Sandy & Barb -- There are still people out there that believe that.  This was one reason I left a church I was member of. 

I have been trying to answer this all day...and just can't get the words right.  So, if y'all don't mind, I'm going to say...I agree with everything that has been said here. 

I agree with the others I don't think that religion was really a factor in the story. I also don't think that the magic was a contraditiction to the religion. I got nuttin' to add lol.

7. Do you think magic, as represented in this book, exists in the real world? If so, how does it manifest itself? Do we use different terms to describe it today?

 If they mean the blue orbs & sparks & stuff, I don't know.  I've never seen it, except in movies. :)  If they mean the magic to mix healing agents, then I believe yes.  It takes knowledge and practice to get the right natural ingredients to make natural medicines and such. I know my Great-Grandfather did what is known in our family as Pow-Wowing, there's a book about it.

I know my GGF did this on me several times when I was little. 

I think some of the terms we use today are: natural, earthly, herbal, aura, holistic, just to name a few.

I don't believe in magic but sure, herbs and natural stuff can work quite well. 

Magic?  Nah...I'm the type of person who needs to see it to believe it.  I believe that there are weak minded people who, out of desperation, will believe and trust in beliefs of others no matter how ridiculous and non-scientific those beliefs are.

I wish I could say I believed in magic because I think it would make for a more interesting world.  I do believe in miracles, having worked as a nurse I've seen plenty of situations where people turned the corner for the better when there was no reason for it to happen. 

I don't believe in magic and herbalism is hit and miss. I mean some stuff really works but a lot of the time herbal remedies are either placebo or counteractive to medication.

I am going to be gone til Thursday, so I am probably ending my discussion here.   Would I recommend this book?  I'd probably give it a 7 on a scale of 10.  I'm glad I read it, though it's not for everyone. 

Safe travels Deb!  I too would recommend this book.  As for me?...I'd give it a 7.5.  Thanks for moderating...you did a fine job!

I thought it was pretty good too. I wasn't going to read it, honestly I just read it to add to the discussion. Our numbers were a little thin. But I'm glad I did, female driven books usually end up annoying me but this one didn't. Aside from Connie's lack of perception the characters weren't the typical annoying women. I would have liked it better if she hadn't delved into obvious magic, IMO she went too far into the rhelm of the impossible and that took away from the story, but it was going really well before that. If she would have left out the blue sparks and crazy bottle action kind of stuff it would have stayed just close enough to the side of possible to make the story more believable. When it's believable enough to make you think that well, maybe it could happen, I think that's a much better story. 

8. Deliverance has a chance to escape with her daughter the night before she is put to death. Why does she make the choice she does?

I don't know, I would have skipped like crazy. I think she said something about leaving all those other people to die when they didn't do anything and she was the only real witch. But it's not like she could save them by staying, they were doomed anyway. Principles are only any good when they can change the outcome. 

I woud have been out of there too, Barb.  Yeah, I think it was about the others being innocent. 

But it's not like she could save them by staying, they were doomed anyway 

And being the author was using a factual historical situation in the book, it would have made no sense to have Deliverance escape. 

It actually would have made sense if Deliverance had escaped because that would explain why she was never in any records of being hanged for witchcraft. I thought she stayed because she was able to give the people there some kind of peace like she did with the little girl.

9. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane is the latest in a long line of books about witchcraft in Salem. Why do you think we’re still so enthralled by this moment in history? What does Salem have to teach us about our culture today?

 According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary:

Definition of ENTHRALL

I can't say I am enthralled by this moment in history, I am curious tho.  I think because it holds so many unanswered questions & different opinions of what happened and why it happened.  There is a mystery surrounding the situation that occured that we may never know the answers to. 

I think, for me anyway, it shows in one aspect how we have come to believe or not believe in religion, group mentality, superstistions, and the fear of being seen as different or in some cases unlawful.  We all have different opinions of society and how to interact, believe, not believe, accept, not accept and even dismiss or not acknowledge things going on around us.  I think, we each have a moral and ethical compass that we live by and we either use it or we don't. 

I'm not particularly enthralled either, I see it as a low point in humanity, and one of the many points against organized religion. I do believe that man has great capacity to be bastards and societal rules are one of the only things that keeps them from doing so. Religion is hardly the only one but it is one of the excuses that allows people to let their inner bastard shine and stomp all over other people. 

I recently saw this said about people who watch reality tv, and I tend to agree - People enjoy watching it because it makes them feel better about themselves - "well at least I'm not as bad as that guy". You watch disgusting people like Honey Boo Boo and Snookie and laugh at their ignorance and ridiculousness but inside you're really sighing with relief that you have evolved above that. I think people have the same reaction to things like the Salem trials, it's a look back at how archaic man has been and it can make you feel like you are better people than they were. 

How could otherwise sensible people go so far down the rabbit hole based on just the ravings of a handful of little girls?

That's easy, they were scared sh**less. At that time religion was taught as you had to walk on eggshells constantly or risk offending god and then you were screwed. If you even had a bad thought god would know and something terrible would happen. When someone cried witch they were so petrified they had to do something or risk the wrath of god. There was evil in their presence! They did also believe that these people had the power to cause them serious harm, like the one guy was just positive that Deliverance killed his daughter. And if god wasn't happy with them he would allow the witches to do their worst. I know someone who still lives like that. One of my employees when I worked at the pest control company was a seriously oppressed and devout Catholic. She was terrified of god and making him mad. A 50some year old woman, who was a college graduate and had been a teacher for 20 years. She wasn't completely 'right', I never did figure out what it was. She wasn't mentally challenged or unintelligent, just scared to death of god. When she talked about her parents and her completely Catholic schooling (even college) it was with mostly fear, it was drummed into her from birth that if she didn't act right god would punish her. Her parents were super strict and it seems that was their biggest scare tactic. And we know it's the Catholic church's. Most people grow out of that being a big threat but she never did. She was a bit of a scaredy cat in general, she came in breathless and paniced one day because there was a Rottweiler running loose somewhere outside between the bus stop and work and she was sure he was going to attack and maul her. So she ran her little butt all the way in, heart condition and all. I've never known anyone so full of fear. It shines a light on how people could act as the ones in Salem did though, you really can be that afraid of god. 

Last question:

10.  Did you like the book?  Would you recommend it to others?  Tell us what you thought of the book and anything else you want to add.

I liked the book and would give it 4 of 5 stars.  I would recommend it if whoever asked was interested about it.  I really don't have anything to add.

Thanks to everyone who joined in the discussion, that includes anyone who just lurked too.  

I think I gave it 4 stars too. I enjoyed it even though I would never have picked it up otherwise. If I had my way I would have liked a little more of the past, it was more interesting and Connie could be kinda dumb sometimes. I did have to mentally scream at her "It's the almanac you tard!" several times. I would recommend it mainly because it wasn't too magic-y and she researched the time period for accuracy. It is also kind of cool that the author is related to two of the women that were killed as witches in the Salem trials. 

I gave it a 4 1/2...very good read.  I would recommend it to anyone who might ask...but would tell them that they need to take a course in Latin prior (giggle).

I liked it but it's not a book I would recommend without some sort of obvious reminder to do so.