The Magnetic Girl

by Jessica Handler

In rural North Georgia two decades after the Civil War, thirteen-year-old Lulu Hurst reaches high into her father's bookshelf and pulls out an obscure book, The Truth of Mesmeric Influence . Deemed gangly and undesirable, Lulu wants more than a lifetime of caring for her disabled baby brother, Leo, with whom she shares a profound and supernatural mental connection. I only wanted to be Lulu Hurst, the girl who captivated her brother until he could walk and talk and stand tall on his own. Then I would be the girl who could leave. Lulu begins to captivate her friends and family, controlling their thoughts and actions for brief moments at a time. After Lulu convinces a cousin she conducts electricity with her touch, her father sees a unique opportunity. He grooms his tall and indelicate daughter into an electrifying new The Magnetic Girl. Lulu travels the Eastern seaboard, captivating enthusiastic crowds by lifting grown men in parlor chairs and throwing them across the stage with her electrical charge. While adjusting to life on the vaudeville stage, Lulu harbors a secret belief that she can use her newfound gifts, as well as her growing notoriety, to heal her brother. As she delves into the mysterious book's pages, she discovers keys to her father's past and her own future-but how will she harness its secrets to heal her family? Gorgeously envisioned, The Magnetic Girl is set at a time when the emerging presence of electricity raised suspicions about the other-worldly gospel of Spiritualism, and when women's desire for political, cultural, and sexual presence electrified the country. Squarely in the realm of Emma Donoghue's The Wonder and Leslie Parry's Church of Marvels , The Magnetic Girl is a unique portrait of a forgotten period in history, seen through the story of one young woman's power over her family, her community, and ultimately, herself.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Audiobook, Science Fiction, Book Club, Southern

280 pages, Hardcover

First published April 9, 2019

About the author

Jessica Handler is the author of the novel The Magnetic Girl, winner of the 2020 Southern Book Prize and a nominee for the Townsend Prize for Fiction, a 2019 “Books All Georgians Should Read,” an Indie Next pick, Wall Street Journal Spring 2019 pick, Bitter Southerner Summer 2019 pick, and a Southern Independent Bookseller’s Association “Okra Pick.” Her memoir Invisible Sisters was also named one of the “Books All Georgians Should Read,” and her craft guide Braving the Fire: A Guide to Writing About Grief and Loss was praised by Vanity Fair magazine. Her writing has appeared on NPR, in Tin House, Drunken Boat, Full Grown People, Oldster, The Bitter Southerner, Electric Literature, Brevity, Creative Nonfiction, Newsweek, The Washington Post and elsewhere. Honors include the Ferrol Sams, Jr. Distinguished Writer in Residence at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia and the Kenyon Review Peter Taylor Fellowship. She is a visiting faculty member at West Virginia Wesleyan College’s low-residency MFA, and member of the faculty at Etowah Valley MFA at Reinhardt College. Her novel, The World To See, is forthcoming from Regal House Press. Jessica lives in Atlanta with her husband, novelist Mickey Dubrow.

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love history, which may be why so much historical fiction fails to work for me. I get caught up in some small detail that feels off, and get pulled away from the world of the novel. That didn't happen once in _The Magnetic Girl_; the time period feels so right that I was instantly immersed in 1880s Georgia, and never drifted away.

And that meant my attention could be devoted to the characters, which is the reason I read fiction. Lulu is a fully realized character, as are her family, friends, rivals, and "marks." Best of all, this story about very specific people doing very specific things offers universal insights; it turns out there have always been people desperate to believe things they must know cannot be true.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up. I liked the young, female protagonist but I wanted a little more depth. The reader is given a lot of interesting plot scenarios that grab your attention but I could have handled them a little more fleshed out. I would say this was a good read but not superb. Certainly not a waste of time.

Note to self: One of the books Charles Frazier is promoting through Hub city Writers Project. See Watershed by mark Barr in Oct 2019

[Susan White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marvelously steeped in history, but oh-so-relevant to the issues women face today, The Magnetic Girl is an electrifying work of fiction by the luminously talented Jessica Handler. I loved reading of Lulu Hurst's journey from unknown farm girl to stage wonder, and how she finds herself in the process--though not without sacrifice. Highly recommend!

[Stacinator · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't get into this book. The first third is clunky while it seems like it is trying to stay light. A young girl grappling with a heavy, sad life in which her options are limited and she feels responsible for her brother's woes. It feels like a job to read another chapter.
Anyone else having this issue?

[Vicki Lane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Jessica Handler's new book is enthralling -- dare I say mesmerizing? It's a novel based on the real Lulu Hurst, aka The Georgia Wonder, who had a brief (1884-1885) career touring as a vaudeville act. She was touted as having supernormal strength and magnetism due to powers she developed after a lightning storm.

That restless period of history was filled with charlatans of every sort as well as simple folk, eager to believe. (I explored this a bit in the historical subplot of Under the Skin.) Lulu, though, is no charlatan, but a believer in her own powers, which she allows to be exploited to earn money for her family (poor farmers) and especially for her damaged little brother.

Handler's beautiful prose follows Lulu through grubby opera houses, hotels, trains, and boarding houses as she learns the ways of show business and its people and begins to assess her own powers. It's an astute look at the interplay of belief and knowledge, of trickery and revelation, and of the enduring willingness of people to be fooled.

Handler treats Lulu with great sympathy as she becomes a star and, at the same time, grows in awareness of the falsity of her stardom. Lulu and her time are delineated with loving precision by a masterful writer.

[Bernard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here are my thoughts right after finishing the book, but before I met with the author and discussed the book:

This was a bit of a stretch for our sci-fi book club. I dived right in and wasn't mesmerized or captivated, and actually had to restart the book because I was trying to read too many books at once and lost track of what I'd read in this book. The second time through was a bit better--maybe I was more focused--but the story itself just seemed kind of wandering. I kept expecting a big life lesson reveal and never got it. I was waiting literally the whole book for Lulu to make good on her promise. Spoiler: she never did. What the heck?! Anyway I will meet the author today....

Here are my thoughts now that I discussed the book with the author:

I'm embarrassed to admit that my feeble literary mind missed so many things! The reason Lulu didn't make good on her promise to heal her brother was because she realized by the end, that she didn't need to. She *did* have a big life lesson toward the end, although I sort of missed it on account of what I thought was a clever complaint about her main drive throughout the book fizzling. I guess I really need a good discussion to really appreciate some books.

As for the story feeling a bit wandering, I didn't realize until about 80 pages before the end this story was based on the actual true life of a real person named Lulu Hurst. Seen in that light the book was more captivating at the end, and likely would have been from the beginning if I'd had that in my brain from page 1. Yes, she fictionalized the account, as she explained to us in person, because otherwise she would have had to write a dull book on female spiritualism in the 1880s!

Also, to be fair, this was the general fiction book club's selection, which our sci-fi/fantasy club thought was close enough to our genre that we also read it. My failure was that I kept thinking Lulu really *did* have the powers of magnetism, mesmerism, captivation, and that the story might double down on this, but really it was a story about a girl who knew how to captivate, nearly hypnotize, people, and at the same time knew how to entertain a willing audience who was desperate to believe something fantastical was going on in America's early days of electricity, which the commoner knew precious little about. (Even as she seemed throughout the book to truly believe she also had this power.) Why couldn't a 16 year old girl have somehow harnessed this power anyway? I guess then it would have become an X-Men novel. Polaris, daughter of Magneto!

I suggest readers of this book first make sure to understand that this book is based on true events of an actual person who lived in Georgia in the 1880s, whose dad really was a Confederate soldier. A girl who actually did tour the United States and earned over $250,000 ($4 million in today's dollars!) in showman's fees, who bought her family's way out of poverty and after 18 months of stage and showmanship, absquatulated with the fortune she amassed, married, settled down, had two kids, and died, all completely normally and leaving her Magnetic Girl name behind.

(And yes, I learned the awesome word absquatulated from this book. We talked about it at the author event. It is my new favorite word!)

So... although I can't say I *really* liked the novel itself, given some of its literary character flew right over my head--perhaps I was too much in a hurry to finish before the author visit--I felt the conversation we had made me more a fan of Lulu than even the book had me become. Now I want to pick up Lulu's autobiography!

Thanks to Jessica for a great discussion, a well-research book and a worthwhile afternoon of pondering the mystery of mesmerism....

[Lindsay Loson · Rating 3 out of 5]

"We have tides in us, rolling like the ocean. Magnetism is its name."

I want to first thank Hub City Press and the lovely ladies there for gifting me this book! I was entranced by Lulu's tale and really loved the layout and cover art of this book. I only had a few minor issues that had to do with proofreading errors (words missing, dates wrong) which is what gives this a 3.5 for me, but otherwise I did enjoy this book. It took a while for me to get going in it, but once I did I didn't want to stop. I feel like this is the same way that Lulu feels, learning about her magnetism and mesmerism. I liked that the author's note explained a little more about what this book is about, and that a lot of these people and events are historical and factual. I really enjoy historical fiction, and I actually wish that more of that was part of the description of the book. I found it interesting how Lulu's father's story comes into play throughout her own, and I felt that it added some depth and dimension that Lulu's story couldn't have yet because she is a young woman when this takes place.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. While the story itself was captivating, I found the actual storytelling from Lulu’ perspective to be disorienting. Perhaps that was intentional; perhaps I’m just not a fan of Handler’s style. The few forays into Will’s past and present were much more direct and I followed his narrative far better than Lulu’s meandering structure. I recognize that I’m in the minority on this one.

[Robert Sheard · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting historical narrative, but some structural issues kept me from enjoying it entirely.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed that. The details and description of the mesmerism were fascinating.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

“People want miracles. They want the promise that someone is enlightened or gifted enough to reach past the limits of the every day.”

Based on the real life of Lulu Hurst, the Georgia Wonder, “The Magnetic Girl” follows the fictional Lulu Hurst. The 1880’s were a time of religious revival, spiritualist, mesmerists, magnetist and spiritual grifters. The bloody Civil War’s path of human destruction and loss reached beyond the surrender. People wanted comfort; a reason to explain and cure pain and suffering. Pure and simple people wanted something to believe in that was greater than themselves.

“You’ve already seen for yourself how ready folks are for humbug if they don’t recognize what’s happening to them.”

In rural Georgia in the 1880’s, Lulu begins to “captivate” those around her by controlling their thoughts and actions for brief moments. After Lulu convinces her cousin that she conducts electricity with her touch, her father sees a chance for opportunity. The tour of Opera Houses begins. Deep in her core, Lulu believes in her power.

I was amazed by Jessica Handler’s creativity and research to create a complex and fascinating book. I searched out every interview of Handler and review of the book that I could find. This is a filling read, a book that commands that you read each word. This book was published through Charles Frazier’s The Cold Mountain Fund. I am glad to see important work that may not capture wide attention being published and supported.

“Your average person, if he figures out he’s been humbugged, won’t make a peep about it because he doesn’t want to admit he’s guilty of falling for the humbug.”

Humbug, gas lighting and grifting are alive and well in modern time. This time the leaders are not in Opera Houses but in the news, spreading fake news, in Russian bot farms or hawking a version of the Law of Attraction on Instagram.

Maybe Lulu’s father was right. People just want to be humbugged.

[Rhiannon Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

**This review was featured in the May issue of Alpharetta Lifestyle magazine**
Read it here: https://issuu.com/lifestylepubs/docs/...

Acclaimed Atlanta Author Makes Fiction Debut
Jessica Handler’s The Magnetic Girl transports readers to an electrifying era of American history

Thirteen-year-old Lulu Hurst shares a special connection with her disabled younger brother Leo, but she has big dreams of a future far away from her rural north Georgia home—a future where she will not become her brother’s sole caregiver. Yearning to see the world and thankful for her ability to change her family’s dire financial situation, Lulu agrees to follow her father’s plan to capitalize on America’s newfound fascination with Spiritualism, Mesmerism, Magnetism, and electricity. Claiming Lulu can pass electricity through canes and throw men out of chairs with an “electrical charge” which she came to possess from a lightning storm over their house, Lulu and her parents take “The Magnetic Girl” on the road. While traveling by train to perform to enthusiastic crowds from the vaudeville stages along the Eastern seaboard, Lulu absorbs every new experience while reading an obscure book from her father’s study, The Truth of Mesmeric Influence. Convinced she can move beyond her current “marks” and parlor tricks to apply the secrets from the book to heal people, Lulu wants to change the act, but will her father agree?

Imagine the split second before the dice finish rolling, before a tipped back chair rights itself, or before the sleight of hand is slyly applied. You may ask yourself “what is the most likely possibility?" but you must also acknowledge the disconnect between your mind’s logic and your heart’s will to believe. The Magnetic Girl magically exists in that single breath when fates are decided. Full of family secrets, sacrifices, fame, and greed The Magnetic Girl will transport you to a late 1880s America where curiosity, dreams, and delusions challenged people’s beliefs at every turn. Author Jessica Handler’s spectacular talent for portraying the unique complexities of girls and women shines through in her telling of the journey of Lulu Hurst “The Georgia Wonder.” From awkward and outcast farm girl to captivating vaudeville star, Lulu discovers her power over her patrons, parents, and most importantly within herself.

Jessica Handler is the author of Braving the Fire: A Guide to Writing About Grief and Invisible Sisters: A Memoir. The Magnetic Girl, Handler’s debut fiction novel, has already received accolades from multiple fellow authors and publications, a starred Kirkus review, and is the first selection of Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain Fund Book Series.

[Deanna Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

so far 2020 I've been reading a couple of historical fiction books which is outside of my comfort zone. I was not disappointed and completely fascinated with Magnetic Girl.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fascinating premise. A young woman growing up in rural poverty believes herself to be responsible for her younger brother's disability. As she discovers that she has psychic powers, she dreams of helping heal her brother and of escaping her small rural town. Her father, not believing that his daughter's "powers" are much more than sleight of hand, concocts the scheme of a mesmerism act for his daughter, billed as "Magnetic Girl." So much interesting material to work with, but the narrative somehow falls flat. I didn't believe in or care about the characters and abandaoned the book after a good faith effort to plod through it. The narrator seems to want to play games with the reader, hiding crucial information known to the main character. The characters just didn't engage me enough to make it worth the effort of finding the answers.

[Mary Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled with this book and almost gave it up more than once but I'd find myself drawn back to it. The unusual premise kept me going enough to finish it. Not one I can rave about but one I'm sure to remember.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars - the writing didn’t really catch me.

[SaltsmanSister · Rating 3 out of 5]

NOTES TO SELF / NOT A REVIEW:
family goes on road for her to perform / Little Leo left behind / gave to SW person

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm in the absquatulation camp. I think that any novel that drops in a word like that near the end deserves an extra gold star. This was a random pick based on cover and title. I enjoyed it from the get-go (made for interesting fictionalized history follow-up to MacBride's "The Lord God Bird"). I found the tension between her father's past and his exploitation of her to her own belief in ability to captivate very effective. I had the sense of her coming of age. I was intrigued to read in the author's notes that Hurst's own memoir had been a resource and that it had been dedicated to her "beloved" parents. I believe Handler's account more than I do a primary source. I want to believe in the ending as she parts the curtain to walk onto the stage. But having been in Lulu's head so long I'm not sure I believe in what she was planning to do. Then again if she's going to absquatulate herself, good on her!

[Amy Bonesteel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I made the mistake of starting this book in the midst of several others; it deserves a straight-through read. It’s about a period in the South with a lot of economic and social upheaval taking place (post-Civil War) and one girl’s foray into stage “performing” using science-based tricks and intuition. LuLu Hurst has something to prove and someone to “fix” which is the central quest of the character (she is based on a real person). There’s a rollicking cast of eccentrics popping up - think a “Brother Where Art Thou” vibe - some deception and exploitation as well with plenty of well-researched historical details throughout. I enjoyed Handler’s narrative style and several times was reminded of one of my favorite novels “Ahab’s Wife” by the great Sena Jeter Naslund. Highly recommended for readers of quirky history and real Southern stories.

[Ed Maher · Rating 2 out of 5]

The category of historical fiction has become a catch all genre for subject matter of little historical significance. The Magnetic Girl is such an aberration. In the author’s afterward, she admits the existence of such a person, but all other characters in the story are made up. The Magnetic Girl toured the country after the Civil War professing to move people and objects through electromagnetic powers. She’s basically a fraud perpetuated by her criminal father. The story is told in first person narrative by Lulu the title character. The use of this perspective requires depth, introspection and confessional overtone to be effective. Lulu has none of these qualities. Structurally, the book was divided into fall, winter and spring. Summer never came. Everything about this book came up short. There was no historical illumination and there was little literary merit. As for the theme that women are pawns, I can endorse that. But unfortunately, writing a novel to showcase or demonstrate such a supposition is not an easy task. Writing a good one is even harder.

[Jake Owens · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's such an extremely "okay" book. A story about spiritualism in the postbellum South is a gimmie for any author trying to get me invested, and I'm even now surprised at how little I care about it having read it. I feel like it should have been more, done more, and said more than what it did. The story is fine. The prose is good. It flirted an uncomfortable amount with a YA tone, but it wasn't unbearable. It's fine. It's an amusing book with an alright story. But with all of the knock-out amazing books in the world, I'd have a hard time pushing anyone to read this one instead.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclaimer. I met Jessica a few years back at Ladies Rock Camp in Atlanta. That said, I was thrilled when she announced she was writing a novel. “The Magnetic Girl” is fascinating. It’s a brilliant, inventive novel based on the life a young girl believed to have magical, “mesmeric” powers. I was drawn to the younger brother’s character, Leo, and found the whole book a delight. If you enjoy mystical books about the American South, I highly recommend you lift “The Magnetic Girl” off the shelves today.

[Chris Roberts · Rating 1 out of 5]

There is an obligatory line between love and hate
Only because we need it to be there
Not because it is needed.

#poem

Chris Roberts, Patron Saint of the Pelican People

[Tim Gordon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book did quite a few things right, which makes it more frustrating for the things it did wrong.

It is historical fiction, which does limit a little bit what you can do that being said, a huge part of the plot seems to revolve around the brother. This is touched on a lot. And there are some really good parts to it ("I'm not broken" is a fantastic way to think of the brother). That's why I was so disappointed that it faded towards the end. I understand that the main point of the book is this girl's stage performance, but I feel like it would have been so much stronger if the brother became more relevant later (trying to word this without spoilers).

The father is in a similar, though slightly less interesting, position. We see that he struggles with demons... then nothing is really made of it.

It all could have been great. Instead, it's good but missing just a bit to get it to the next level.

[Shannon Navin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently received an electronic Advanced Reader’s Copy (ARC) of The Magnetic Girl by Jessica Handler and was excited to have the chance to read it. The cover is fantastic (as you can see above) and I truly believe that a great cover is the first step toward drawing in the reader. The Magnetic Girl is 280 pages and I found it to be a quick read. I really enjoyed the book and have to say it was a sleeper for me…by which I mean that, I’ve found myself thinking about it a great deal more than I thought I would now that I’ve finished it.

The Magnetic Girl is a fictionalized account of the life of Lulu Hurst – a performer in the late 1800s who entertained crowds by performing ‘tests’ on stage that would demonstrate movement in her volunteers via her ‘magnetic touch.’ While Handler did research Hurst through her 1897 autobiography and other sources, key elements of the book are made up. I had no problem with that: the details of Hurst’s life were interesting but did not, to me, seem to be the point of the book. Rather, The Magnetic Girl is, in my opinion, an exploration of beliefs, motives and what we will do to ‘belong.’

Handler’s book is written in a couple of different time periods. It begins with some history from before Lulu was born and then focuses almost exclusively on Lulu’s life. The only difficulty I had with this novel was that, even after it settled on the timeframe of Lulu’s life, it switched back and forth from first person (Lulu’s perspective) to third person intermittently. While I’m not a person with a bias for a certain perspective (I’ve heard people say, ‘I hate books written in first person’) I do feel like there needs to be a discernible reason for switching it up randomly from chapter to chapter. I found it a little jarring to go back and forth without explanation. Nevertheless, I found Handler’s characters well-drawn and sympathetic and her plot unfolded in a way that drew me along. I love good characters, a good story and a book that leaves me thinking.

With regard to The Magnetic Girl’s story, Lulu Hurst is depicted as a rather naive country girl from Georgia who is impacted early in her childhood by an event that takes place with her younger brother. The trauma she experiences from that event sets the stage for much of what happens after. She discovers, accidentally, a book about ‘mesmeric influence’ hidden in her father’s study and begins to believe that she has certain special powers that allow her to captivate others and begins to quietly study the art of mesmerism in secret.

When her father discovers her secret practice, he confides in her that the book she discovered was written by her maternal grandmother and convinces her that she has inherited that grandmother’s special powers. He teaches a backward, shy Lulu to perform her tricks for an audience and takes her and her mother on the road so that she perform and make money for the family.

Lulu learns a great deal on the road – not least of all about herself and her family. In being exposed to various people in cities big and small, she begins to gain confidence and seek agency. The developments that occur as she grows into herself will leave you thinking about her choices and those of the people around her long after her journey is over within the pages of The Magnetic Girl.

I learned a great deal about society in the late 1800s through this book and got to read about developments in our country at that time (technological, political and social.) I found it very rewarding to gain that learning through the lens of a heartwarming yet heartbreaking story of a young woman’s coming of age. I recommend The Magnetic Girl to anyone who wants to explore a ‘real-life’ account of growing up and explore their thoughts about family, self and the choices we make for each.

[Sumnerd Reads · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book had an amazing premise that did not deliver. Of my whole library haul this was the book I was most excited to read. I have a random obsession with Spiritualism and this time period so I was here for it.
Boring. What was the point of this book?
What was the point of the second story line with the male characters? It just like ends. I guess he ripped off her act? And she’s like kinda bummed.
The big reveal, I guess, is that Mrs. Wolf is her grandma.
This book did not make me feel things. I did not care for the writing style.

[Margo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 star

[Annarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing historical fiction, well written and enthralling.
It's the type of book you cannot put down and will keep you hooked till the last page.
I loved everything in this book and look forward to reading other books by this author.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Hub City Press and Edelweiss for this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book, all opinions are mine

[Suzi McGal · Rating 3 out of 5]

A somewhat intriguing tale with very good descriptive settings of the time period but too much repetitive introspection by the main character, Lulu.

[Sabrina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pg 142 and I just don’t care...