Part I, Chapters 1-6

[kren250]

I didn't think the house thing was very believable, either. In a small town, this house would've attracted notice. And I especially didn't buy the part where Liz turns on the faucet, and water comes out! The city would've turned the water off years before, if no one is paying the bills on the house. Plus, if the water was still turned on the pipes probably would've frozen and burst during the winter. And then there's the part where Connie is feeling on the wall for a light switch. Surely she would've realized the house would've had the power turned off long ago, if no one is paying the bill?! It was very convenient when it turns out the house isn't wired for electricity anyway.

---

krb2g wrote:

The plot point that was hardest for me to accept was the contrived way that Connie ended up at her grandmother's house in Marblehead. They could abandon it and not pay taxes for twenty years, and it's available, untouched (no squatters or kids making drug deals or anything) for Connie to clean, but it has to be done RIGHT NOW or ELSE? And then Grace is able to talk Connie (who seems to be remarkably focused and clear-headed about her school work) into doing it with almost no difficulty?

[CathyB]

Scarpettajunkie:

  Great observation about the cornerstone - I love it and aggree.

CathyB

---

scarpettajunkie wrote:

I think Professor Chilton is evil or at the very least up to no good.  Otherwise, my impressions are what you would expect.  I think Arlo is Connie's familiar she just does not know it yet.  Connie's daydreams are really visions.  She just does not have faith enough in herself to believe it yet.  Connie is more reclusive and Liz is more social.  They are opposites.  Sam gives tangible proof that witchcraft was more than idea.  It was real to the people who lived back then.  He shines the light of truth on the cornerstone. 

The courtroom and examination room are different because Connie's professors can always look the answer up in a book.  Otherwise the two are very similar by putting a person in the "hot seat", searching for the right answer, giving a verdict, etc.

---

[Immortal-Spirit]

I also got the feeling that Professor Chilton was up to something, but didn't know what. 

The back and forth between the years was very interesting for me.  It didn't tell the whole story.  Just what you needed to know at that time.  

The introduction of Sam was funny.  

Also, I immediately kept saying (to myself of course) look in the Bible!

Ever since I can remember, I have had an interest in all things about the Witch Trials, (What were they thinking?), and about Wicca/Witchcraft itself.  What do they believe in? I have read many books on both subjects and viewed some documentaries.  The book gives me a new look on the subject. Such as what the people at the time thought of Witchcraft.  Even though it is a novel.  

I love it! 

[SandyS]

DSaff,

I am so glad you mentioned the two dogs.

Goodwife Dane had the "attentive, disheveled-looking little dog, some dingy color between brown and tan".  Connie's dog Arlo was "an indistinct, dingy color, something between mud and leaves, which changed and shifted depending on the sunlight and season".

Arlo "found" Connie.  I have to believe this is the start of the connection between Connie and Goodwife Dane.  The dogs seem to play some part in drawing them together.

SandyS

---

DSaff wrote:

Did anyone else find a correlation between Arlo and the dog that attented Martha's death? Both dogs seem to be an extension of their mistress. I loved how Arlo "found" Connie, and their relationship is neat to watch. He is her companion and confidant. Could the dog at the beginning be a kindred spirit? I am looking forward to your thoughts!

---

[liisa22]

---

DSaff wrote:

Did anyone else find a correlation between Arlo and the dog that attented Martha's death? Both dogs seem to be an extension of their mistress. I loved how Arlo "found" Connie, and their relationship is neat to watch. He is her companion and confidant. Could the dog at the beginning be a kindred spirit? I am looking forward to your thoughts!

---

I think you are absolutely right on here.  Kindred spirit? I was thinking more along the line of the dogs being both their 'familiers'.  The fact that Arlo 'found' Connie leads me to believe that this is some foreshodowing on Ms. Howe's part.

[SandyS]

I am enjoying how the author creates a very good visual of each scene and especially what Connie is thinking and feeling.

Pages 12-13 really highlighted this early.  I enjoyed the description of how Connie "roamed the file cabinets in her brain, looking for the answer that they wanted.  Where was it?  She knew it was there somewhere.  Was it under W, for "Witchcraft?" No.  Or was it listed under G, for "Gender Issues?" She opened each mental drawer in turn, pulling out index cards by the handful, shuffling through them, and then tossing them aside.  The bubble of nausea rose again in her throat.  The card was gone....

I could feel the struggle, the tenseness, the pure terror.  Everything Connie had worked for, the feeling it was going down the drain.  The imagery of the file cabinets and index cards (so like Connie to be organized).  The pure relief I felt when she "found" the correct card, the one with the answer.

To find such a fine passage early on the book leads me to believe I will enjoy this author's style of writing.

SandyS

[PB684]

---

Fozzie wrote:

---

  I can't help but wonder if Connie is related to Deliverance and Mercy.

---

Maybe I've just made the assumption in my own mind but I was sure that we already knew there was a lineage going back to Deliverance.

Has anyone else picked up on the fact that the building that Connie and Liz inhabit at Harvard, Saltonstall Court, bears the same name as the cross-examining lawyer in Deliverance Dane's trial in 1682?

I am finding the book very enjoyable and have no trouble shifting between past and present. I feel that the author has done a great job of inserting information from the past in a way that does not interrupt the flow of the story. I sometimes find myself wondering, however, why Connie doesn't make a connection that seems obvious, only to realize that I have been given the information before she has discovered it...it is an interesting storytelling angle.

-PB684

[Read-n-Rider]

---

DSaff wrote:

Did anyone else find a correlation between Arlo and the dog that attented Martha's death? Both dogs seem to be an extension of their mistress. I loved how Arlo "found" Connie, and their relationship is neat to watch. He is her companion and confidant. Could the dog at the beginning be a kindred spirit? I am looking forward to your thoughts!

---

Yes, I noticed this, too; the dogs are even similar physically--small and of an indeterminate color.  The 1681 dog is described (p. 6) as a "little dog, some dingy color between brown and tan."  The fact that he is sitting attentively at Deliverance's knees makes me think that he is her dog, not Martha's.  Connie's dog, Arlo, is described (p. 24) as being "an indistinct, dingy color, something between mud and leaves,....."  I am wondering if this signals further parallels between Deliverance and Connie; how about those "daydream" episodes, and the fact that Connie's mother, Grace, was into, among other things, "energetic healing?"

I am very much enjoying this book so far.  However, I do have a couple of criticisms, both involving Granna's house--and garden.  We are told (p. 40) that "the near side of the house seemed overrun with vegetables.............summer squash, melon, and pumpkin."  In early June in Massachusetts?  I don't think so!  Where I live in Central New York, we are just planting these things in early June, and I think our climate is quite similar to that of Massachusetts.  She goes on to describe apparently ripe tomatoes and, while I applaud her descriptions of heirloom (old-time) varieties, here again, tomato plants do not survive New England winters and would definitely not be bearing fruit in early June.  Perhaps, however, I am being unfair to Ms. Howe, and these anachronisms are meant to indicate a "bewitched" condition at Granna's house.

I was also amused by the water situation in the house.  Connie notes that, though there is no electricity, there is running water.  Now, I realize that some old houses had cisterns in the cellar where rain water was collected and stored, then brought up to the kitchen with a hand pump.  However, we are told that Granna's house had water at the turn of a faucet, and even had a second-floor bathroom!  Not likely without an ELECTRIC water pump.

Joan

[MYK]

This is my first book club reading. It's a pleasure to be here. I have a feeling I have arrived at a good time as I am enjoying The Physick Book. I can comment only on Chapters 1-3.

 I want to thank the author for the use of some words I am unfamiliar with. I am being educated as well as entertained.

 ~The story is gripping. I am anticipating more details about Grace, Leo, Sophia, and Lemuer. It is a bit odd that Connie refers to her mother by her first name, Grace, within conversation. Actually, it's a bit funny, as my daughters friend refers to her mom by first name during conversations. I am not in that practice.

~ I am keeping an open mind regarding the unusual tomatoe plant that already bears ripe tomotoes in the spring.  Hmmm...is this going somewhere?

  The first 3 chapters seem fine to me. Vivid and easy to visualize descriptions, with the unusual to be kept in mind. All seeming to be a good start. Be back soon to answer some questions!! Much more reading to do!

[luvmykiddos]

I totally see Connie's daydreams as visions. It's this link within her that she never knew or never cared to explore for that matter. She has been so put off all her life by Graces lifestyle she has gone in a different direction with hers. I'm curious to know more about Graces background and what made her relationships estranged even though she has carried a bit of her past with her in some of her beliefs.

[PB684]

---

krb2g wrote:

I am tempted to believe that Deliverance's dog, "an attentive, disheveled-looking little dog, some dingy color between brown and tan" which Deliverance couldn't have carried with her to the Petford's, and Arlo, who's little, of indeterminate breed, and "an indistinct, dingy color something between mud and leaves" who "materialized from under the shrubbery" one day and has stuck with Connie ever since, are actually the same dog (6, 24).

---

I felt that there was definitely a reason why Arlo "chose" Connie (pg. 25). I was thinking along the lines of a witch's familiar, usually a cat but, as we saw in Harry Potter, could be any animal. The idea that Deliverance's dog and Arlo could be one and the same is an interesting one that hadn't occurred to me!

[chris227]

I had not thought of this.  I actually had not even remembered Deliverance's dog until I read this post, but what a great insight!  It's another way that the two worlds, past and present, are connected.  We're reading about Connie's antecedents why not Arlo's too?

---

DSaff wrote:

Did anyone else find a correlation between Arlo and the dog that attented Martha's death? Both dogs seem to be an extension of their mistress. I loved how Arlo "found" Connie, and their relationship is neat to watch. He is her companion and confidant. Could the dog at the beginning be a kindred spirit? I am looking forward to your thoughts!

---

Message Edited by chris227 on 03-30-2009 10:47 AM

[luvmykiddos]

There is absolutly something amiss with Professor Chilton. He has taken this liking to Connie. I don't know what to make of it. One could assume, he knows what she is capable of academically and is ready and willing to jump in to claim her works for his own profit, or if there is something , a story, a need, from the past that he is here to straighten out.

[KCHaughawout]

First of all, once I delved into this book, I had a hard time putting it down. I found the descriptions vivid and kept wanting to know more.

My first impression of Connie was that of a typical grad student, busy with their research and wrapped up in their own world.

I was intrigued by Grace. I couldn't understand why she wasn't interested in Connie's finds and how she seemed aloof when Connie talked to her. I was curious why Grace was in New Mexico and her new age lifestyle. I pictured Dharma's mother on Dharma and Greg when I thought about her.

At first, I wasn't interested in the characters from 1690 because I couldn't quite make the connection. I wasn't sure if Deliverance Dane would be a relative or lead to one. That is probably because I am the family genealogist myself, so I was skeptical. I kept looking at the beginning of the next chapter and hoping wasn't from 1690 because I wanted to learn more about Connie and her mother and dig into the plot.

I found the story believable. I could see a graduate student getting off track during the summer and being interested in their own family history. I have learned more about history by exploring my family tree than I have from history books.

I am not quite sure how to take Connie's advisor. Why doesn't Connie see that he is up to something. He acts strange and makes her uncomfortable yet she shrugs it off.

[kren250]

I wonder about that too.  Connie seems a bit dense about things that should be obvious to her, even when she doesn't have the  information that we have. For instance, with Granna's house. Mandrake and belladonna in the garden, wierd jars lining the shelves in the kitchen, and Connie can't make the connection that Granna was into something other than just plain old gardening? I didn't find that very believable, considering Connie is so knowledgable about colonial times and witchcraft. Also, the attitude of the professor. Any fool can tell he's up to no good....why not Connie? Why would she continue to tell him everything she's discovering when he's acting so odd?  Connie just did not resonate as a very realistic character for me.

---

PB684 wrote:

. I sometimes find myself wondering, however, why Connie doesn't make a connection that seems obvious, only to realize that I have been given the information before she has discovered it...it is an interesting storytelling angle.

-PB684

---

[Read-n-Rider]

LOL--I've been suspicious of Professor Chilton ever since, in the first sentence in Chapter One, Ms. Howe, told us he had a "glittering" eye!

Anybody have any ideas about the meaning of the word on the cornerstone, "TETRAGRAMMATON?"  I confess that I don't, and, of course, my dictionary was no help.  "Tetra" means "four," so maybe it has something to do with the carvings on the stick figure's four extremities, but then again, maybe not!

Joan

[nfam]

I very much wanted to like the book. I, like many people, am fascinated by the Salem witch trials. Unfortunately the first chapters were a real turn-off. There are several reason for this. The scene where Liz and Connie investigate the old house is totally unrealistic. I couldn't believe the author and editor didn't have any idea what happens to water pipes in a house that's been closed up for twenty years. Trust me, you don't just turn on the faucet and get brown water. The girls would have been more likely to find the upstairs bathroom and the down stairs kitchen completely destroyed by water. Water has to get into the house some way. Since there's no electricity, it can't be an electric pump. There's no mention of a hand pump. Therefore, it has to be city water. If the water isn't turned off, the pipes freeze in the winter in Massachusettes. When they freeze, they break.Water damage is extremely expensive to repair. I doubt there would be much left of the house.

A second observation is the garden. After twenty years there would be so many weeds, the plants would probably not be rcognizable without a lot of work. I've seen gardens that were untended for five years and all you could see were thistles and tall grasses. Perhaps we're supposed to believe that Sophie put a spell on the house. Not too realistic unless this book is supposed to be a fantasy or scifi. 

About the beds, the girls apparently didn't bring sheets. Has anyone seen what happens to a bed left for twenty years in an empty house? There would be more problems than a green snake like try rats and mice. 

I'm sorry to be so critical, but the lack of attention to detail in someone who has a research profession (I read that Ms. Howe was a Ph.D. candidate.) is disturbing.

[chris227]

I love the book so far!  Howe's writing puts you right in the middle of each scene.  The jumping back from past to present is done so beautifully that I look forward to the interludes as a way of discovering more about the past and then urging for Conniw to find out what we already know. 

Now to some of Rachel's questions:

The courtroom and oral exam scenes did have some similarities in that in both scenes the women's fate was in the hands of other people, in Deliverance's case the hands of the jury and in Connie's case her professors.  The women could only give their testimony and knowledge and then let the others decide their destiny. 

Liz and Connie are both academics and seem to have no trouble fitting in at Harvard, though there are several references to it being a 'man's world.'  I think that Liz brings a balance to Connie's life.  Connie is so engrossed in her academic world that she thinks about little else.  Liz reminds her that there is more to the world.  She sees Connie's staying at her Granna's house as an adventure and brings an optimism that Conniw would never have.  She picks vegetables, comes up with a plan for cleaning, and sees that tub as a setting for a romantic evening instead of a dirty mess as Connie just wishes she were back at Harvard. 

I agree with the others that there is something suspicious about Professor Chilton.  He is the one character that I really truly do not like, though Petford is a close second. 

On another note, several people have mentioned the house being unbelievable with the vegetables still growing and the water still running.  Doesn't anyone think its strange that Grace never mentioned to Connie that the house isn't even wired for electricity (or is everyone just thinking that this was just part of Grace's eccentricity?).  I also think it's odd that Connie plans on staying in a house that has been abandoned for twenty years.  My first thought would be to stay in a nearby hotel for at least the first week or two.  The house and its mysteries do add a lot to the story.  It is because of all of these oddities that the idea of some supernatural power seems to exist there.

[nfam]

I thought Liz was a great character. I was sorry to see her go back to Boston. On the other hand, I found Connie neurotic and unappealing. The scene with the orals was completely over the top. I have been through orals for my PhD and I know lots of other people, including my kids who went to schools like Harvard and Princeton, none of them was quite that self-centered and obsessive and we all got through. I also didn't like the fact that Connie enjoyed terrorizing her thesis advisee. I found that totally distasteful. Hopefully this opening scene is a prelude to showing how much Connie grows during the course of the summer.

I also didn't understand the obsession with original sources. If every PhD candidate had to have original materal there would be a lot fewer graduates. (Perhaps that's not all bad)

I hope the book picks up from here. As I said, I very much wanted to like it.

[chris227]

Yes I agree that this is all unrealistic and personally would have told my mother she is crazy to ask her daughter to undertake such a task.  This would be a job for a professional, but we are talking about witches and supernatural powers.  This is not any normal house.  This is the house of a witch and perhaps it has its own supernatural power.

---

nfam wrote:

I very much wanted to like the book. I, like many people, am fascinated by the Salem witch trials. Unfortunately the first chapters were a real turn-off. There are several reason for this. The scene where Liz and Connie investigate the old house is totally unrealistic. I couldn't believe the author and editor didn't have any idea what happens to water pipes in a house that's been closed up for twenty years. Trust me, you don't just turn on the faucet and get brown water. The girls would have been more likely to find the upstairs bathroom and the down stairs kitchen completely destroyed by water. Water has to get into the house some way. Since there's no electricity, it can't be an electric pump. There's no mention of a hand pump. Therefore, it has to be city water. If the water isn't turned off, the pipes freeze in the winter in Massachusettes. When they freeze, they break.Water damage is extremely expensive to repair. I doubt there would be much left of the house.

A second observation is the garden. After twenty years there would be so many weeds, the plants would probably not be rcognizable without a lot of work. I've seen gardens that were untended for five years and all you could see were thistles and tall grasses. Perhaps we're supposed to believe that Sophie put a spell on the house. Not too realistic unless this book is supposed to be a fantasy or scifi. 

About the beds, the girls apparently didn't bring sheets. Has anyone seen what happens to a bed left for twenty years in an empty house? There would be more problems than a green snake like try rats and mice. 

I'm sorry to be so critical, but the lack of attention to detail in someone who has a research profession (I read that Ms. Howe was a Ph.D. candidate.) is disturbing.

---