Editor's note: This week's Page Turner interview is with Dr. Martin Kaplan, a local physician.

“I just recently read ‘The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane,' by Katherine Howe. It's historical fiction based on the time of the Salem witch massacre.

“Set in 1681, the novel is written by the ‘narrator,' having the author assume the name of Deliverance Dane, who lived in Salem, Mass.; Coincidentally, the author was already working on a Ph.D. in American history when her mother told her about a family cottage Katherine hadn't even known existed.

“Katherine was in Boston, so she went to see the cottage. It was very old and, of course, had no electricity, no indoor plumbing, no modern fixtures. The author, rummaging around, found the diary of Deliverance Dane, who was hanged as a witch. Incidentally, the ‘witches' were hanged by having nooses around their necks as they stood on a platform. The executioner booted one off and the people there could hear the witch's neck break as the body was flown into the air.

“She writes how she was accused. She had been called by a man to help his daughter, who was dying. She was skilled at using medicinal herbs to help the ill and made concoctions to cure them. But the child died, and, after a short time, the man accused her of killing his child.

“She was put on trial with no defense, no jury — it was like a kangaroo court. Her only defense was her own testimony. At the time, unlike today, one was guilty until proved innocent. She wrote the story for her daughter.

“I like historical fiction. It's usually very entertaining, and I've found that when you've finished the book, you've learned something. This book was very entertaining, and I learned a lot about that period.”