March Read: The London Seance Society by Sarah Penner

 I've been excitedly anticipating the release of this novel for months. I reviewed her first novel, The Lost Apothecary, in March of 2021. 

Sarah returns to 19th century London in her second novel, and the atmosphere definitely lends itself to seances and things that creep in the dark. Vaudeline D'Allaire is a famous spiritualist living in Paris after leaving London under mysterious circumstances. Lenna Wickes has traveled to Paris to work as an understudy to Vaudeline and learn everything there is to know about conducting a seance. 

The Victorian age saw an explosion of spiritualism, as people became increasingly interested in contacting the dead. It also brought along a lot of charlatans that preyed on grieving families and widows. 

Lenna has an agenda-to discover what happened to her sister Evie, found murdered on All Hallow's Eve the year before. Lenna and Evie were close, but held very different beliefs in the afterlife. Lenna was the logic-based sister, while Evie dove headfirst into spiritualism and started working with Vaudeline to master the art of the seance. Now Lenna has had to set aside her skepticism in order to work with Vaudeline. 

Vaudeline's approach to the occult is very different-she contacts spirits in order to solve crimes-mostly murder. She uses her skills as a tool to speak directly to victims to uncover the killer and name names. She's famous and accurate. 

Vaudeline is called back to London to secretly work with the London Seance Society, a famous spiritual society exclusively run by men. The founder, Mr. Volckman, was found murdered the same night at Evie-All Hallow's Eve. His second in command, Mr. Morley, has written Vaudeline and asked her to return to conduct a seance to reveal the killer. 

Back and forth we see the story from Lenna's point of view, as well as Mr. Morley's. And it's the story from Mr. Morley that slowly fills in pieces of Evie's life before her murder. There is definitely a connection between Lenna, Evie, and the London Seance Society. 

I'll say I liked The Lost Apothecary better out of the two books. However, I did enjoy this novel. It was a bit slow to start, and there is a lot of discussion about the occult and spiritualism practices of the Victorian Era. I definitely felt myself in the setting--atmosphere is spot-on! The plot speeds up once the night of the seance begins, and the last 100 pages are where the story grabbed me and I couldn't put it down. You may feel compelled to light a few candles and lock the door...

Themes include LGBTQ, violence against women, and science vs. belief in the afterlife. The novel also explores the guilt and grief of a sister who didn't get to say goodbye.

Rating: 4/6 for an atmospheric novel about the rise of spiritualism in Victorian England. The tension builds slowly, and there are a few surprises. Strong female characters who take on unsavory men. 

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

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March Read: The London Seance Society by Sarah Penner

The Orphan of Cemetery Hill by Hester Fox

 

Blogger upgraded and I discovered I can add more fonts. After years of using one particular font, I decided to branch out and use this font, called "raleway". Exciting stuff! 

Hester Fox has written three novels, and I've read them all. I still love her first novel the most, but this one was pretty interesting, a mix of spiritualism, grave robbers, and a secret society determined to reanimate corpses ala Frankenstein. 

Did you know there were people who were hired to sit with someone as they died, and then sit with them a few days more to make absolutely sure they were really dead? All because people were terrified of being buried alive. Can you imagine having that job?!

So. The orphan in this novel is Tabby, a young woman who, with her older sister Alice, ran away from their horrible aunt and uncle ten years before. The sisters were separated, and Tabby was forced to fend for herself as a young twelve year old in 1844 Boston. Penniless, with nowhere to go, Tabby ends up hiding out in a cemetery. There, she meets Eli, the caretaker of the rundown cemetery. 

Ten years later, Tabby lives with Eli and helps him in the cemetery. She still looks for her sister every month in the last place they saw each other. Tabby's got a special gift: she can speak to the dead. So far, nothing from Alice, which is a relief to Tabby-she knows her sister is alive somewhere. Tabby has told no one of her skill-or curse, as she sees it. Seances and spiritualists are all the rage, and most are charlatans-but Tabby is the real deal. However, she is afraid to trust anyone with her secret. 

Grave robbers are making a comeback in Boston, and Tabby has witnessed their thievery in her cemetery. She becomes entangled with a young man who is accused of murdering his fiancee, and the plot thickens--how is this murder related to the sinister late night grave robbing? 

This was an interesting plot, and for the most part it was pretty interesting. But it did feel a bit disjointed as far as the timeline moved-I couldn't get a grip on the weeks and months that passed for two of the characters, and for Tabby at the same time. Tabby's timeline didn't quite match up. The characters were all likable, except for the evil Mr. Whitby. He's clearly the bad dude from early on in the novel. 

This wasn't a frightful novel at all, but definitely gothic. A quick read, with a few continuity issues. Overall, a good book to read as night creeps closer, temperatures cool, and the dead get restless! 

Rating: 3/6 for an interesting read about the spiritualist movement of the mid 19th century in the United States; death customs and rituals, and the thin veil between life and death. 

Available in paperback, ebook, and audio. 

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The Orphan of Cemetery Hill by Hester Fox

In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters

I just had to read another teen book in the midst of all my other reads.  This book combined the terror of the 1918 Influenza Epidemic, World War I, and spiritualism.  All together they make a great story that was hard to put down.  I read it in a day.

In the Shadow of Blackbirds is the story of Mary Shelley Black, a 16 year old girl who is sent to live with her Aunt Eva in San Diego after her father is arrested for treason and put in jail.  The time:  October, 1918.  The influenza epidemic is ravaging the United States.  Everyone is wearing masks; people are dying so fast undertakers can't keep up with the demand for coffins and burials.  People are fine one day, dead the next.  Schools are closed, businesses are empty, and everyone is frightened they will be next.  

World War I is also raging over in Europe--so imagine having a huge epidemic happening, and a world war going on at the same time.  I wonder how people got through such a horrible experience.  Mary Shelley arrives at her Aunt's house and hopes to stay only a short time--her father will surely get out of jail quickly, and then she can go home to Portland.  

Meanwhile, Mary Shelley's childhood friend, Stephen has been living on Coronado Island, but joined the Army and left for Europe to fight.  She travels to the island to visit his brother, Julius--a famous spiritual photographer.  He claims to capture the image of dead loves ones in photos; he's grown immensely popular and people wait for hours outside his studio to have their photo taken.  Stephen and Julius did not get along at all, and Mary Shelley doesn't care for him.  But, last time she was there, he took a photo of her and then used it to advertise his studio.  She's become a bit famous as "that girl".  Mary Shelley is furious and reluctantly returns to his studio with her Aunt Eva.  She is worried about Stephen, who has stopped writing letters from France.  She hopes to get news of him from his mother or brother.  

But--horribly, Stephen is dead.  He died in France during battle, and Mary Shelley is devastated.  Angry, she returns home and daringly goes outside during a thunderstorm and is hit by lightening.  She undergoes a bizarre out of body experience--sees herself lying on the lawn, to all intents and purposes she's dead.  

But she has to go back, and when she does, she finds that she can communicate with Stephen.  He is full of anger, fear, and claims the blackbirds are killing him.  His confusion and fury are hard to handle, and Mary Shelley is determined to put him to rest.  But what she uncovers will surprise you!

I won't say anymore.  Promise.  It has an interesting ending; not what I had planned on reading.  But a great ending at that!  The whole cyclone of flu epidemic, communication with the dead, and World War I all come together to illustrate the horror of war and mass death.  This was the beginning of weapons of mass destruction, and it left humanity knocked on it's knees.  The author does a very good job of tying everything together into a cohesive story. The atmosphere is full of fear, distrust, and grief.  The smells of onions, death, the powder of the camera, and sulfur permeate the pages of this book and put you firmly in the time and place.  

I hope this author writes more novels, cause this one was impressive.  The black and white photos throughout the novel help emphasize the horrid time of late 1918, when the world really did appear to be ending.  

Rating:  8/10 for an excellent story idea, great use of atmosphere and photos of the flu epidemic.  The type print in the novel, the use of black pages, and a strong main character all combine to make an unforgettable read.

Available in hardcover and  ebook.

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In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters