fellow Book Crosser, as it was on their Wish List. :)

Thank you so much for sending me this book, Milfurnace! Apologies for the late entry, have been a bit disorganised lately.

Really looking forward to reading it, thanks a lot!

Finally got round to reading this book and enjoyed it very much - yes, some bits of the story are a bit stretched and like Milfurnace I think some of the important 'secrets to be revealed' are easy to spot from quite early on, but I did get into the story and the characters, and it was very enjoyable to read.

It looks like the stories going back and forth between past and present are the new trend (read Labyrinth by Kate Moss a while back), although this one does have most of its happening in the present. The theme of the Salem trials was very appealing and the approach that differs from the ones I have seen so far makes me want to dig a bit deeper in the subject - but then again, making it happen is another story... ;-)

Thank you once again Milfurnace for sharing this book with me, really glad to have had a chance to read it!

Left the book in the reception area of the Apollon Hotel Apartments in Crete where I spent a few days holidays, on a pile of books left by other travelers.

I don't know if the book will be journalled but I saw on the next day that it had left the pile so I guess it must already have found a new reader!

Happy Reading to whomever finds this book!