“The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane” was written by Katherine Howe. The book was first published in 2009. The story in the book involves a quest a young Harvard graduate and doctoral candidate Connie Goodwin needs to complete in order to uncover the secrets of Deliverance Dane, the woman who is recognized as an undocumented Salem witch of the witch trials period. The book is written in a smooth and colorful manner with multiple and detailed descriptions vividly illustrating the environments, characters and their feelings or emotions. Howe often employs metaphor as a stylistic device helping her achieve fuller and more life-like descriptions maximizing the impression the story makes on the readers.
“The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane” was published as mainstream fiction (Bratman, 330). The novel contains a number of recognizable elements specific to mainstream fiction. First of all, the book under discussion is a best seller, which is a clear sign of mainstream fiction. Secondly, the conflict and storyline are easy to understand for any kind of reader, the novel revolves around an apparent conflict and is easy to read (Writer’s Relief, par. 4).
Mainstream fiction targets a wide range of readers of different ages, occupations and backgrounds. Finally, the novel contains a very popular feature of modern mainstream fiction – the quest the result of which is likely to alter the common perception of human history or uncover some of its aspects unknown to the scholars of nowadays. The same tool was employed by Dan Brown in his “Da Vinci Code” and Elizabeth Kostova’s “The Historian”. The dynamic and eventful storyline is the first aspect that is intended to captivate the readers’ attention. The second one is the writing style.
One of the most noticeable features of “The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane” is its descriptive language supported by multiple and various metaphors. For centuries, metaphor was considered a stylistic device which only existed in literature (prose or poetry), today metaphor is viewed as not specific only to language, but is also as a part of people’s associative thinking. Howe’s use of metaphor in “The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane” makes the descriptions more emotional and life-like. A great number of metaphors can be found in the oral exam scene where each of the tutors is depicted in details.
Howe creates a vivid picture adding multiple dimensions to her images – she mentions every movement, feeling, impression which allows the reader to feel personal presence, as if the whole scene revolves around them. The following sentence is a good example of Howe’s skillful use of metaphor: “As these thoughts travelled through her mind, she felt Beaumont’s dark eyes burning a tight round hole in the shoulder of her sweater” (18).
The sentence is based on metaphors and contains a metaphoric meaning which immediately communicates the feelings of the main character without even naming them directly. Another colorful example of the use of metaphor in this scene is Connie’s desperate attempts to answer the exam question. The author portrays this action describing Connie going through the files in the mental drawers of the “cabinets of her brain”: “Was it under W for “Witchcraft”? Or was it under G for “Gender Issues”?” (Howe 18).
In conclusion, metaphor is a powerful tool for a writer. This device helps the author to create and maintain strong emotional impression on the reader and capture their attention, which is vital for a mainstream fiction work such as “The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane”.
Works Cited
Bratman, Berni Phillips. “The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane.” Mythprint, 47.1 (2010): 330. Print.
Howe, Katherine. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane. New York, New York: Hyperion Books, 2009. Print.
Writer’s Relief. Literary And Mainstream Novels: What’s The Difference?. 2013. Web.