La sonnambula

by Essie Fox

Quando, nella Londra di fine Ottocento, la diciassettenne Phoebe Turner aveva accettato la proposta dell'eccentrico Nathaniel Samuels e, dalla capitale inglese, si era trasferita a Dinwood Court, pensava che tutto si sarebbe risolto in una nuova esperienza; lavorare come dama di compagnia per Lydia, la moglie del signor Samuels, una donna fragile e malata di nervi. Ma c'è un passato tenebroso che non vuole essere dimenticato: un'ombra che segue la giovane Phoebe in quell'isolata residenza di campagna per svelarle la vicenda di un'amante dal cuore spezzato, di una giovane attrice costretta ad abbandonare il palcoscenico, di un maggiordomo in preda a desideri inconfessabili e di una povera ragazza, Esther, la figlia di Nathaniel e di Lydia, ritrovata morta assiderata, tanto tempo prima, nei campi che circondano la casa di Dinwood Court. Al centro di questo labirinto di inganni e tradimenti, Phoebe scoprirà di non essere la persona che aveva sempre creduto. E che la sua venuta a Dinwood Court non era certo stata frutto del caso. Ma dopo aver regalato il suo amore a un ragazzo che potrebbe essere suo fratello e ora che, nel cuore della notte, i tormenti della povera Esther puntano il dito contro un insospettabile assassino, Phoebe è costretta a spalancare le porte che sbarrano i segreti di una casa. Scoprirli sconvolgerà la sua vita, trascinando ogni suo gesto, ogni sua parola, ogni sua emozione nelle pieghe oscure di una trama di un grande romanzo gotico.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Gothic, Historical, Mystery, Victorian, Book Club

382 pages, Hardcover

First published May 26, 2011

About the author

My latest novel is called Dangerous, and it will be published by Orenda Books in April 2025. It's a slight change from my normal style of novels in that it's a historical crime mystery - but still very gothic. It's the story of Lord Byron in Venice, when a novel called The Vampyre is fraudulently published under his name, and he is then suspected of murder when several women of his acquaintance are found dead with wounds to their throats.

The Fascination which was published in HB in 2023 is set in the world of Victorian rural fairgrounds, the glamour of the London theatres and an anatomy museum in a shop on Oxford Street - based on one that really did exist! It's a book about deception, obsession, and what it is to be ''different'.


The Last Days of Leda Grey is about an Edwardian silent film actress who has lived in a crumbling cliff top house for more than half a century, until she confides her story to the journalist, Ed Peters ... who rapidly finds himself immersed inside her dark and eerie world.

I've also written three Victorian novels, the first of which - The Somnambulist - was shortlisted for the UK National Book Awards, featured on Channel 4's TV Book Club, and has been optioned for TV/film.

Elijah's Mermaid, features the hypocrisy in Victorian art and literature. It has brothels, asylums, and freak shows...not forgetting the mermaids!

The Goddess and the Thief is an 'oriental gothic', with Indian Maharajahs, Hindu gods and sacred diamonds ... including candlelit seances which are held in English drawing rooms.


My website is: www.essiefox.com

I blog as The Virtual Victorian. www.virturalvictorian.blogspot.com

Reviews

[Blair · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a fan of Victorian gothic, I knew I'd want to read The Somnambulist the moment I heard about it. Aside from the great title and gorgeous cover, the plot sounded appealingly twisted and involving in a Sarah Waters kind of way (which, I'm pretty sure, is the effect the author was going for). The protagonist, and the narrator for much of the story, is Phoebe Turner, a seventeen-year-old girl who idolises her glamorous aunt Cissy, a singer and actress. Her mother, Maud, couldn't be more of a contrast: an evangelical and pious woman, still in mourning for Phoebe's long-dead father, who decries the theatre as immoral and ungodly. When Cissy dies, Phoebe is granted a lifeline by Nathaniel Samuels, an enigmatic businessman who may have been her aunt's lover, and to whom Phoebe finds herself strangely drawn. Employed as the companion of Nathaniel's ailing wife, she travels to the family's could-be-haunted country pile, Dinwood Court, where she begins to make a series of momentous discoveries about her own history.

This book was full of elements I'm always attracted to, and I did enjoy reading it, but it was all just so... muddled. There were far too many twists and turns piled on top of each other and I could feel the plot creaking and near-collapsing beneath the weight of them all. The problem was that many of these twists, particularly those regarding Phoebe's true provenance, were largely predictable. There were a few I hadn't anticipated, but there were so many of them altogether that these didn't really register: the story was completely saturated with unexpected developments, which both removed the element of surprise, and distorted some of the characters beyond recognition. Nathaniel, for example, is initially presented negatively, then he turns out to be one of the book's few good guys - but by that point, I'd got his explicitly stated desire for the thirteen-year-old Cissy fixed in my head, and couldn't see him in a positive light at all. I also felt Phoebe's reactions often seemed inappropriate for the situations she found herself in - considering how many terrible things she had heaped upon her, she rarely seemed to exhibit the shock or despair I would have expected.

I liked this book when I was immersed in it - it had a good momentum and was grimly absorbing, and the ending was well-crafted and nicely subtle. However, overall I think it was just another largely forgettable historical drama which didn't do enough to distinguish itself from the many similar books I've read in the past. None of the characters have left a particular impression on me and although it was a decent enough read, nothing about the plot hooked me as I hoped. The epitome of an averagely good, three-star book.

[Fiona MacDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The city defeated him. It refused to be bent into shape; it stayed a willful, sprawling, sinful place. It even told him as much. When he walked through the gutted wreck of old Saint Paul's, he tripped and fell over a piece of rubble -- a tombstone. When he got to his feet and dusted himself down he saw that it read, in Latin, 'Resurgam' -- 'I Will Rise Again.”

I experienced so many emotions reading this book. First I thought it was a bit too slow, then I thought actually the book could've been completed in half the time, then I realised that every page was actually essential.
Phoebe lives with her religious, tyrannical mother in Bow who spouts the bible at her every chance she gets. Her one treat is to be able to go with her beautiful and glamourous aunt Cecily to watch her perform on the stage. She has the most amazing voice and captivates her audience. One day Phoebe spots a mysterious man in the audience - she is captivated by him - but he is captivated by Cecily.
Tragically, Cecily dies and Phoebe is invited to become a female companion for a woman who lives in a beautiful house in the Hertfordshire. She is invited to do so by the mysterious man who watched Cecily that night on the stage.. maybe he isn't as mysterious as he seems. He promises her mother will be supported and her bills will be paid if Phoebe accepts, so she does, and things are never the same again.
I think Essie Fox has taken a great risk with this book, she had faith that the length she set would actually be worth the read, and it was. Now I've finished it I couldn't possibly imagine the story being any shorter. An emotional and eerie read set in Victorian England.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so pleased that The Sonambulist caught my eye. It is a lovely piece of Victoriana, and a quite wonderful debut novel.

I fell in love with the heroine. Phoebe Turner was just seventeen years old, and she was warm bright and thoughtful. In some ways she was very mature for her years, but in others she was very innocent, and as I learned more of her background I could understand why.

Phoebe grew up, in the East End of London, with her mother and her aunt. Maud, her mother, was a member of The Hallelujah Army, set upon promoting that society’s ideals and protecting her daughter from the many evils of the world. Those evils included the music hall where her sister, Phoebe’s Aunt Cissy sang …

Essie Fox paints Phoebe’s world wonderfully. There is a wealth of detail that brings the streets, the homes, and most of all the music hall, to life. She clearly has so much knowledge and love, but she wears it lightly and it brings the story to life quite wonderfully.

And it was clear that there was a story to be told, and secrets to be uncovered.

Phoebe loved her aunt and her aunt’s theatrical friends, and she was devastated when Cissy, suddenly, died. Maude was devastated too, at having to cope without the income that Cissy earned for the household, and she struggled. Maybe that was why she accepted an offer from Mr Samuels, a wealthy friend of Cissy’s who she had always treated with disdain, for Phoebe to become the companion of his invalid wife …

And so the story opened up. There were more wonderful pictures of another, very different, aspect of Victorian England. And there were more vivid, complex characters to meet. Phoebe knew that she would miss her home and her loved ones, but she was curious about what lay ahead. I felt just the same.

Phoebe travelled to a grand estate in Hertfordshire. Dinwood Court was a splendid gothic mansion, set in magnificent countryside, but both house and occupants were haunted by the strange death of Esther, the young daughter of the house …

At Dinwood Court I heard the echoes of other novels of Victorian England. They were lovely to hear, and I realised that Essie Fox had wonderful influences, influences that she had acknowledged and then taken to make something new of her own.

I loved watching Phoebe as she uncovered the secrets of the past, and as she learned and grew up.

The plotting was very clever and, though I worked out some of the things that would happen, others took me by surprise. In particular, the concluding chapters took the story in a direction that I hadn’t expected at all, but a direction that was completely right.

That kept the pages turning, and so did the lovely writing, the pitch perfect characters and settings, the wealth of knowledge that underpinned the story, and that very clever theme set in the title that wrapped around everything.

The Sonambulist is a wonderful debut novel, intelligent and so very readable.

I am already looking forward to whatever Essie Fox writes next.

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked this up while traveling so I would have something to read on the train; it sounded intriguing and easy to read, and when the shop girl at the bookstore recommended it, I decided to buy it even though I hadn't heard of it before. I found this book hard to finish. The characters were two-dimensional and mostly annoying, particularly the protagonist, Phoebe, who was naive and helpless to a point that made me despise her. There were 'plot twists' that could be sussed out from the first chapter, and I must say it gets quite annoying to read a couple hundred pages knowing something the protag doesn't, especially when she's constantly questioning it. I also found the ending's multiple twists & revelations laughable. After 300 pages of a girl wandering around a mansion, painting things and thinking about her Aunt Cissy (i.e. doing nothing), it just seems ridiculous when all of a sudden there are taboos coming out of the woodwork, so to speak. As if the author was thought, "Look! You thought this book was a bore, but here's some incest! And a pedophile! And murder! How's that for ya?" I somehow managed to finish the book (probably because I had nothing else to read), but the minute it was over I took it to a used book store and traded it out right for something worth keeping.

[Nafiza · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would have liked it better had it not been for one pertinent thing: the protagonist is raped by her half-brother and instead of evincing anger, she tries her best to not to cause him further pain. I cannot deal with that. He treats her horribly, calls her a whore and refuses to see her as a human being and yet, she continually tries to patch things up. Yeah, nope. The rape wasn't even necessary to the plot. I know some will argue it wasn't rape but the way it's described and the fact that she struggled to get away from him says otherwise. I just...ugh. Nope.

[Carrie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I waited 48 hours after finishing this book to write this because I wanted to be sure that I would not change my mind, and I didn't. I don't normally review books that I do not care for because it just seems a not very nice thing to do. After all, someone put a lot of time and effort in to create something I assume they are proud to present for my enjoyment. Really and truly though, I thought this was just awful. I have read some of the other glowing reviews and am beginning to wonder if maybe I have lost my mind because I did not get any of the favorable criticisms made about this book. I did not think it well researched and in fact had no impression of the time and place settings. None of the characters made any sense to me at all and I secretly hoped that would all come to a bad end. The plot was choppy and boring as well as predictable.
I suppose my biggest problem is no matter what the genre, including "victorian gothic," I have issues whenever an author tries to make a pedophile a sympathetic character. Other than that, the whole thing just did not make sense. Phoebe was sent to be a companion to the aforementioned pedophile's wife, yet rarely has interactions with her. Then we are supposed to believe that the wife forms some sort of strong attachment to her husband's child by his mistress based on these limited interactions even though she sees Phoebe's birth as a contributing factor her daughter's death.
I could go on and on listing major problems with the plot, but I feel I have wasted enough time on this book already. I just wanted to put a counter point out there because I picked this book up initially based on some of the positive reviews and really wish I had picked up something else instead.

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! It took a while to get going but when it did it didn't hold back! A brilliantly woven story of family secrets, betrayal and forbidden love with characters that leapt off the page. I found them completely real and believable as well which can sometimes be hit and miss with a new author trying too hard to impress. Thankfully this isn't the case for Essie Fox in this her first novel and she will definitely be someone to watch out for. Puts me in mind of Sarah Waters or Shirley Jackson for the way they combine fascinatingly dramatic issues with hints of the supernatural and the gothic.

[Harriet · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book revolves around Phoebe Turner, a 17 year old girl living in the London East End in the Victorian era with her bible bashing mother Maud and her 'delightful' Aunt Cissy. The first chapters of the book build a picture of the dysfunctional family dynamic, and love/hate relationship between Phoebe’s mother and aunt. Maud thinks that anything fun or joyful is a sin. She is also a bit of a hypocrite with a penchant for the devils juice. Aunt Cissy is an actress/ singer who is oh so delicate and idolized by all her theatrical friends, and of course by Phoebe who wishes that Cissy was her mother rather than boring old Maud. Onwards from the first few chapters the reader then follows Phoebe on a very emotional journey throughout the rest of the book.

I found it to be an extremely predictable read, but this doesn’t detract from how much I enjoyed reading it. I was so engrossed in the story that when many of the plotlines I had guessed were confirmed on the page, my heart still felt sad at the many many many tragedies and disappointments besieged to poor Phoebe. Which actually is another point, the constant bombardment of the badluck-stick was a touch too dramatic for me yet I still raced through the book desperate to know whether she would have a happy ending. I found the book to be quite dark in parts, even a bit depressing.

What I liked most about this book is how easy it was to become absorbed into Phoebe’s world, I loved the historical details and I think that the authors passion for the era really comes through. I would recommend this book, but I do think it has a very young adult fiction feel about it. I wouldn’t feel right giving it any less than 5stars though because I stayed up all night reading it, and thought about it a lot in the days after I’d finished it – which for me is what reading a good book should be like.

[Sarah Mac · Rating 2 out of 5]

Abandoned @ pg 75. 🥱 I can’t slog any further because I don’t care, & that’s the problem. It’s BORING AS HELL.

I’ll read slower books if I like the characters, or potboilers with awful protagonists…but slow *and* an annoying cast? Nope. The only one who inspired any interest was Mrs Riley, aka Old Riley—but one minor personage isn’t enough. As if the blah cast & slow-moving dullness wasn’t enough, the prose itself was like nails on a chalkboard—vague backdrop; predictable twists; flat + cheesy dialogue; sloppy narration that was simultaneously too young to be adult, too wordy to be YA, & too conversationally modern to be pastiche. It was extra wince-worthy coming directly after I finished The Animals at Lockwood Manor & The Haunting of Las Lagrimas, both of which were first-person gothics with layers of tension, polite perversion, & delicate menace, all delivered with precise, luscious narration that made me slow down to savor the language & atmosphere. Comparatively, this book suffered—there was no redeeming it, & I’m tired of wasting time.

Standard 2-star DNF. All the ingredients were there (repressed lust, predatory perversion, & various sensational tropes employed by Collins, Bronte, etc) but this was a rare Victorian gothic that didn’t gel for yours truly.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5* for me.
This had a bit of a slow start but I believe that this was needed to set the backdrop and build up the characters.
I love a little Victoriana and would love to have had a little more music hall content.
Loved the author's notes at the end of the book.... great historical facts.
This was my book club read..... Be a good one to discuss.

[Deborah Swift · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was excited to hear about the Virtual Victorian's new novel The Somnambulist, and when it popped up as a selection for Amazon Vine I could not resist.

And what a gem it is. Bravo to Essie Fox, it is a long time since I have enjoyed a debut novel so much. It is literate, engaging and atmospheric. What's more, it has a plot that kept me turning the pages, and just when I thought I had discovered all the secrets of the book, there was one more twist in the tale.

Phoebe's journey to uncover her past takes her from the glitz and glamour of the East End Music Hall stage to the deliciously spooky Dinwood Court, surrounded by dark woods and deep water, and haunted by the death of the daughter of the house, Esther.

From the book:
"Life is rarely perfect." My father continued. "We all make mistakes. The thing is to forgive, and," he paused at the sound of some high muffled laughter, the splashing of water, "and never forget."


Novels are rarely perfect, but this one very nearly is. Beg, buy or borrow it, for a reading experience you will find hard to forget.

Here's the blurb:

'Some secrets are better left buried...'
When seventeen-year old Phoebe Turner visits Wilton's Music Hall to watch her Aunt Cissy performing on stage, she risks the wrath of her mother Maud who marches with the Hallelujah Army, campaigning for all London theatres to close. While there, Phoebe is drawn to a stranger, the enigmatic Nathaniel Samuels who heralds dramatic changes in the lives of all three women. When offered the position of companion to Nathaniel's reclusive wife, Phoebe leaves her life in London's East End for Dinwood Court in Herefordshire - a house that may well be haunted and which holds the darkest of truths. In a gloriously gothic debut, Essie Fox weaves a spellbinding tale of guilt and deception, regret and lost love.
Every heart holds a secret...

[Sue Uden · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a little while since I finished it, but I loved everything about The Somnambulist. As the elaborately attractive design on the cover suggests, it gives an intricate insight into life in the East End of Victorian London. And there I met Phoebe Turner and her controlling, Hallelujah Army flag waving mother, Maud, and her ever fun-loving actress sister, Phoebe's Aunt Cissy. I can remember having to ignore a lot of the other mundane stuff going on around me, as each new mystery unfolded and until I had accompanied Phoebe on her emotional journey to unlock the secrets of her past.

Since reading it, I have loaned The Somnambulist to my mum and several other friends, all of whom have given it a very big thumb's up. Said more properly, that means they loved it.

[Lorraine RushHourReads · Rating 1 out of 5]

I absolutely hated this book. The dialogue is plodding, the storyline flows badly and the characterisation is terrible. I struggled to understand the responses of the characters to events around them. The lead charachter, Phoebe, is an annoying, passive girl who seems completely oblivious to the obvious twist and seems bizarrely unaffected by all the terrible things that seem to regularly happen to her. It's just...annoying! I'm afraid that once the storyline became too soap opera, I realised I didn't give a hoot about any of the characters or what was going to happen and I gave up.

This book has attracted good reviews from others but I'm afraid I just didn't get it. Reading it made me feel uncomfortable - just not my cup of tea I'm afraid!

[K.E. Coles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having ancestors who were music hall artistes, and who actually played 'Somnambula' in the 1860s, this was a must read for me. The music hall world, with its glamorous veneer hiding a rather shabby reality, was wonderfully realised. Phoebe, the main character, is sweet and naive and straight away I fell in love with her. Her life isn't easy and some elements of the story are quite shocking - one, in particular. I couldn't like the main male character, Nathaniel, and despised his son but, given Phoebe's nature and the life she'd had, I was quite prepared to believe that she felt differently. I will definitely be reading more of the author's books as the writing was fab and reading it was a treat.

[Skye · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't bother. It only gets worse.

[Dor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Even though I really disliked Elijah's Mermaid, mainly due to the utter ridiculousness of its plot, I was still amenable to trying The Somnambulist. It's Essie Fox's first novel and I've had the sample sitting on my Kindle since the book was first published; it's only because I came across it in the library that I've now read it.

It is not good. The best I can say is that it's not actively terrible apart from one particular aspect, of which more later. It certainly manages to avoid EM's error of having a demented plot in which the characters decide the best way to achieve their end goal was via the most illogical route available. Instead, The Somnambulist is dull, predictable, and initially kind of derivative.

To begin we are in the land of Hetero Sarah Waters, in dark and grubby Victorian London where only loose women perform on a stage and the aftershow parties are stuffed to the hilt with cads and bounders eager to ply unsuspecting innocents with liquor before kissing their bloodstained hands. Only it's nowhere near as exciting as I make it sound.

Then we're in Jane Eyre, to the big country house, the kind with hair full of secrets. Our heroine, Phoebe, wanders around the house not doing much. The Lady of the house, to whom Phoebe is ostensibly a companion, is very close to her butler, Stephens. She has a dead daughter and secrets of her own. Phoebe moons about thinking about the family she has left behind. Occasionally she breaks the monotony with some light gazing upon her scarred finger, a result of the previous paragraph.

Phoebe is uninteresting, repetitive and passive. The most she does is huff out in a strop from time to time. Her interactions with the male characters in particular are leaden, the "romance" having little emotional lead in and a resolution worthy of the schlokiest of Mills and Boon novels.

Much of this book doesn't make any sense. Fox does her utmost to tie everything together with many repetitive "But WHY did you ..." "Ah! You didn't know that ..." scenes, but despite the never-ending reveals and guilty secrets, when you actually sit down and look at it with a cold and logical eye there are still questions unanswered, the biggest one surrounding Cissy and her motives. It's not quite as ridiculous as EM, but it's not any better put together.

So, my biggest issue with this book. It has a rape scene, which is fine because rape happens. However, it's almost as though it was consensual in an earlier draft and got changed at the last minute. The way the other character is regarded by Phoebe, and the way she talks about it - it's all about what "they" did as though she were an active participant. It annoyed me; more than that it offended me. If the scene had been consensual, it wouldn't have made much difference to the book - a few language changes in the immediate aftermath - and that really, really pisses me off.

I want to like these books so much. I really do. Although I'm not one for melodrama, I am one for the Victorians, but for me Essie Fox is a "2nd generation" Pre-Raphaelite on a tin of biscuits, whereas I'm hoping for a British Symbolist in all their raw and emotional glory. 1 star.

[Orsolya · Rating 2 out of 5]

All families have hidden secrets among its confidants with outsiders being completely unaware. Victorian England was no exception with many skeletons lurking in family closets. Essie Fox explores this theme in, “The Somnambulist”.

“The Somnambulist” follows Phoebe Turner, a seventeen-year-old girl who lives with her mother, Maud , and stage actress aunt, Cissy. Cissy is intertwined with a gentleman Nathanial whom after Cissy’s sudden death; takes in Phoebe as a companion to his wife (who suffers from mental attacks due to the death of a young daughter). Phoebe becomes center in drama and tries to figure out her family’s involvement with that of Nathaniel’s.

If this all sounds predictable to you…Then you are correct in your assessment. Fox attempts to dive immediately into the narrative (which is mostly first-person perspective from Phoebe with some alternating chapters from Nathaniel); without a proper introduction. This causes a huge filter between Phoebe and the reader with the events and details resulting in a bland plot. Yet, one could definitely see this as a strong young adult novel with a “Jane Eyre”- like essence.

On the other hand, Fox’s writing is highly visual and very fitting for the time period (the slight Victorian twang mixed with formality). The reader is certainly transported on this level and thus, Fox does promote further page-turning.

There is a slight questioning where the story is going (the point and climax) especially with it being so predictable and lacking surprises. This is accented by the lack of personal character growth in Phoebe. In fact, this absence of growth is very much displayed in Phoebe’s actions. You know how everyone hates when characters in horror movies turn towards the killer? Phoebe does similar stupid things or has uneducated revelations which induces eye-rolling from the reader. Then again, she is only 17 and I am older than the intended audience as “The Somnambulist” is clearly meant for YA readers. In that respect, these respective readers can probably relate.

The climax of “The Somnambulist” is emotional enough with Fox tying loose ends but not exciting due to the strong predictability of the story. Afterwards, the narrative seems to drag and almost feels pointless because in this novel the climax is more of a conclusion with not much else mattering. Fox tries to create more drama but it is too contrived and doesn’t add much value to the story.

The conclusion of “The Somnambulist” is overly cut-and-dry and too “happily ever after” but at least it ends without loose strings. Fox provides a strong ‘Author’s Note’ which explains the historical inaccuracies and settings plus some books for further reading thereby showing her research into the era.

“The Somnambulist” is well-written in terms of prose but it is overly predictable and somewhat ‘silly’ best suited for young adult readers. One can definitely see why such readers would enjoy the novel. I will personally not read from the author again not because it is “so terrible” but I simply found it to be below my literary tastes (I think I am simply just older than the target audience).

[Jules · Rating 5 out of 5]

La sonnambula di Essie Fox è uno dei romanzi pubblicati nel 2011 che più mi ha incuriosito, attratto e, una volta letto, stregato.

Le motivazioni che mi hanno spinto verso questo libro sono molteplici: innanzitutto l’ambientazione scelta dall’autrice per la sua storia, l’Inghilterra vittoriana e l’ambiente dei music hall hanno un fascino misterioso e sempre unico; altro aspetto attraente è la presenza, già dal titolo, del dipinto di Millais raffigurante la ormai celebre sonnambula durante le sue peregrinazioni notturne.


La carica evocativa del pittore preraffaellita, di cui apprezzo immensamente la sua altrettanto famosa Ofelia, unita alle misteriose vicende che ruotano intorno alla vita di Phoebe e alla Londra che si avvia verso la fine dell’Ottocento (la vicenda e di poco antecedente agli anni di Jack lo Squartatore) hanno agito su di me come un canto delle sirene catturando completamente la mia attenzione. A completare l’opera concorre anche una copertina davvero particolare che ricorda le vecchie locandine degli spettacoli ottocenteschi delle lanterne magiche.

Definire questo romanzo non è facile, per certi versi può iscriversi nei romanzi storici vista la precisione dell’autrice nel descrivere gli ambienti, gli usi e i costumi di quel periodo prestando attenzione agli accadimenti reali verificatesi in quel frangente. Per altri versi la storia di Phoebe è certamente un mystery dal gusto retrò, che ammalia il lettore grazie una storia complessa e non scontata con una punta di magia che rende il tutto più interessante. Ma La sonnambula è soprattutto un Bildungsroman, la storia di una ragazza e della sua crescita come persona e come donna, delle sue cadute e delle sue ascese, delle sofferenze che la vita le infligge e del coraggio di affrontarle.

Al centro della narrazione troviamo, quindi, la potenza dei legami familiari, dei legami di sangue e dei segreti che possono essere nascosti all’interno delle anime delle persone. Tacere può far più male di una rivelazione scomoda e questo è quello che Phoebe imparerà dalla vita. Con una madre fanatica religiosa che la trascina a predicare per la strade la perdizione della carne e una zia dolce e misteriosa che brilla sui palcoscenici dei varietà londinesi, la giovane Phoebe sente che la sua anima è divisa tra ciò che vuole veramente e ciò che è costretta a fare.

Il bigottismo religioso spesso maschera sentimenti meno nobili e puri di quanto si vuol far credere e quando il mondo si spalanca attraente e brutale davanti agli occhi della ragazza le litanie delle donne vestite di nero e urlanti slogan come “Dio è la tua salvezza” non possono funzionare contro il richiamo ammaliatore della vita. Phoebe è attratta dal teatro, dalla vita segreta di sua zia Cissy e dall’uomo che lei ha sempre amato, l’emblematica figura dietro la quale si nasconde un’identità sconosciuta quanto sconvolgente.

Sono tanti i personaggi che ruotano intorno alla giovane ragazza e tutti contribuiscono a formare parte del suo carattere ponendola al centro di un’intricata vicenda che la vede protagonista sua malgrado. Essie Fox ci narra una storia densa di pathos e di sentimenti contrastanti che delineano i personaggi del romanzo in modo vivido e realistico. La gioia, il dolore, le passioni sbocciano ne La sonnambula con una carica espressiva che guida il lettore per tutta la narrazione con un ritmo sostenuto e avvincente.

Luci e ombre di un passato sepolto ma non dimenticato ora riaffiorano tra le pagine di questo romanzo, dove è la protagonista a condurci narrando in prima persona, salvo alcune brevi parti in cui il punto di vista è espresso in terza persona prendendo a protagonista un altro personaggio del racconto.

Un esordio di tutto rispetto capace di ricreare atmosfere passate senza mai sembrare sopra le righe, una storia che non smette mai di stupire e che ci mostra cosa si può nascondere tra le pieghe dell’animo umano. Passioni e perversioni, bugie e verità si alternato dando vita a un romanzo misterioso e affascinante come La sonnambula di Millais.

[Philippa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essie Fox is a cruel and evil woman. Honestly, her debut novel is so stunning she deprived me of sleep last night. I must have told myself ‘just one more chapter’ at least ten times, to absolutely no avail. It was possibly almost *cough* 4 am by the time I was finally able to put this book down. And I was so hooked that I woke up this morning, made myself a drink and dove straight back in. So I retract my earlier comment, Fox isn’t cruel and evil she is actually incredibly talented.

The story focuses on Phoebe Turner a 17 year old living in Bow, East London in 1881. Her mother, Maud, is devoutly religious and strict on Phoebe; still forcing her to wear only black in mourning for the father who died when she was a little girl and stridently opposed to drink, music, bohemianism and those ‘theatre types’. Living with them, is Phoebe’s aunt Cissy a hugely talented opera singer, who has never married and more or less retired from the stage. Immediately it becomes clear that Phoebe feels torn between these two women who seem to both uphold different beliefs and ideals and have conflicting views on how she should live her life.

One night, after watching Cissy give a rare performance at Wilton’s Music Hall, Phoebe spots her talking with a mysterious man who seems to cause her much distress. This man, Nathaniel Samuels, it emerges shares quite a history with Cissy and is much despised by Maud when the two encounter each other after Cissy’s sudden and untimely death. This is really where the story starts to take off. With finances suddenly short without Cissy’s income, Maud must swallow her hatred and Phoebe takes a job as companion to Samuels’ reclusive wife at Dinwood Court in Herefordshire. Whilst there Phoebe must adjust to a dramatically different life and uncover the truth, about Cissy, about Maud, about the strange goings on at Dinwood and about what happened the night the Samuels’ daughter Esther died in the woods.

Fox has done an excellent job in writing Phoebe, such a likeable and real character. It was easy to care for her, to want good for her and to watch as she learnt, understood and grew. In addition, all the characters seemed real and developed. With her delicate touch, Fox made them all fully fleshed and significant.

What is also apparent is the passion for the period held by the author. The writing is informed and historically accurate, without trying to particularly offer up too much fact. This isn’t a history lecture on Victorian England. Instead, the beautiful and gripping pose is placed in a well-informed context but left to stand up entirely by itself.

The Somnambulist is a perfect example of the gothic genre and quite why I love it so much. Plenty of twists and turns, mystery, secrets to be unravelled, grief and loss, hugely atmospheric, love and trust and a story that kept me enraptured right to the very last word.

I look forward to whatever Fox writes next. If she leaves it too long... then I can easily see this book being up for a re-read in the meantime.

“You know... every heart holds its secrets”

[Ellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Phoebe Turner’s Victorian home hangs a painting. The Somnambulist. It reminds her of her dear Aunt Cissy, a music hall beauty who she wishes were her mother. Instead, Maud is a strict Christian, pounding the streets with the Hallelujah Army and severely disapproving of Cissy’s sinful life as a singer. When Phoebe glimpses the world inside Wilton’s Music Hall one night, she also draws the attention of men who will change her life forever. Soon her family home is at risk and she must move to the country to be companion to the reclusive Mrs Samuels at Dinwood Court. But all is not well in that house either, and Phoebe feels like her world is unravelling and she is bound for hell.

The Somnambulist is a scandalous Victorian soap of the literary variety, crammed full with characters and twists and turns. Perhaps a few too many characters and plot points, which meant that none were fully developed. Our narrator is young Phoebe; at only 17 maybe she can be forgiven for being silly and naïve, which was probably typical of girls at the time, but her grief isn’t convincing until a lot further on in the book. I don’t think it can be put down as shock, as she is forever crying, but I rarely felt her emotions.

Then the narration breaks off into third person at times to inform the reader of crucial secrets, unbeknown to Phoebe. These are usually from the perspective of Mr Samuels, the man who has mysteriously become an important part of her life. This works quite well for an incident about halfway through, as you really want to scream at Phoebe not to do it, but at other times it just added yet another thread to the already full plot.

I most enjoyed the characters of the music hall; Old Riley, who makes the costumes and is a mother figure to the singers and actors under her wing, Quin, who made me really care what happened at the end and even Mr Collins who is the least developed but quietly looks after everyone.

The pacing was a little odd. It took me a long time to get into the book and then by the end, there seemed to be a major event unfolding in each chapter, shock after shock after shock, which left me feeling it was all a bit silly. But silly in a cultured, Victorian manner that was still quite entertaining. I also felt there was no sense of the passage of time. What was several years seemed like mere weeks in my head, which probably didn’t help the sense that too much was happening to this poor family.

Essie Fox’s writing style is beautiful, when taken page by page. Her prose is descriptive and poetic with a healthy dollop of research into an era it is clear she holds dear. As a debut novel, there is plenty of potential and I would certainly give her another chance.

[Libby Stephenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, tho'. It reformed all my notions of modern gothic fiction, so painstaking constructed by Kate Morton and Diane Setterfield. I never would have expected things to get this dark and horrible. This is the social commentary of Daniel Deronda with the unrelenting wretchedness of Wuthering Heights. Now, I use the words "horrible" and "wretched" not because this is a bad book, but because you will have to witness utter betrayal, degradation, and loss.

I think that the real difference between The Somnambulist and the other modern gothic I've read is that crazy events of the past are still very much playing out in the present. There are mysteries to be solved, but also direct consequences to be dealt with.

Normally, in a review of this type of book, you are supposed to admire the author's creation of atmosphere, her research, and the intricacies of her narrative, but I cannot even, right now. This is what I've got: the atmosphere is developed through symbols that pervade the novel, bringing the past into the present, and memories of home into alien locales (I'm looking at you, gravestones) - clever work. As to the research, I hardly ever read author's notes, but Essie got me to read hers - I need to find some Hammam Bouquet! And finally, as regards plot, I was slightly worried after the first few chapters that we had a case of insta-love on our hands, but let's just say THAT WAS NOT AN ISSUE. I really did feel like I was going through the same awakenings as Phoebe, our heroine. Like her worldview, much of my reading has been sheltered from the worst of human cruelty, so we had to face together the thought that people can really do such things.

I have but one gripe that made this four stars: many of the chapters start with a "recap paragraph," as I came to call it, that basically states what the end result of everything in that chapter was, then we would rewind, as it were, and see precisely how things played out. This deadened some of the surprise and was totally unnecessary.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ooh, ooh, I really want Ms Fox's marketing team. That way I'd become Supernurse Extraordinaire: celebrities would discuss me on television, my research papers would get little Specsavers-sponsored stickers on the front and get their own wee display in the library, and people would flock to my blog on catheterisation (um, OK, maybe not the last one). Ahh, the life I would lead...

Because really, when it boils down to it, this isn't a very good book. Meticulously researched, certainly, but the execution was very sloppy, to the point where it was unclear what the story was actually about. Myriad grasped-at-but-never-quite-reached ideas, much hinting at supernatural shenanigans and building of tension that simply dissipated pointlessly. And the sexual content, rather than being risque, titillating or shocking, was just crass. Yuk. What a waste of time.

Still, it was only a library book and it was certainly more portable than The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters, which I've pretty much given up on until I'm stuck in the house unexpectedly for a month or so (unless it's due to a wrist injury, in which case The Glass Books... is definitely out of the question...).

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

THIS BOOK IS VILE.

Our 'heroine' Phoebe is raped by her brother (they don't know they're siblings) in the woods and a few hours later in the middle of the night, she sees him creeping out into the woods again and so she follows him because she had a ~feeling he wanted her to follow him. Then they have a heart to heart talk about his dead sister. She (allegedly) passes out and he carries her back to the house and she hopes the entire time she's in his arms that he'll kiss her or show her affection. Then the next day when the rapey brother & his wife leave England for India, she tries to have an affectionate talk with her rapist because she's "in love with him" despite "the events of the previous evening". (She also mentions that "maybe that's just how love is", RE: being raped). He tells Phoebe that if she gets pregnant from what he did she can't prove it because she's a slut and his (THEIR) father's mistress. Oh, and her father is constantly kissing her passionately and caressing her face and plans to "own her like he once owned her aunt" (her aunt was really her mother). So, in short, INCEST & RAPE & THE VICTIM FALLING FOR HER ATTACKER...one star is too many for this piece of trash.

[JackieB · Rating 1 out of 5]

I stopped reading this about a quarter of the way through. I suspect the problem I had was that I imagine books in a very different way to the author. I think this is the case because I became aware of very precise visual descriptions when I was reading the book. In fact, they began to annoy me a bit. This makes me suspect that Essie Fox imagines books mainly visually and so was giving lots of visual cues to help her readers experience the story. However, I mainly imagine what it would feel like emotionally and physically to be in the situations which the characters experience and only secondly what things would look like. So I need emotional or physical cues which, on the whole, I wasn't getting. The net result was that the main character seemed to me to drift passively through the book observing what was going on but not responding to anything particularly strongly. As a result, I wasn't able to muster up much interest in her fate.

[D.E. Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK. I'll fess up. I know Essie so that makes it hard to review but I will say in all honesty, I LOVED this book. The characters leapt off the page and it has a wonderful dynamic verve about it. I raced through this novel in just a few days and some of the most powerful scenes - I'm not giving anything away in what is a deftly handled, complex plot - will stay with me a long long time. Shocking family revelations. Dark and light. Sequins on alabaster skin. Nom Nom descriptive writing, here. Lots of laughs and also some incredibly touching moments demonstrating this writer is here to stay and I can't wait to read her next book. Bring it on Essie. And if you haven't been on her fab blog and love the Victorians, I urge you to have a look. Essie knows this period well, but she wears her erudition so lightly. This book is a page turning treat. Check it out and meantime have a look at her blog. You won't be disappointed: http://virtualvictorian.blogspot.com/

[Kate Forsyth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Somnambulist is a dark neo-Victorian Gothic romance, with lots of unexpected twists and turns. The 19th century atmosphere is so vividly realised, you can hear the horses’ hooves clopping and taste the fog on your tongue.

Phoebe Turner lives with her Bible-thumping mother and her young and beautiful aunt, who used to be a singer. A chance encounter at a music-hall changes Phoebe’s life forever, catapulting her into a world of dark secrets. She travels to Dinwood Court to work as a companion to a reclusive woman who walks the corridors at night. What she discovers there will change everything she thought she knew about her life.

An intriguing and unusual book - the historical setting is superbly well done, with a rather creepy foggy atmosphere, and more twists and turns than a roller-coaster ride.

[Jo Marchant · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not know what to expect from this book as the reviews were really mixed. I loved it though, it was almost a gothic horror in parts but a great story, several gasp out loud moments but some was also predictable but in a really anticipated way. A tale told over a period of time with a few small happenings which have great repercussions. This is a really good book and the characters are expertly drawn, I cared about them and wanted to know what happened to them. The notes at the end were brilliant and this is a great piece of social history.

[Ruth P · Rating 1 out of 5]

I loved the cover and the blurb on the back promised a wonderful night of reading...I was so excited to get into bed with a cup of tea and this book....well it was a crock..and not of gold!!
Schmalzy,crochet crinoline lady toilet roll cover ( in lemon and pink) and weightless..what a disappointment .Sorry Essie Fox if you are reading this..the point is for the cover !

[Ape · Rating 2 out of 5]

Average. I'm not sure why, but I had been expecting more from this. Really, it's just light melodramatic reading. Slightly Victorian gothic in that the women mostly seem to be consumptive or at the least very dominating and abused by men, and dying tragic deaths. But the main character, Phoebe, gets to be tiresome in her offense at the truths people have kept from her, how things aren't going her way, how people don't always do what she wants them to do... there's a man who apparently breaks her heart and didn't love her enough to stay in England. Maybe. But she didn't love him enough to follow him to America. So who's really to blame? Honestly, it was a relief to get to the end of this predictable family melodrama. Twists got thrown in randomly at the end, and I'm not sure whether the child abuse angle was really necessary as a virtual aside at the end, but hey ho. I was at the point where I needed to get to the end.

Phoebe Turner is a Victorian teenager who lives with her widowed mother, Maud, who is a holier-than-thou and judgemental Christian; and her aunt Cissy, who is a singer/actress and once upon a time was a star. And it seems she has a tragic love story loitering in her past. After a death in the family, and facing the poor house, Phoebe takes a job as a companion to a rich businessman's wife. The wife lives out on a country estate, haunted by ghosts and seemingly wasting away herself.

[Munch]

Not really sure what to rate this, it was interesting enough to finish. But I mostly wanted to see if anyone who did wrong would be condemned for what they did at some point, and sadly they weren't. It was also pretty predictable and seemed strange pacing wise, it was just a smidge too long. The blurb made me think that most of the story would take place when Phoebe was a companion but that was a surprisingly small amount of the book. 

Spoilers from here onwards:




Was it just me or did it feel like the author was trying to make us sympathetic towards a character who groomed a girl from when she was 13, just because he waited until she was 18 to start a physical relationship and she loved him? Not to leave out that he was also cheating on his wife. And continued to use the services of underage sex workers.


Did we need incest SA? They didn't know they were half siblings at the time, but couldn't it have been consensual? That would have made more sense of Phoebe’s continuing affection for him.


And what was with the butler? It seemed to come out of nowhere.


Poor Isaac was in only one scene near the beginning just to give hints to what happened with Cissy in the past and then was murdered by people as part of antisemitic violence near the end of the book. He deserved better.