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Inamorata
It is 1920s Philadelphia, a time when the feverish popular obsession with the paranormal is confronted by the inevitable ascendance of the scientific method. With everyone from Houdini to Arthur Conan Doyle weighing in on the existence of parapsychological phenomena, the media is as fixated on the sensational debate as scientists and would-be psychics. Indeed, in 1922, Scientific American offers five thousand dollars for evidence of “conclusive psychic manifestations.”
Inspired by this real-life event, Inamorata follows Martin Finch, a twenty-three-year-old Harvard graduate student and member of Scientific American’s investigative committee, on the case of a lifetime—an attempt to determine whether Mina Crawley, a beautiful Philadelphia socialite, is able to contact the spirit realm. In the tiny upstairs room of the Crawleys’ elegant Rittenhouse Square townhouse, Finch is prepared to debunk a fraud. But instead the man of science breaks the cardinal rule of psychic investigation: Never fall in love with the medium...
319 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 91 reviews
March 3, 2009
I loved this book! It's funny but not fluffy, smart but not academic, and full of interesting characters and details. A slightly geeky but very endearing grad student gets involved with a project to disprove the talents of various psychics in the 1920s. The story centers around his part in the investigation of a young and pretty medium who he thinks might be in danger, but from what, he doesn't know. He attempts to become the romantic hero of her complicated life, even though he knows she may be a fraud and doesn't need rescuing. His brain leads him one way, his heart (and libido) another. The story is a great blend between RomCom and armchair detective story, and (much to my surprise!) one of the very few books where the dust jacket blurbs didn't exaggerate.
March 31, 2017
In the 1920's, Spiritualism was a huge interest of much of the public. The magazine Scientific American is offering a $5,000 prize to anyone who can prove they have supernatural powers and/or can contact the dead. Martin Finch, a student at Harvard, gets drafted into the judging of the competition.
Set in Prohibition-era Philadelphia, this is a tale of mysticism, belief, strange happenings, and love. Is society woman Mina an actual psychic? Is she faking it all, or maybe mentally ill? Is her husband in on it, or doing it himself?
Martin, already proven a creative debunker of frauds in previous cases, has to deal with many levels of strangeness and the disdain of his fellow committee members. From a rich home to a flop house hotel to jail, Martin sees sides of Philly most never do.
Is the mysterious "Walter" an actual ghost from beyond? Is someone playing games with Martin? It's an interesting mystery with spiritual overtones. The main character is very naïve to the ways of the world, but most of the time he's at least smart enough to know it.
A decent read covering a largely forgotten slice of American cultural history.
Set in Prohibition-era Philadelphia, this is a tale of mysticism, belief, strange happenings, and love. Is society woman Mina an actual psychic? Is she faking it all, or maybe mentally ill? Is her husband in on it, or doing it himself?
Martin, already proven a creative debunker of frauds in previous cases, has to deal with many levels of strangeness and the disdain of his fellow committee members. From a rich home to a flop house hotel to jail, Martin sees sides of Philly most never do.
Is the mysterious "Walter" an actual ghost from beyond? Is someone playing games with Martin? It's an interesting mystery with spiritual overtones. The main character is very naïve to the ways of the world, but most of the time he's at least smart enough to know it.
A decent read covering a largely forgotten slice of American cultural history.
October 30, 2020
I liked this one enough to save it for years and read it twice. I would have rated it higher except for the fact that the ending fell a bit flat. A writer with talent who didn’t write much else....
October 18, 2009
Ok, don't judge a book by it's price- I found this on a sale table at Books Inc. and thought, 'Ok, for five bucks I'll bite-' the subject matter was just a little unbelievable for me, I didn't think I'd be able to suspend disbelief enough that I would have bought the book for full price. Then I got home and started to read- and flew through it! I needed to read something well written but not too self-serious- this fit the bill. The characters are interesting and the topic- Spiritualism in the 1930's- also engaging. I'm not usually a fan of historical fiction- I have a hard time believing the story setup, it often feels forced as authors inject the setting into the novel- but this worked for me, with a few small labored exceptions.
This was a great fun read, especially in time for Halloween (hey, if I'm going to read about ghosts, why not in October?).
If I had known how much I was going to enjoy this, I'd have bought it at full price- I'll be on the lookout for Gangemi's next book and throw my hard-earned dollars his way.
This was a great fun read, especially in time for Halloween (hey, if I'm going to read about ghosts, why not in October?).
If I had known how much I was going to enjoy this, I'd have bought it at full price- I'll be on the lookout for Gangemi's next book and throw my hard-earned dollars his way.
December 6, 2017
Onvan : Inamorata - Nevisande : Joseph Gangemi - ISBN : 143034596 - ISBN13 : 9780143034599 - Dar 336 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 2004
April 11, 2021
This book was a very interesting read. A clash of worlds with the scientific community and the paranormal. The book was written well. I think the plot for me dragged a bit and the ending seemed rushed. Overall a pretty decent read.
June 20, 2013
It wasn't exactly 'love' - this thing I felt for this book, because as Gangemi said, and I quote, "love was more symphonic feeling... not this anxious chamber piece playing in my inner ear at all hours of the day and night".
Ha ha, that wasn't very good introduction, but anyway, let's carry on.
I consider this book a science fiction. It is based on psychology and solving mysteries behind unexplained happenings, like what we normal people refer to as 'Magic'. Now I'll skip the first few pages of the book and go directly to the biggest mystery that the Scientific American committee has to solve. It's the case of Mina Crawley who claims to have her brother Walter (dead) speak to her. Mina had a husband and he's a surgeon. The story got intensified by the twists and dark history of the characters. There were so many puzzles to solve and Mina was even suspected to be psychotic or something, and even an evil ventriloquist.
But then in the end, none of the assumptions fitted. It turned out that Mina was really believing in the after life existence of Walter, and then her husband, who wanted fame after tasting it for the first time, then used the next events to have his share on the story.
Now the climax began when Finch broke the ultimate law: Never fall in love with the medium. Mina, being the medium. On this part, I really hated both Finch and Mina, and Crawley - the husband. Alright, I hate Finch for falling for a girl even though he can't trust her at all. I hate Mina for, well, committing adultery. And Crawley for not doing anything though it's really obvious that an angle was formed the day Finch showed up.
So when McLaughlin - head of the Scientific American Committee - noticed his best student broke the law, he took action, brought along this Tom guy who was revealed in the end as a colleague of Walter back in the wars. He said this wasn't the Walter he knew. That said, more proofs supported his statement and Mina and Crawley was not awarded for the Scientific American.
As for the triangle, Crawley wasn't able to speak anymore. Mina stayed with him though. Finch went back to Harvard. Years later, there it was in the magazine, Mina and her son... it was a picture that gave Finch something more to feel.
Ok, why I like the story? Because Mina and Finch didn't end up together. LOL, kidding. I liked it because it had so many twists, so many dark pasts revealed, and so many terms that were foreign to me.
I recommend this book to anyone bored, ha ha, anyone who adores Science (but don't think I do), and anyone who wants to encounter a Filipino Butler in a Philadelphian story. :]
Ha ha, that wasn't very good introduction, but anyway, let's carry on.
I consider this book a science fiction. It is based on psychology and solving mysteries behind unexplained happenings, like what we normal people refer to as 'Magic'. Now I'll skip the first few pages of the book and go directly to the biggest mystery that the Scientific American committee has to solve. It's the case of Mina Crawley who claims to have her brother Walter (dead) speak to her. Mina had a husband and he's a surgeon. The story got intensified by the twists and dark history of the characters. There were so many puzzles to solve and Mina was even suspected to be psychotic or something, and even an evil ventriloquist.
But then in the end, none of the assumptions fitted. It turned out that Mina was really believing in the after life existence of Walter, and then her husband, who wanted fame after tasting it for the first time, then used the next events to have his share on the story.
Now the climax began when Finch broke the ultimate law: Never fall in love with the medium. Mina, being the medium. On this part, I really hated both Finch and Mina, and Crawley - the husband. Alright, I hate Finch for falling for a girl even though he can't trust her at all. I hate Mina for, well, committing adultery. And Crawley for not doing anything though it's really obvious that an angle was formed the day Finch showed up.
So when McLaughlin - head of the Scientific American Committee - noticed his best student broke the law, he took action, brought along this Tom guy who was revealed in the end as a colleague of Walter back in the wars. He said this wasn't the Walter he knew. That said, more proofs supported his statement and Mina and Crawley was not awarded for the Scientific American.
As for the triangle, Crawley wasn't able to speak anymore. Mina stayed with him though. Finch went back to Harvard. Years later, there it was in the magazine, Mina and her son... it was a picture that gave Finch something more to feel.
Ok, why I like the story? Because Mina and Finch didn't end up together. LOL, kidding. I liked it because it had so many twists, so many dark pasts revealed, and so many terms that were foreign to me.
I recommend this book to anyone bored, ha ha, anyone who adores Science (but don't think I do), and anyone who wants to encounter a Filipino Butler in a Philadelphian story. :]
August 10, 2009
Fun book that can be read in an afternoon, but the jacket blurbs about the author being in the same vein as Caleb Carr's the Alienist or EL Doctrow's Ragtime are overblown. I think what separates this book from the Alienist (and I've noticed the same thing in a lot of other historically inspired fiction) is that Carr is both a historian and a writer, so he doesn't let the historical facts and elements get in the way of the narrative or characters. Whereas in this book (and some others I've read, like Kurt Anderson's Heyday), you get really tired fast of all the times the author drops in slang or descriptions of figures/locations from the time period. Having worked a little with historians and in the field of public history, I really wish that novels like this one would be a little more judicious in how they weave the historical setting into the narrative, instead of nerding out/being a foamer over how many things they learned while doing the research.
ETA - How could I forget, even though this is based on actual people/an incident, the author sets you up for this great mystery, which he then never follows through all the way. That's the whole reason I kept on reading to get to the end. The question of whether or not she was a real medium or a fraud is not going to be answered, but there's a couple of other loose threads in there that never ever get resolved. So kind of disappointing.
ETA - How could I forget, even though this is based on actual people/an incident, the author sets you up for this great mystery, which he then never follows through all the way. That's the whole reason I kept on reading to get to the end. The question of whether or not she was a real medium or a fraud is not going to be answered, but there's a couple of other loose threads in there that never ever get resolved. So kind of disappointing.
February 14, 2013
My gosh, I loved reading this. To be honest, I didn't know what to expect from it, as it had been sitting on my shelf for years without being given a second glance. (I'm sorry I overlooked you for so long, Inamorata! Just because you were the randomly-selected third book in a 3-for-$10 deal, doesn't mean you aren't worthy of attention! In fact, I don't even remember what the other two books were.)
The 1920s have always seemed like an extremely cool decade to me, at least through the lens of American fiction. Inamorata carries that cool vibe throughout as it takes us from Boston to New York City to Philadelphia. It follows the (mis)adventures of Martin Finch, a logical young man whose job is to debunk the claims of wannabe psychics, who are in no short supply with spiritualism at its height of popularity. What may seem like amazing supernatural feats to most are simply parlour tricks waiting to be exposed by his deductive reasoning. Finch most assuredly doesn't believe in psychics — at least, not until he starts to fall in love with a very convincing one.
I love the quick-paced wit of this book. It's filled with entertaining characters, constant allusions to the sights and aesthetics of the time, and plenty of prohibition-era shenanigans. Also, the main character gets punched in the face??? I don't know why that's a thing I'm into, but it is. I really regret not giving this book a try sooner! It was pretty great.
The 1920s have always seemed like an extremely cool decade to me, at least through the lens of American fiction. Inamorata carries that cool vibe throughout as it takes us from Boston to New York City to Philadelphia. It follows the (mis)adventures of Martin Finch, a logical young man whose job is to debunk the claims of wannabe psychics, who are in no short supply with spiritualism at its height of popularity. What may seem like amazing supernatural feats to most are simply parlour tricks waiting to be exposed by his deductive reasoning. Finch most assuredly doesn't believe in psychics — at least, not until he starts to fall in love with a very convincing one.
I love the quick-paced wit of this book. It's filled with entertaining characters, constant allusions to the sights and aesthetics of the time, and plenty of prohibition-era shenanigans. Also, the main character gets punched in the face??? I don't know why that's a thing I'm into, but it is. I really regret not giving this book a try sooner! It was pretty great.
September 7, 2007
INAMORATA – G+
Joseph Gangemi – 1st book (Historical)
In 1922, Scientific American offers five thousand dollars for evidence of "conclusive psychic manifestations." Inspired by this real-life event, Inamorata follows Martin Finch, a twenty-three-year-old Harvard graduate student and member of Scientific American’s investigative committee, on the case of a lifetime—an attempt to determine whether Mina Crawley, a beautiful Philadelphia socialite, is able to contact the spirit realm. In the tiny upstairs room of the Crawleys’ elegant Rittenhouse Square townhouse, Finch is prepared to debunk a fraud. But instead the man of science breaks the cardinal rule of psychic investigation: Never fall in love with the medium... *** “Inamorata” truly places you in 1922 and is filled with rich description and interesting characters. I was fascinated by the different spiritualists, the ways Martin devised to expose them, and felt his quandary over Mina (my mother’s name). This was one of those books once started, I couldn’t put down. This is a wonderful, well-written book—and a mystery, of sorts, without a murder.
Joseph Gangemi – 1st book (Historical)
In 1922, Scientific American offers five thousand dollars for evidence of "conclusive psychic manifestations." Inspired by this real-life event, Inamorata follows Martin Finch, a twenty-three-year-old Harvard graduate student and member of Scientific American’s investigative committee, on the case of a lifetime—an attempt to determine whether Mina Crawley, a beautiful Philadelphia socialite, is able to contact the spirit realm. In the tiny upstairs room of the Crawleys’ elegant Rittenhouse Square townhouse, Finch is prepared to debunk a fraud. But instead the man of science breaks the cardinal rule of psychic investigation: Never fall in love with the medium... *** “Inamorata” truly places you in 1922 and is filled with rich description and interesting characters. I was fascinated by the different spiritualists, the ways Martin devised to expose them, and felt his quandary over Mina (my mother’s name). This was one of those books once started, I couldn’t put down. This is a wonderful, well-written book—and a mystery, of sorts, without a murder.
December 19, 2014
I can't wrap my head around the probable "solutions" to all of the unanswered questions within this book, and I can't for the life of me determine if that's the way Joseph Gangemi intended it or not. Or is this questioning truly what he intended all along? I do feel very much like Finch, trying to debunk his story. So meta. Either way, an entertaining read. I do wish it was a bit, well, scarier, but I guess that wasn't the point of the novel. Undoubtedly my favorite thing about Inamorata was its historical allusions to Philadelphia mainstays and locales (how cool to envision the main character at a venue just blocks away from where I sit reading, placed nearly a century ago?). The writing was seemingly well-researched and lovely; a solid read for sure.
March 28, 2018
"As I approached, she held both hats up for my inspection.
'Which of these do you like better?'
'The less expensive one.'
'If money were no object?'
'I'd just wear my crown.'"
-- page 162
'Which of these do you like better?'
'The less expensive one.'
'If money were no object?'
'I'd just wear my crown.'"
-- page 162
July 29, 2018
A mystery(?) based on a Scientific American challenge to prove /or not the validity of the psychics. An interesting read jazzed up with a little suggestion of sex.
From Publishers Weekly:
Set in the Roaring '20s and steeped in period detail, this energetic debut is narrated by one Martin Finch, a psychology graduate student at Harvard. Possessed of a wry sense of humor, a practical intelligence and an appropriately skeptical interest in the supernatural, Finch is tapped by the department chairman, Dr. William McLaughlin, to help him judge a Scientific American contest that promises $5,000 to anyone with "conclusive evidence of psychic phenomena." Before Finch and McLaughlin arrive in Manhattan for their first encounter with the paranormal, Gangemi has given the reader a thumbnail history of the Spiritualist movement, which had its heyday in the years after World War I and was championed by the likes of Arthur Conan Doyle. History notwithstanding, the narrative moves at a brisk pace: Finch and McLaughlin quickly expose two mediums as frauds before evaluating the formidable talents of Mina Crawley, the wife of a Philadelphia doctor. Finch travels to Philly as McLaughlin's agent to meet the lovely and charming seeress, and stays for several weeks in the Crawley household as he wrestles with his central conflict: his affection for Mina versus his mandate to determine whether she's a fraud. The novel turns into a slightly bawdy thriller, and the narrative vigor rarely flags as Finch pursues strange paths in the City of Brotherly Love. Gangemi is an extremely adept writer, though frequent wisecracks and references to popular songs and consumer products of the 1920s wear thin. His plot, too, is a bit weak, but this is an undeniably clever concept and an enjoyable read.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Publishers Weekly:
Set in the Roaring '20s and steeped in period detail, this energetic debut is narrated by one Martin Finch, a psychology graduate student at Harvard. Possessed of a wry sense of humor, a practical intelligence and an appropriately skeptical interest in the supernatural, Finch is tapped by the department chairman, Dr. William McLaughlin, to help him judge a Scientific American contest that promises $5,000 to anyone with "conclusive evidence of psychic phenomena." Before Finch and McLaughlin arrive in Manhattan for their first encounter with the paranormal, Gangemi has given the reader a thumbnail history of the Spiritualist movement, which had its heyday in the years after World War I and was championed by the likes of Arthur Conan Doyle. History notwithstanding, the narrative moves at a brisk pace: Finch and McLaughlin quickly expose two mediums as frauds before evaluating the formidable talents of Mina Crawley, the wife of a Philadelphia doctor. Finch travels to Philly as McLaughlin's agent to meet the lovely and charming seeress, and stays for several weeks in the Crawley household as he wrestles with his central conflict: his affection for Mina versus his mandate to determine whether she's a fraud. The novel turns into a slightly bawdy thriller, and the narrative vigor rarely flags as Finch pursues strange paths in the City of Brotherly Love. Gangemi is an extremely adept writer, though frequent wisecracks and references to popular songs and consumer products of the 1920s wear thin. His plot, too, is a bit weak, but this is an undeniably clever concept and an enjoyable read.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
May 22, 2018
In a great frame of mind for what seemed to be a mysterious, fun book when it was recommended to me at the library from a fellow patron. Man it didn't disappoint! For about 75 pages at least. If I'm honest with myself I actually enjoyed reading the book. I liked the characters, the plot, the setting, the dialogue...I pretty much liked it all. Yet at completion, I find myself asking "what the hell was the purpose of this book"?
I'll let you read about the plot and the details from the cover blurbs because I don't want to waste anymore time on it, but honestly it's one of only a few books I've ever read that I have no idea what the point of it all was for.
I'll let you read about the plot and the details from the cover blurbs because I don't want to waste anymore time on it, but honestly it's one of only a few books I've ever read that I have no idea what the point of it all was for.
December 11, 2025
I'm surprised how much I enjoyed this book. It's academic without being dry, it's suspenseful without being over the top, it's engaging without being vague.
I was captivated by the driving force of the story, with all it's twists and turns. My favourite things about the book were the academic setting moved from the halls of Harvard to the streets of Philadelphia. The sheer sense of fun and humor (although I wish there was more). The only thing lacking for me was any sense of dread for a book about Spiritualism.
The biggest surprise for me was the satisfaction with the ending - the conclusion was just out of reach enough to be enjoyable without feeling let down.
I was captivated by the driving force of the story, with all it's twists and turns. My favourite things about the book were the academic setting moved from the halls of Harvard to the streets of Philadelphia. The sheer sense of fun and humor (although I wish there was more). The only thing lacking for me was any sense of dread for a book about Spiritualism.
The biggest surprise for me was the satisfaction with the ending - the conclusion was just out of reach enough to be enjoyable without feeling let down.
September 15, 2018
The author writes screenplays for a living, and although this was his first novel, I don’t think he’s written another. It was very atmospheric, would indeed make an interesting visual presentation, movie or Netflix, etc. Because he left the central questions of the plot unanswered, “Is she or isn’t she?” “Did she or didn’t she?” I found the novel somewhat unfulfilling, but these complaints could easily be addressed through a nuanced performance. I hope it does come to the screen, large or small.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 30, 2019
Interesting take on psychic Margery Crandon's story, although the story deviates quite dramatically from actual events. Colorful writing but the story line crumbles midpoint with some fairly far-fetched twists that strain credulity.
August 29, 2024
This book isn’t quite historically accurate when it comes to the real story of Mina Crandon (Crawley), but it is still very interesting and well written. In my opinion, the story in the book is more intriguing than the real story so I give it a pass. And there are still some truths to it.
June 24, 2018
Period novel of scientists investigating mediums in the twenties. Pretty good.
January 18, 2021
An unusual book that stays with you.
August 6, 2024
The concept of the book is interesting and should have held my interest more, but I found it to be dragged out in parts and rushed in others. The main character was also annoyingly naive.
February 25, 2025
no es para mí ☹️
January 27, 2017
Pretty entertaining read, did get a bit confusing in some parts...wasn't sure about the ending.
July 20, 2022
4 ⭐️ because while I LOVED this book there were parts of it that I thought could have been better. There are so many plot elements that the story was at risk of becoming convoluted at some points but I think overall it added to the mystery in the ending. So so good, and normally I don’t even like historical fiction.
November 7, 2017
Комитет из разновозрастных мужчин ищет неоспоримые свидетельства экстрасенсорных способностей у медиумов для некого научного издания. Настоящему медиуму - приз, журналу - сенсация. Про неудачный блокбастер обычно говорят - сэкономили на спецэффектах, о книгах со схожим дефицитом - ну 🤔 sciencefiction хз... под сомнительной обложкой, которая уже сама по себе должна была предостеречь меня от ошибки. Особенность жанра диктует предметам летать по комнате, но сильно не обольщайтесь - всё очень скромно. Апофеоз мистицизма - почтовый голубь в желудочном соке (в телеплазме, простите).
Переходим в плоскость любви (да, именно плоскость, площе некуда) Она ему из-за колонны: Пссс, молодой человек, хотите поговорить с духом покойной бабушки? - и вот уже вытаскивает у него из пиджака спички, орудуя под столом одной ногой, более того, даёт прикурить, от чего молодого человека тут же насквозь пронзает стрела Амура. Комитет в восхищении. Что делать бедолаге с этой любовью? Молодой человек не знает, он бегает по городу и формирует уже третий сюжет - детективный. Тем временем замужняя женщина-медиум с проворными ногами, скелетами в шкафу, даром чревовещания, мнимым бесплодием и латентным раздвоением личности влюбляется в своего разоблачителя. Затемнение, унылый постельный этюд. Далее - у мужа инсульт, у женщины беременность. #бездны #пиздастрадания Безутешный юноша кричит в сердцах нечеловеческим голосом: Карету мне, карету! А женщина ему из глубокого обморока во след: Давайте будем друзьями по переписки.
Переходим в плоскость любви (да, именно плоскость, площе некуда) Она ему из-за колонны: Пссс, молодой человек, хотите поговорить с духом покойной бабушки? - и вот уже вытаскивает у него из пиджака спички, орудуя под столом одной ногой, более того, даёт прикурить, от чего молодого человека тут же насквозь пронзает стрела Амура. Комитет в восхищении. Что делать бедолаге с этой любовью? Молодой человек не знает, он бегает по городу и формирует уже третий сюжет - детективный. Тем временем замужняя женщина-медиум с проворными ногами, скелетами в шкафу, даром чревовещания, мнимым бесплодием и латентным раздвоением личности влюбляется в своего разоблачителя. Затемнение, унылый постельный этюд. Далее - у мужа инсульт, у женщины беременность. #бездны #пиздастрадания Безутешный юноша кричит в сердцах нечеловеческим голосом: Карету мне, карету! А женщина ему из глубокого обморока во след: Давайте будем друзьями по переписки.
February 12, 2008
There is another book, Gabriel Brownstein's "The Man From Beyond", which also looks at Margery, a medium discovered by Arthur Conan Doyle. Margery was actually one Mina Crandon in real life, and Conan-Doyle would sing her praises to anyone who would listen. Also in real life, a team of investigators from Scientific American (which had offered a $5000 prize to anyone who could produce some psychic phenonmena "$2,500 to the first person who produces a psychic photograph under its test conditions" and "$2,500 to the first person who produces a visible psychic manifestation of other character . . . to the full satisfaction of these judges."
In Inamorata, Gangemi's Mina is Mina Crawley, and he offers the reader a different look at her than did Brownstein in his novel -- going into her story a bit more in-depth, using the character Martin Finch as his narrator. Finch's mentor, who is on the Scientific American investigative committee, has a fall which leads to broken bones, not allowing him to attend the committee's meeting with Margery, and sends Finch instead. Finch is to keep in contact with the professor each day and let him know what's going on. Normally, Finch is the first on the scene to be able to figure out what mechanism spiritualists use to make their phenomena appear, but this time things are a bit different. Finch falls for Mina, and this leads to all kinds of trouble that I won't go into here; suffice it to say this one is a page turner to the end.
The book itself is also a good look at the Boston and Philadelphia of the day. Period details are quite fun in the right hands, and I'd say that Gangemi has captured another day in his writing. Overall, this was a fine novel, and I definitely HIGHLY recommend it.
12/24/2006
In Inamorata, Gangemi's Mina is Mina Crawley, and he offers the reader a different look at her than did Brownstein in his novel -- going into her story a bit more in-depth, using the character Martin Finch as his narrator. Finch's mentor, who is on the Scientific American investigative committee, has a fall which leads to broken bones, not allowing him to attend the committee's meeting with Margery, and sends Finch instead. Finch is to keep in contact with the professor each day and let him know what's going on. Normally, Finch is the first on the scene to be able to figure out what mechanism spiritualists use to make their phenomena appear, but this time things are a bit different. Finch falls for Mina, and this leads to all kinds of trouble that I won't go into here; suffice it to say this one is a page turner to the end.
The book itself is also a good look at the Boston and Philadelphia of the day. Period details are quite fun in the right hands, and I'd say that Gangemi has captured another day in his writing. Overall, this was a fine novel, and I definitely HIGHLY recommend it.
12/24/2006
July 11, 2015
One thing I recently learned (recently meaning in the last 30 seconds) is that in 2006 Johnny Depp bought the rights to make this book into a movie. And since I am and will always be a staunch supporter of anything Johnny Depp, that makes me look slightly more favorably at this book. Slightly.
The weird thing about this book is that the medium who it revolves around is based off of a real woman, a woman who is so completely different from her fictional counterpart in Inamorata as to be unrecognizable. So I find that strange. It's as if the author decide to use the name and occupation and nothing else at all.
Anyway. This book. It's okay, I guess. Kind of interesting. It starts off well, but I must say that it gets very slow and muggy by the end. I don't really have much to say about it. It's based during the 1920s, the height of spiritualism, and the journal Scientific American has declared they will issue a $5,000 prize to anyone who can prove they are legit.
A group of men (who historically were actually joined by Harry Houdini, which I think could have been super interesting, alas that's not what happens in this book) goes out and about to find and disprove mediums and the like. Until Mina. She's just so gosh darn beautiful and believable and maybe she's the real deal!
So that's that. Like I said, it's okay. If you're interested in this period historically or you like reading about the spiritualism movement, this could be a good addition to your library. If not, well. You're not going to miss out on anything life changing.
The weird thing about this book is that the medium who it revolves around is based off of a real woman, a woman who is so completely different from her fictional counterpart in Inamorata as to be unrecognizable. So I find that strange. It's as if the author decide to use the name and occupation and nothing else at all.
Anyway. This book. It's okay, I guess. Kind of interesting. It starts off well, but I must say that it gets very slow and muggy by the end. I don't really have much to say about it. It's based during the 1920s, the height of spiritualism, and the journal Scientific American has declared they will issue a $5,000 prize to anyone who can prove they are legit.
A group of men (who historically were actually joined by Harry Houdini, which I think could have been super interesting, alas that's not what happens in this book) goes out and about to find and disprove mediums and the like. Until Mina. She's just so gosh darn beautiful and believable and maybe she's the real deal!
So that's that. Like I said, it's okay. If you're interested in this period historically or you like reading about the spiritualism movement, this could be a good addition to your library. If not, well. You're not going to miss out on anything life changing.
April 18, 2012
This book is set in the 1920's, during the peak of the Spiritualism movement. It is upon this backdrop that Harvard graduate, Martin Finch, gets the unexpected opportunity to assist in the Scientific American investigation into the psychic powers of self-proclaimed mediums and Spiritulists. At first he rises to the challenge and exposes several fraudulent "psychics" using logic and scientific reasoning. However, the investigation into the paranormal powers of "society psychic" Mina Crawley presents a far greater challenge, especially when he develops feelings for her that threaten to cloud his judgement.
I could not put this book down! Finch's determination to disprove psychic ability took the story in some interesting directions, and I admit that I'm not exactly sure what really happened in the end, but I like that there is still some mystery surrounding the story and its characters. Great book!
I could not put this book down! Finch's determination to disprove psychic ability took the story in some interesting directions, and I admit that I'm not exactly sure what really happened in the end, but I like that there is still some mystery surrounding the story and its characters. Great book!
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