The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs

This book was the perfect witchy summer read that I didn't know I needed. I have never read the first book in this series, but that didn't hinder my enjoyment or understanding of this at all. Connie thought she just had to worry about finishing her book, getting her tenure packet in, and grading her student' papers; but on top of that her boyfriend just proposed, she might be pregnant, and she found an old family heirloom that could turn her research and life around. Her mother has convinced Connie that no men live long after "the next generation is set" and Connie is desperate to discover if that is true. She plunges herself into researching family history and realizes that her mother is right, but there may be a loophole, weather show more work. If she can figure out the writings she discovered in her mother's house, she may be able to save the life of the man she loves and become more intimately connected to her family history then she ever thought possible. Fascinating read! I loved the history components and all the characters, I'll have to go back and read the first one now! show less

The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs by Katherine Howe may be a sequel to The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, but it is not necessary to read one before the other. While there are references to Deliverance and her book throughout The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs, Ms. Howe provides all the background you need to understand Connie's story. I say this with confidence because I did not read the first one but thoroughly enjoyed its sequel.

For any reader who is not in academia, Connie's story about her teaching and the pressures to obtain tenure and publish her book are fascinating. At least, I thought they were because they are so far removed from the corporate world, where increasing sales and lowering costs are the driving forces of any show more decision-making. The world of academia appears just as cutthroat but more nebulous, wherein your success or failure hinges not on the company's performance but on your own ability to put up with the constant research and competition. I appreciate this insight into a world that never interested me for my own personal goals but remains such a large part of our educational system.

The other half of Connie's story, the witchy one, is downright fun. I love a good witchcraft story, especially one where almost all of the characters maintain that belief in witchcraft has merit given its influence in our society and the fact that such belief continues in our highly logical, scientifically-minded world. Her urgency to save Sam from the family curse does remind me of Alice Hoffman's Practical Magic, but that is where the similarities end. The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs has more gravitas to it, surrounding its tale of magic with scholarly insight that makes the story that much more believable.

While The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs has its moments of darkness, the story as a whole is an entertaining one. Ms. Howe's approach to the idea of witchcraft, as well as the practice of it, lends credence to its possibility. At the same time, Connie's desperation to save her partner and uncover more of her past in order to do so makes you understand the scholar's excitement about research, that thrill of finding something no one else did, of making connections that have the possibility to change someone's life, of physically touching the past in a way that most people will never be able to do. It is almost enough to change my mind about getting a doctorate. Almost being the operative word. show less

Katherine Howe’s The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs picks up approximately nine years after the events of her debut novel, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, and returns to Connie Goodwin, now a professor at Boston’s Northeastern University, who must work to counter a curse that follows her family using the aforementioned physick book that she discovered during her PhD candidacy. This curse threatens Sam, the steeplejack Connie met in her graduate school days and who is now her partner. Connie gains new insight into folklore through Zazi, one of her advisees, who specializes in southwestern witchcraft traditions. Howe, who studied witchcraft and served as the editor of The Penguin Book of Witches, references various historical show more witchcraft traditions in a manner that adds a welcome touch of realism to the fantasy genre. Further, her depiction of academia will ring true for those who have pursued graduate education in the humanities.

For example, as Connie attends a graduate-level symposium, a grad student delivers “a paper so rife with jargon that it had essentially amounted to a long recitation of the same bibliography that all grad students recite when they first discover critical theory. Butler, Kristeva, Lacan, Derrida, Foucault…” (pg. 103-104). In the previous novel, Howe portrayed Connie as working on her dissertation in 1991 without the aid of computer archival research. In advancing the plot to the year 2000, she’s able to comment on the changes computers introduced to academia, writing, “Computers, man. They made history research so fast Connie almost couldn’t believe it” (pg. 126). At one point, Howe perfectly summarizes the PhD process in a single sentence, writing, “There was so little in this process that was under anyone’s control” (pg. 121).

As a PhD candidate, I find Howe’s portrayal of academia remarkably accurate. This, of course, results from Howe’s own experience in higher education. I read her debut novel just prior to beginning my PhD and it prepared me for some of the culture of higher education just as I find this novel an accurate depiction of ABD life, though technology has changed since the novel’s setting in early 2000. Further, Howe’s depiction of interdepartmental politics (pgs. 12-14, 97-98, 209-211) and graduate student politics (pg. 253-254), while fictional and condensed for the sake of narrative, will resonate with grad students and postdocs. In her author’s note, Howe argues of the decline in witchcraft prosecutions in the eighteenth century, “As common households in Britain and the colonies found it easier to secure food and goods, adjudicating the bewitchment of calves or butter was no longer of the mortal import that it had been in the 1600s. Economics, rather than changed belief, pushed witchcraft off the legal docket” (pg. 334). She also admits to where she left the story subjective at the end for the reader’s benefit, though Howe explains how even that subjectivity is based on historical and pharmaceutical evidence. Through these notes, Howe plays a key role in fostering an interest in historical scholarship with her novels acting as a “gateway drug” to the exciting sense of discovery that accompanies archival work. show less

Having read The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane a few years ago, I was intrigued to catch up with Connie Goodwin and her adventures in this book. Overall, this novel made for an enjoyable read, partly because I expected that everything would turn out for the best for Connie, despite the missteps she seemed to be making. The historical mystery surrounding Temperance Hobbs and her past make for a fascinating intrigue for modern characters to unravel. Fun reading for those who like a touch of witchcraft in their historical fiction.

The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs is Katherine Howe's follow-up to The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, set about 10 years after that book ends.

Many of the same themes are continued from Dane to Hobbs. Again there are two historical periods, though this time the more recent one looks much more like our current period. As Howe has said, the first book was set in 1991 because she wanted Connie to have to do physical research rather than digital research, as well as not be able to just call on a cell when trouble arises. So there are really two historical narratives in both books.

Additionally, the play between, and often the difficulty in communicating between, generations is present again. Because of the personal nature of the danger show more here, the generations work through the difficulties a little more easily, but there are still multiple ways of viewing the world based on their generational perspective.

Maybe because of my time in academia I wasn't as bothered by the amount of attention given to the academic world of Connie, but it did provide an avenue for us to learn what we needed in order to better understand the events of the distant past. Otherwise, Connie/Howe would have had to basically lecture us during her narrative so we could follow the other narrative.

The only thing that really kept this from 5 stars for me was that I would have liked to have gotten into the "action" a little sooner.. Having said that, I am not sure how that could have been done while also giving us the information we needed. This is so well researched and relies on an understanding of the actual as well as the created historical past I think it requires a lot of set up.

As a small aside, Coursera offers a MOOC on Plagues, Witches, and War: The Worlds of Historical Fiction that is very interesting and includes a seminar Howe did with the students at UVA who were taking the course in person. The seminar was about The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane and was very good. I think I completed the course back in 2013 or 2014, but have been back to it several times because of the authors who spoke to the class/us.

I still highly recommend this book and definitely worth your while if you enjoyed The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. show less

I really enjoy magical realism, historical fiction, a bit of paranormal, a touch of witchcraft. Put these together and I’m all in. The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs by Katherine Howe is a sequel but can be read as a stand alone. I had not read the first book, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane and ended up reading it first. I was glad I did. It gave me a richer depth of knowledge of the characters histories and relationships that added to my experience. Connie Goodwin is a history professor working on tenure, engaged, pregnant, who learns of a family curse... but there may be a loophole. What could go wrong?!? Katherine Howe is an excellent writer who really makes the story come alive as Connie both struggles and succeeds in her show more journey, making it very authentic. I love how the past was interwoven with the current day. I really enjoyed this atmospheric, immersive read and highly recommend it.
Thank you to LibraryThing and Henry Holt and Co. for the Advanced Reader Copy and the opportunity to review The Daughters to Temperance Hobbs. This was one of the most beautiful ARCs I’ve ever received. show less

Beware all who pick up this book. Be prepared to suspend belief in the norm and be open to the possibilities of other forces, witchcraft and the inexplicable. It would also be helpful if you overlook certain lapses which defy, well everything.

There is an inordinate amount of time spent on carping about the “Publish or Perish” theme inherent in the world of academia. Everything alluding to that made me dislike Connie’s personality. It almost felt as if when the story lagged let’s revisit how intense it is to be on the path for tenure and never sure if your are going to make the grade and expect the people who love you most to understand even when you are being totally selfish.

The story was solid, some of the “stuff” that got show more thrown in was a distraction and wandered. Some of the characters who popped in and popped up at times was a bit too convenient. Interesting characters, setting, and exploration of the importance of all manner of plants in the furtherance of healing, spells, witchcraft and who knows what else. Three and 1/2 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Henry Holt and Company for a copy. show less