Posted by on May 11, 2009 in Books, History, Pre-Raphaelites, Reading | 5 comments

I just finished The Séance by John Harwood, and what a deliciously eldritch gothic tale it is. As a reader one must have a little patience through the first few chapters, but it all turns out to be important in the end and there are rewards to come. Constance Langton, orphaned and dependent on a single feckless uncle, unexpectedly inherits Wraxford Hall, a derelict manor house by the Sussex coast with—would you ever doubt it?—a dark history. A dark history entangled with Constance’s own past. Or is it her past? Told in multiple viewpoints and narratives, The Séance is like a crumbling scrapbook of mysterious apparitions, betrayal, blackmail and horror.

With a dreamlike photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron (see the post below on the Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood) on its cover and the stuff of nightmares inside, The Séance brings late-Victorian England to effortless and mesmerizing life. One of the best books I’ve read so far this year.

5 Comments

  1. 5-12-2009
    Dana says:

    You get major points for using ‘eldritch’ in a sentence!

  2. 5-13-2009
    elizabeth says:

    I just found myself writing like that after I read this book! Heh.

  3. 5-14-2009
    Bryn Greenwood says:

    I like the “revamp” of the blog theme. Very nice!

  4. 5-17-2009
    Brian D'Amato says:

    Dear Elizabeth,

    I’ve been looking at your blog since your nice comment on my book In the Courts of the Sun… I was wondering about The Seance but based on your review it looks better than it did on Amazon, so I’ll order it.

    Best, Brian

  5. 5-18-2009
    elizabeth says:

    Hi, Brian! I’ll be very interested to hear your reaction to The Seance.

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