Incantations, herbal cures & curses, mysterious unseen powers for good & evil…centuries of fascination with witchcraft have led to disturbing history and intriguing stories. An evergreen topic is central to two recent fiction books.
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe takes a Harvard graduate student to the Salem area to clean out and sell her grandmother’s house. She finds an old “receipt book” and follows the clues to a supernatural puzzle in which her ancestors played a part. The author is completing her PhD in American Studies: she expresses her gratitude for the “witchiness” bequeathed to her by her ancestors and its contribution to her ”being the kind of person (she is.)”
In The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent, a mother and daughter stand together against the escalating hysteria in Salem. The mother’s defiance leads to her death. The story is told by her daughter whose family’s love and mutual support sustain them through a time of fear and persecution. Kent is a tenth generation descendent of the mother who was one of the first women to be accused, tried and hanged in Salem.
If the power of the supernatural interests you, be sure to read Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches series. The Witching Hour traces four centuries of witchcraft and the occult and paints indelible scenes of New Orleans. Joanne Harris weaves supernatural spells throughout her books; who can forget the sudden mysterious happenings in Chocolat?
In her books, Alice Hoffman connects the events of the story with unseen forces generated by some of the characters. The powers of the natural world are ever present in her blends of magic and realism. The Story Sisters is her latest.
