All Will Be Revealed

by Robert Anthony Siegel

An eccentric, exotic photographer is drawn to a beautiful psychic in a turn-of-the-century novel about love, possession, adventure, and greed.

At the close of the nineteenth century, wheelchair-bound Augustus Auerbach’s only interest is his extraordinarily lucrative the manufacture and marketing of pornographic pictures. His outlook is forever altered, however, when one of his models pressures him to attend a séance. It is there that Augustus meets the medium Verena Swann, a beautiful widow who gives voice to the long-dead spirit of his mother.

At the time of her first encounter with Augustus, Verena is close to nervous collapse, overwhelmed by the demands of her clients who are half-mad with yearning for their deceased loved ones. Her spiritual powers have begun to fail her, and now, forced to fake her public trances, she wonders if her ability to converse with the spirits was ever more than self-delusion.

Though initially reluctant, Augustus embarks on a series of private sittings with Verena, finding himself increasingly drawn to her as much for personal reasons as for the proof of immortality she offers him. Verena, meanwhile, is torn between three Augustus, the millionaire pornographer; Theodore Swann, Verena’s adventurer husband, killed on an expedition to the North Pole; and Leopold Swann, Verena’s brother-in-law and business partner who has decided that their next and greatest conquest will be Augustus himself.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

282 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Robert Anthony Siegel's collection of autobiographical essays, Criminals, is forthcoming from Counterpoint Press in July, 2018. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian, The Paris Review, The Oxford American, and Tin House, among other venues, and has been recognized with Pushcart and O. Henry prizes, among other distinctions. He is also the author of two novels, All the Money in the World and All Will Be Revealed.

Reviews

[Sarah Mac · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5, rounded up—because I quite liked the aesthetics & all-around aura of this odd little novel.

I went into this with very low expectations, but surprise! I ended up enjoying it. This is one of those modern lit-fic historicals with no true villain; while there's a plot against the heroine, it's not put into action until 2/3rds through, & even then the antagonist isn't villainous per se, but rather a bullying blowhard whose ignorance of others’ probable responses to social stimuli is almost comical.

Our sorta-hero is Augustus Auerbach, a crippled-but-handsome fellow in his 30s. What makes Augustus interesting is 1) he really is crippled, 2) he's a Victorian porno magnate, & 3) he's a recluse who doesn't know how to interact with anyone apart from overseeing his stereographic nudie catalogue. As the story unfolds we learn that Augustus is vaguely unsatisfied with his secluded lifestyle, yet lacks the social experience to pinpoint exactly what he wants. But then a chance for novelty arrives via his favorite porno model, Miss LaRue, whose dead infant son attacts her to the spiritualism crowd, & Augustus reluctantly agrees to accompany her to a series of seances.

Miss LaRue's newfound spiritual guide is Verena Swann, a medium made famous by her dead husband's ghost & her brother-in-law Leopold's business acumen. Unbeknownst to Verena’s customers, her husband's ghost has stopped cooperating, & Leopold has been forced to arrange for various faked stunts—but more than any other client she's deceived, Verena's conscience twinges over Augustus. His quest for immortality & child-like grasping for his mother's spiritual remains send Verena into a tailspin + ultimate rejection of Leopold's methods, which gets her locked in an asylum. 😱 But Leopold wasn’t counting on Augustus & his various unsavory connections—secrets are power, regardless of a reclusive life & poor mobility.

Such a novel could easily revert into goofy Tim Burton melodrama, but the quirky, heartfelt characters mixed with wry prose make this one work. The style isn't overdone & has a dry sense of humor, especially relating to Auerbach & his customers. The bits about pornography are clinical rather than pornographic; despite the hero's profession, the romantic subplot is more sweet & awkward than anything else. I enjoyed the characters—they all lean a bit off-center, but that’s what makes them fun company. The book as a whole definitely has a surreal atmosphere, which might bother some readers...but I'm not one of those. 😗

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel assembles a motley cast: a crippled pornographer; a fake clairvoyant who sees only one ghost, that of her dead husband; the seer’s brother-in-law who is also her puppet master; the dead explorer-husband who would rather have an intimate relationship with his wife from the other side; the cruel doctor of an insane asylum, who is on a mission to expose spirit mediums, and who like the pornography addict, spies on his tortured subjects through peepholes; and the ubiquitous “John Smith” aka pornography’s Customer #1, who will forsake family and fortune for his regular fix of peeking at the newly arrived mail-order pictures on his stereoscope.

Set in New York at the close of the nineteenth century, Siegel paints a gothic picture of the city and its denizens.

Aurbach, the crippled pornographer, is a successful businessman, but having lost his actress-mother in a tragic stage accident and losing his legs soon thereafter, he is insulated from humanity. He is confused when one of his models gives birth during a shoot, he has never seen a woman nurse a baby, he has never travelled over Brooklyn Bridge, and he is a virgin. His ambition is to leave a mark on the world by creating a legacy of groundbreaking photography. Varena, the failing medium, is torn between her husband’s ghost and her bully of a brother- in-law, Leopold, who is pressuring her to perform more séances for the money and also to marry him.

Aurbach and Varena, an impossible pair of lovers, are drawn to each other when the former attends a séance, believes he sees his mother’s ghost and collapses. The story moves at a steady clip with the bad guys (Leopold and the cruel doctor), the ghostly husband, and Aurbach, all pursuing the hapless and exhausted Varena, who like her paramour tends to lose the function of her limbs after too much paranormal activity. The bad guys win the first round, but Auebach feverishly wheels his chair into the rescue (aided by some heavy bribes paid to the authorities who already offer him protection for his pornography operation), and the vulnerable damsel is rescued, and voila, Aurbach even discovers that he can get it on with his new love!

I found some of the plotting a bit hard to swallow: the ghost’s well crafted notes dictated to Varena, and Leopold handing his golden goose Varena over to the doctor without monetary expectation, being a couple. The writing style is engaging and the prose fresh, although I wonder why Verena is referred to as a “confidence man” on more than one occasion. Is this to show the innate sexism of the times, or were “confidence women” not already on the scene by then?

The interesting part of this novel for me is that everyone wins in the end, even bad Leopold is rewarded with a circus bear to go play his parlour games with. “And they all lived happily ever after” could never be more true, except in the case of this very competent writer, when he finds out that I picked up this new hardcover copy for under $5 on the remaindered shelf of a large book retailer in Toronto recently. Perhaps the literary writer (or the hardcover) is also on the list of endangered species such stereographic pornographers and fake clairvoyants...

[Miriam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful and totally readable. The perfect combination of literary and page-turning.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Victorian pornographer + Spiritualist medium = pageturner

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a lot to like about this book. Set in turn-of-the-century New York City, it tackled spiritualism and pornography. I know, a strange pairing, but it worked. The end was telegraphed way too early, however, and that spoiled it for me somewhat.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Augustus Auerbach, the main character of All Will Be Revealed, is a disabled man living in New York City in the late 1800s who strikes it rich in the porn industry. He doesn't associate with people outside his mansion, and he cares little for the men who write to him with their sob stories of porn addiction. When the baby of his most popular model dies, she is crazy with grief and takes Auerbach with her to a seance so that she can make contact with her dead son. The psychic is Verena Swan, whose brother-in-law Leopold encourages her to fake the ability to connect with dead relations in order to swindle people out of boatloads of cash. When Auerbach arrives, Leopold decides to target him with the alleged spirit of his mother.

Siegel created an interesting plotline and did a good job connecting the various characters throughout the novel. The characters, a pornographer and a psychic, make a unique combination. He also has a good grasp of character development, and we can see a dramatic change in Auerbach from beginning to end.

[Sundry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love books about the late 19th and early 20th century, and this one is particularly well crafted. I assume that the only reason that I noticed the elegant structure of this book is because I'm working on plotting my novel and not because the bones were too obvious. Just lovely how everything comes together at the end.

Siegel explores the worlds of pornography, spiritualism and Arctic research in a fascinating and tasteful manner, without being judgmental about any of it. I am sure that central characters Augustus Auerbach and Verena Swann will stick with me for a long time.

I'm not sure how I found this book--maybe on a subject search at the LAPL, but I'm sure glad I did.

[Robyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Era / Setting: Late 1800s early 1900s era New York City

Plot: A psychic medium famous for channeling her dead husband becomes involved with a wheelchair bound pornographer (Larry Flynt in similar disability only – not character)

The story never seemed to reach its full potential to me. I kept waiting for the big plot twist or climax, but then eventually I came to realize that I had already read the most climactic part. Beautifully written with fairly well-developed characters - but somewhat disappointing in terms of how the plot was played out.

[Kirsta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can now say that one of the most beautiful passages I've read about motherhood was written by a man about a porn star... While this book is about a pornographer and a spirit medium, that's not central to the story. I would say that central to the story is the superb writing and the characters. Unfortunately, the ending was a bit abrupt and I would have liked to have heard more regarding the emotions and motivations of Verena that led to the conclusion. A good read; witty and engaging.

[Amy Schoon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Several times while reading this I said out loud, "I really don't get this book. I really want to stop reading it."

Not a good sign.

Poor character development. Lack of interest in a subject (pornography) that could have been quite interesting.

I was hoping for more from an Iowa Writers Workshop grad. I was disappointed.

[Faye · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this... had trouble concentrating on other tasks because I wanted to get back to reading it.

The plot is very clever and intricate, but never feels forced. The characters are intriguing and it seems to effortlessly transport you back in time. Very well written.

Thank you, Mr. Siegel!

[Miriam · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of a pornographer, his model, one of his clients, a medium and her manager, not to mention her dead husband.... And it has a happy ending for almost everybody, except maybe for the dead baby and the head of the sanitorium.

A fast read. I didn't not want to put it down. Sort of in the manner of Belle Canto and The Time Traveler's Wife, but with fewer characters.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was dripping with drama and complexity. I don't always gravitate towards either of these, but the story was so well done that I was wanting more after the last page. Super sexy and highly entertaining.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for two reasons: (1) the subject matter is similar to that of my novel-in-progress and (2) the author was one of my creative writing instructors at UNCW. I enjoyed the book, but the pace was slow at times.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creative, interesting plot.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting piece. It's always interesting to find some history tucked away inside of a novel, and in this case i got to learn about the foundations of porn in the US. Whats not to love?

[Deb Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Andrew Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting novel. As the story progresses, it becomes apparent that at some point 'all will be revealed' for each character.

[Troy Ketch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun read, even if a bit predictable.