Katherine Howe Archive

The House of Velvet & Glass by Katherine Howe

Posted April 19, 2013 By dorolerium

Title: The House of Velvet & Glass
Author: Katherine Howe
Publisher: Voice
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 418
How I Read It: Hard cover purchased by me.

Synopsis: Katherine Howe, author of The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, returns with an entrancing historical novel set in Boston in 1915, where a young woman stands on the cusp of a new century, torn between loss and love, driven to seek answers in the depths of a crystal ball.

Still reeling from the deaths of her mother and sister on the Titanic, Sibyl Allston is living a life of quiet desperation with her taciturn father and scandal-plagued brother in an elegant town house in Boston’s Back Bay.  Trapped in a world over which she has no control, Sibyl flees for solace to the parlor of a table-turning medium.

But when her brother is suddenly kicked out of Harvard under mysterious circumstances and falls under the sway of a strange young woman, Sibyl turns for help to psychology professor Benton Derby, despite the unspoken tensions of their shared past.  As Benton and Sibyl work together to solve a harrowing mystery, their long simmering spark flares to life, and they realize that there may be something even more magical between them than a medium’s scrying glass.

From the opium dens of Boston’s Chinatown to the opulent salons of high society, from the back alleys of colonial Shanghai to the decks of the Titanic, The House of Velvet and Glass weaves together meticulous period detail, intoxicating romance, and a final shocking twist that will leave readers breathless.

*Synopsis taken from the book jacket

My Review: In her second novel, Katherine Howe brings us back to Boston with a story that has a similar structure to that of her debut.  Our main characters are in the Bostonian upper class just after the turn of the century, and on the cusp of the United States entering WWI, with segments of the story taking place a couple of decades earlier in Shanghai, as well as the last day aboard the Titanic.  The story starts with Helen and Eulah enjoying a day on the ill-fated ship, oblivious to what awaits them, and then cuts to the present day of the novel: Sibyl at a séance on the anniversary of the sinking of the ship that took her mother and sister with it.

While the story does have a bit of a fantastical element to it, it’s mostly a look at grief, addiction, and the trappings of life during this time period.  In searching for more answers about what has happened to her mother and sister, Sibyl quite accidentally discovers that she can see visions in a mystical ball of glass given to her by a medium, known as a scrying glass.  One catch: she has to be high on opium to see these visions.

As the reader, I was watching this with a lot of trepidation, knowing that opium is very addictive and also realizing that the troubles associated with the drug weren’t widely known at the time.  Although Sibyl doesn’t start using opium with the intention of making herself feel better, it was interesting to me to watch her become addicted to her quest for more knowledge.  It really seemed like the need to know was the real problem for Sibyl, rather than the opium itself, but the two go hand in hand in this particular case.  Grief can take on all kinds of manifestations, so I found this particularly difficult to read given that we know what Sibyl is really running from, and knowing that there’s no real escape from your feelings.  For quite a bit of time, we’re all wondering if what Sibyl sees is real, or simply an opium dream.  Eventually, Sibyl learns the truth of what she is seeing, and it opens up a whole new world of family history for her.

The story does start out a bit slowly, building up the lives of all of our characters before getting into the meat of the novel.  Because this is a tale of grief, I think it was important to follow the Allston family down their paths and learn how they were each coping with their tragedy.  This added connection to the characters made them much more interesting and sympathetic to me as the story went on.  And although this novel is a work of fiction, the presence of actual historical characters and events made it more interesting and added realism to the story.  When I think about the fact that so many people believed in séances and that kind of mysticism at the time the novel was set, the whole thing seems like a very plausible story for how these people might have dealt with the aftermath of losing their family members in such a tragedy.

While this novel didn’t touch me quite as much as the authors first book, I did enjoy it and I thought it was a pretty good historical fiction piece.  It did what all good novels do – left me wanting more and hoping I get to see these characters again in the future.

Read this book if: I think people who enjoy historical fiction with a little bit of fantasy or magic thrown in will enjoy this one.

My Rating: 3.5/5 – Two thumbs up, fine holiday fun!

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The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

Posted March 20, 2010 By dorolerium

Photo courtesy of Goodreads

Synopsis: Connie Goodwin should be spending her summer doing research for her Ph.D. dissertation in American History.  But when her mother asks her to handle the sale of Connie’s grandmother’s abandoned home near Salem, she’s compelled to help.  One day, while exploring the dusty bookshelves in the study, Connie discovers an ancient key, and within the key is a brittle slip of paper with two words written on it: Deliverance Dane.

Along with a handsome steeplejack named Sam, Connie begins to research Deliverance Dane.  But even as the pieces fall into place, Connie is haunted by visions of long ago, and she fears that she is more tied to Salem’s dark past than she could have ever imagined.

Written by an author whose ancestors were accused witches in Salem, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane travels seamlessly between the trials in the 1690s and a modern woman’s story of mystery and discovery.

Review: I received this book as an ARC, and quite honestly, I knew nothing about it at first.  However, after reading the description of it, I knew right away this is exactly the kind of book that appeals to me.  A story woven between the (sort of) present and the past, this book has mystery, suspense, and the plights of women all rolled into one.  Who could resist!

The author set this book in 1991 and the late 1600′s, which provides a semi-modern view and also a fictionalized version of the Salem Witch Trials in US colonial times.  As a life long resident of the Western US, I’ve always known about the Salem trials, but not a whole lot as we tend to learn about history as it pertains to our region of the country as we’re growing up.  One thing I love about fiction is the ability to teach while being entertaining, and this book delivers on both fronts.  And the setting in 1991, before the internet, makes for a very interesting read as far as Connie’s quest to find this elusive book.

In the book, the idea is introduced: what if the witch trials were real?  While I do believe that witches are still a metaphor for the unexplained in society, it’s a very interesting concept to explore, that to these people, magic really did exist.  It’s easy to forget that not too long ago, many things were unexplained – science and medicine are relatively new concepts in the scope of humanity.  So while to me, the weather is simply something I read about, it really was something magical to these people.  Illness, plague, drought – they were all caused by mysterious, unknown sources.  And really, that is magic.

Another concept that always appeals to me is the idea of what happens in a society as women gain more power and self awareness.  I consider the Salem trials to be a consequence of women evolving in society, and the men reacting in any way they could to regain control.  This book firmly keeps the female characters in both self confidence and power, with the men as more outside characters, almost accessories in a sense.  In the book, we are supposing that witches are real, and the abilities are passed down to the females of the family.  It’s not only a powerful method of showing that women have always been more resiliant than men had supposed, but also a nice way to say “Hey sister, you can do it on your own.”

To me, the characters were more of a way to drive the plot, but I quite liked them all, and Connie herself reminds me a lot of me.  Although I saw a couple of the plot devices coming, the story was very enjoyable and I loved the way it got there.  It was suspense without anxiety, my favorite kind.  My only complaint is that there wasn’t more historical passages, I loved every bit of the sections surrounding the trial.  I think this is a very versatile read that can appeal to all kinds of readers, and I encourage everyone to get it from their local bookstore or library.  And I, naturally, am keeping my fingers crossed that the author writes a sequel!

Read this book if: You’re interested in the Salem trials, women in history, or even just a good fiction.  I recommend it to pretty much everyone, and am going to suggest it for my book club!

Filed in 2010, ARC, Katherine Howe, Royal Reviews | Tagged: