It has been years since I first read The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe. It has been on my list of all-time favorite books ever since. I was skeptical of the sequel The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs, because I loved Physick so much, but it did not disappoint. Physick was raw and exciting a mystery to figure out, where The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs was quieter and more refined, it seamlessly wove its tale back and forth between the past and the present. I found myself not wanting to read too much, for fear it will be another 10 years before we get another installment, and because the story was written to be savored and enjoyed slowly. Does it surpass Physick as one of my favorites? No, but The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs is a more mature meandering through Howe’s world and it is one that I recommend to anyone who had any interest in witches and stories of the human spirit.

In this sequel to the NYT best seller The Physick Book of Deliverance Dance, Katherine Howe returns to the witchy world of Connie Goodwin, an ambitious scholar/historian who happens to be descended from a long line of witches that she can trace back to the Salem witch trials. This book follows a similar trajectory as its predecessor. Connie is under a lot of pressure to deliver a book and secure tenure at the university where she teaches. Meanwhile, her boyfriend, Sam, is plagued by deadly seizures which may or may not be related to her witchcraft. Connie's foremothers have had back luck with love--their husbands always die young. In order to break the curse and to save Sam's life, Connie gets involved in a mystery that involves her nineteenth-century ancestor, Temperance Hobbs, the only woman in a long line of witches who managed to save her husband from the deadly curse. The spell is tied to the weather patterns and involves a list of mysterious ingredients, my favorite of which is the "fat of a child dug out of her grave."

As she did in her first novel, Katherine Howe does a great job of creating a gothic atmosphere that blends horror, romance, and intrigue. The witchy atmosphere will make you long for Halloween. I recommend this book for a dark and stormy autumn night. Better yet: read it by candlelight.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with advance reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

While this is in a sense a sequel to Katherine Howe’s excellent “The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane” – featuring the same main character, the intelligent, savvy Connie Goodwin – “The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs” can also easily be read as a standalone. The story takes place a decade after Physick Book, as Connie, an academic, completes her book and works toward becoming a tenured professor.
Connie is descended from a line of witches dating back to Puritan New England; the book’s storyline alternates between that era and the present day, with plenty of witchcraft (spells, herbs, etc.) and historical detail included – an engrossing read for anyone interested in the subject of witchcraft and its history. Strong female friendships are a focus, as is the continuing relationship between Connie and Sam, which is imperiled by a curse haunts Connie’s (extremely colorful) matriarchal line (No spoilers here, it’s too delicious to reveal much of the plot. You MUST read the book to learn more!).
Thoroughly enjoy it as a standalone if you must – but give yourself a real treat and begin with Physick Book; you’ll have twice as much to enjoy. Katherine Howe, who I had the honor to meet at a book talk in New England, is a descendant of three accused Salem witches, one of whom survived the trials and another who did not. She’s an expert on the subject, and her ability to weave historical fact into period fiction enables her to write books that can be completely savored. There is only one part of this book I disliked -- a loss which diminished my enjoyment slightly, because it seems to me an unnecessary loss -- but I still believe it deserves five stars. It's one of the most engaging books I've read in a long time. Highly, highly recommended!
I received an advance reading copy from NetGalley and the publisher; this is my honest review.

A big thanks to Netgalley and Henry Holt and CO for giving me the chance to read this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
This is a follow up to The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane and it did not disappoint! Having been a big fan of that book I was a little worried that I would not like this one but it was very good, I did not want to put it down! It has it all, magic, romance, suspense. Overall 5 stars, I would definitely recommend this book!

I won't give a long review for this book due to the fact that the description - already says it.
I will just state my opinion and observation here.
Katherine Howe - no matter what you read from this author - it is a hit!
She deals with story line like noone else. Her writing makes you engaged from begging to the end.
You get "kudos" on all aspects of paranormal, romance and historical aspects.
She does know how to write and how to put the story together, so it all fits well.
I would recommend reading her previous books as they are connected to this one, but not to worry if you don't because that won't affect the reading and plot.
5/5 for me - like always on ALL her books - no doubt!

I am a 5-star fan of The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, so I eagerly jumped into this world again. To be honest, I struggled a bit through the first half. I felt like it took forever to get to the cool discoveries and boss magic. I also struggled with Connie. Was her "absent-minded professor" thing supposed to be endearing? I want to root for protagonist witches, like did with all the other Daughters in the ancestry line. Connie is just straight terrible to the people in her life. Now that I'm finished, I think she's undeserving of her gifts.

All that being said, the chapters about the foremothers were delightfully rich in characterization. The author was very clever in linking real historical events to witchy influence. I also love the authoritative care taken to incorporate plant and herb lore. The ending filled me with hope that this story will continue into a third novel.

As a person whose life-long sorrow is that I'm not a witch, books like this give me life.

This is my honest review, and I'm grateful to NetGalley for providing me an advanced reader copy.

I did not read the first book in this series, so the story was very confusing to me. I think this novel would have been better had there been more of an explanation on the characters. Still, the story was very fast-paced. It is full of magic, time-travel, romance, mystery, and a dash of history. I recommend this for fans of Beatrice Williams, Gwendolyn Womack, and Deborah Harkness.

I really enjoyed this book and a couldn't put it down. A historical fiction book with the perfect amounts of mystery and supernatural mixed in. I highly recommend it

First of all, Katherine Howe really, deeply connects with her story, that fact showing itself in the attention to detail. History, particularly the time period the author has written about, has always fascinated me. The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs was awesomely well done and had me totally into it from page one. Katherine Howes readers will not be disappointed!

I enjoyed this book even though I had never read the other book. My only issue was that it was a bit slow, other than that I thought the author did a fantastic job and I would read another book from her.

This book was just an okay read for me. I found parts of it to be really interesting and exciting and then other parts to be confusing and like there was not enough information given about what was going on in the plot line. A drawn family tree of some sort would have been extremely helpful in keeping the lineage of the family members straight.
I also felt like character development was lacking. I never truly felt connected to any of the characters. I had unanswered questions the entire time I was reading and kept waiting for those answers to be given. I wasn't even sure of Zazi's heritage. At certain points, I thought she was African American and at others I realized she was probably Hispanic. The story kept alluding to her interest in a certain kind of history but it never elaborated fully on why, but the way it was written, it made you think you were going to find out why. Also, I wanted to know what in the world was going on between Thomas and Zazi!! Very vague comments were given but it was never fully explained. So many things about Thomas remained unanswered! I didn't like how aggressive he was towards Connie about her research and how he acted so entitled to it. Why wasn't this explained? I would have enjoyed this novel SO MUCH MORE had the character development been more thorough. I feel like this book had the potential to be a top 10 book of the year and instead, it was a big disappointment for me.

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the ARC of this novel.

I have a particular fondness for women and their witch ancestresses. I'm totally certain that in a past life, I probably burned at the stake or something. This was a delightful and interesting read. I k forward to seeing what else Howe come up with!

The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs in a fabulous fictional novel by Katherine Howe that continues approximately 10 years later from her previous book "The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane" with the main character Connie Goodwin.
This book alternates between the past era of witches/witchcraft in New England during the "Puritan rein", and current day.
The author does a fabulous job interweaving historical fact and fiction into a truly dreamy novel. I have to admit I have not read the book's predecessor, so I cannot comment in the merits of the stand-alone novel vs reading it as a sequel.
I feel that it can easily be stand-alone, however now I am so interested in Connie's earlier life, that I will be reading the first novel by Howe. That in itself in the biggest compliment to the author.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in return for my honest review.

I really like her books, however I thought thhis was a massive disappointment. In my opinion, some books are so amazing they don't need a sequel.

I will however, always read a book by her.

This follow-up to The Physick Book of Deliverance Dance was confusing, even though I had read the first book and enjoyed it. After I read this, I went back and reread Physick, and now I understand it better, but - disappointed. I enjoy reading about the women who were targeted at the Trials, and I enjoy reading contemporary fiction about witches - but this didn't do it for me.
Three stars because of the prodigious research, which I love. Two off because the story just didn't cut it.

Connie Goodwin is a Boston professor whose family can be traced back to the Salem witch trials. Connie learns from her mother that there is a curse on her family this hundreds of years old. A curse that she is determined to break with help from notes left behind by Temperance Hobbs.

I enjoyed the story and the history of witchcraft throughout the whole book, but I found it to be a bit tedious in some spots. There is a lot of family history and many characters. I felt like I should have started a family tree to keep it all straight. The book jumps between the year 2000 and the 1600s and I enjoyed the events happening in the 1600s more. I also wasn't very happy with some of the vocabulary. There were many words that I had to look up to see what they meant. Too many "big" words really frustrates me when I'm trying to read for relaxation and enjoyment. As I said though, it is a good story.

Thank you to Net Galley for the advance read of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

If you like Genealogy and magic then this book is for you. I wished I had a piece of paper to keep track of the family tree, but that is my own OCD kicking in. ;)

This story picks up 9 years after the Physick book of Deliverance Dane. The cast of characters is roughly the same with a couple new and fun additions and it takes place in the same Boston/Cambridge/Salem area. This is a well researched and detailed book creating a story around history that one could see playing out if they just believe.

I received an advanced digital copy of this book from Netgalley.com and the publisher Henry Holt &Co. Thanks to both for the opportunity to read and review.

The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs is the sequel to The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane. Set ten years after the events of the first book, Constance Goodwin has advanced in the field of academics all the while avoiding her mother and important questions from her boyfriend.

Intensively researched historically, Ms, Howe displays a deep knowledge of the challenges of being a female in colonial and post-colonial Salem. This book is an immersive experience, a richly detailed story that makes you feel what is happening to the characters.

5 out of 5 stars. Highly recommended.

The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs by Katherine Howe was an interesting read if you enjoy learning about the actual history of "witches" in early America. Basically.. they were women who would be called herbalists today! I didn't realize it was a second book in a series. So, I would have preferred to have read the first book first so that I didn't have to play catch up. Very enjoyable and full of historical tidbits and knowledge of life in Colonial America! Good reading for cold nights!

Howe’s Physick Book of Deliverance Dane was a favorite of mine in 2009 so I was thrilled to get this ARC, which continues the story of Connie Goodwin and her search for truth in her past. Howe’s writing is wonderful as usual, and the story is captivating as I’ve come to expect from the author. The primary plot line is somewhat reminiscent of Practical Magic, but Connie’s relationships with both the past and present make this one well worth reading. Howe writes with an engaging style that makes the reader feel as though you know the characters. As I read, I could feel Connie’s rising panic about her child and Sam. Her drive to safeguard her family forces her to reopen old wounds and the scene with her former mentor Manning Chilton was chilling.

I was delighted to see COnnie’s mother, Grace, play a larger role here and develop into a very interesting character. The Dane lineage becomes much clearer here, and Grace becomes a more well-rounded figure of power. New character Esperanza is also a welcome addition, bringing yet another strand of “women’s work” to the bigger story of cunning women.

I re-read Deliverance Dane before I cracker Temperance Hobbs, which was a good thing to do since many elements of the plot appear here. Howe has cemented her place on my list of must-read authors.