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The In-Betweens: The Spiritualists, Mediums, and Legends of Camp Etna
They believed they would live forever. So begins Mira Ptacin’s haunting account of the women of Camp Etna—an otherworldly community in the woods of Maine that has, since 1876, played host to generations of Spiritualists and mediums dedicated to preserving the links between the mortal realm and the afterlife. Beginning her narrative in 1848 with two sisters who claimed they could speak to the dead, Ptacin reveals how Spiritualism first blossomed into a national practice during the Civil War, yet continues—even thrives—to this very day. Immersing herself in this community and its practices—from ghost hunting to releasing trapped spirits to water witching— Ptacin sheds new light on our ongoing struggle with faith, uncertainty, and mortality. Blending memoir, ethnography, and investigative reportage, The In-Betweens offers a vital portrait of Camp Etna and its enduring hold on a modern culture that remains as starved for a deeper sense of connection and otherworldliness as ever.
260 pages, Hardcover
First published October 29, 2019
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Mira Ptacin
6 books137 followersPEOPLE. I just had a baby so I am barely on this site but i DO read. i just rarely update my goodreads list . . .
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 128 reviews
August 20, 2019
All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.
Rating: 4.25/5
First, I must extend a huge thank-you to Mira Ptacin and Liveright for sending me an advanced reading copy of this book. It will be published October 29, 2019 (and you should preorder it — visual evidence on Instagram shows that the cover is going to GLOW IN THE DARK, Y’ALL).
The In-Betweens is a fascinating, journalistic look into a world that quietly exists right under all of our noses (or, at least, that’s true for me). To write the book, Ptacin spent a summer visiting Camp Etna, a place in the heart of Maine that’s pivotal to the history of Spiritualism — a fully legitimate religion that believes, primarily, that our spirits exist after death and that we can continue to communicate with them. A few decades ago, Camp Etna swelled with unbelievable numbers of visitors every summer. Today, we’re in the ebb of the religion’s ebb and flow, and not many people practice or even know about Spiritualism.
Through Ptacin’s eyes, we get to meet many of the people who run and / or live at Camp Etna: mediums, psychics, those who belong to a Spiritualist church, those who do not. She does an amazing job of giving us the information that makes them human, individual, interesting, knowable. There is an incredibly old woman who hates seemingly everyone and everything, and yet she’s incredibly endearing (and hilariously sweary-mouthed). There is a small, energetic woman who has taken it upon herself to chronicle the camp’s history through artifact recovery. There’s a woman and her husband who specialize in helping spirits pass on after death, and they take Ptacin under their wing, warmly walking her through their world without judgment or question. And it goes on.
We also get interludes into the surprisingly rich American history of Spiritualism, from the suffragists to Harry Houdini to the present day. This is, I think, the most surprising part — there was a time when Spiritualism raged in the United States, with politics and court cases and celebrity. A time, not that long ago, when Spiritualism wasn’t unknown.
Throughout the book, Ptacin narrates though a set of clear, unbiased eyes, even as she gives us sight lines into her own feelings and experiences. She doesn’t approach it as a believer or as a skeptic; she is simply a kind and interested asker of questions, trier of new things, a person in the world. A willing participant with an open mind and an eye for detail.
I myself am probably less open-minded than I would like to think I am. So on the one hand, my brain is telling me that mediumship cannot possibly be real. But also … why not? Truly, if all things are energy, and energy cannot be destroyed (#science), then why must it be impossible to communicate after death? Are we so vain to believe that we have discovered all the ~science~ there is to discover about ourselves and about how the universe works and about death itself?
Now, knowing that there’s such a rich history and close-knit community centered on this possibility, I find myself slightly more open to the possibilities. I think I’m going to be pondering this one a lot in the weeks to come. (And isn’t that why we read books?)
Rating: 4.25/5
First, I must extend a huge thank-you to Mira Ptacin and Liveright for sending me an advanced reading copy of this book. It will be published October 29, 2019 (and you should preorder it — visual evidence on Instagram shows that the cover is going to GLOW IN THE DARK, Y’ALL).
The In-Betweens is a fascinating, journalistic look into a world that quietly exists right under all of our noses (or, at least, that’s true for me). To write the book, Ptacin spent a summer visiting Camp Etna, a place in the heart of Maine that’s pivotal to the history of Spiritualism — a fully legitimate religion that believes, primarily, that our spirits exist after death and that we can continue to communicate with them. A few decades ago, Camp Etna swelled with unbelievable numbers of visitors every summer. Today, we’re in the ebb of the religion’s ebb and flow, and not many people practice or even know about Spiritualism.
Through Ptacin’s eyes, we get to meet many of the people who run and / or live at Camp Etna: mediums, psychics, those who belong to a Spiritualist church, those who do not. She does an amazing job of giving us the information that makes them human, individual, interesting, knowable. There is an incredibly old woman who hates seemingly everyone and everything, and yet she’s incredibly endearing (and hilariously sweary-mouthed). There is a small, energetic woman who has taken it upon herself to chronicle the camp’s history through artifact recovery. There’s a woman and her husband who specialize in helping spirits pass on after death, and they take Ptacin under their wing, warmly walking her through their world without judgment or question. And it goes on.
We also get interludes into the surprisingly rich American history of Spiritualism, from the suffragists to Harry Houdini to the present day. This is, I think, the most surprising part — there was a time when Spiritualism raged in the United States, with politics and court cases and celebrity. A time, not that long ago, when Spiritualism wasn’t unknown.
Throughout the book, Ptacin narrates though a set of clear, unbiased eyes, even as she gives us sight lines into her own feelings and experiences. She doesn’t approach it as a believer or as a skeptic; she is simply a kind and interested asker of questions, trier of new things, a person in the world. A willing participant with an open mind and an eye for detail.
I myself am probably less open-minded than I would like to think I am. So on the one hand, my brain is telling me that mediumship cannot possibly be real. But also … why not? Truly, if all things are energy, and energy cannot be destroyed (#science), then why must it be impossible to communicate after death? Are we so vain to believe that we have discovered all the ~science~ there is to discover about ourselves and about how the universe works and about death itself?
Now, knowing that there’s such a rich history and close-knit community centered on this possibility, I find myself slightly more open to the possibilities. I think I’m going to be pondering this one a lot in the weeks to come. (And isn’t that why we read books?)
September 2, 2019
I was riveted from the first page of this book until the very last word--by the fascinating Spiritualists of Camp Etna, by Mira Ptacin's intimate and compelling prose, by the seamless way she weaves her own stories into this exploration into the history and community of Camp Etna. Her capacity for empathy for all of the characters she captures on the page is astonishing and she brings into the light a religion often shrouded in fear and disbelief. This book seeks to open eyes and minds and hearts, and succeeds beyond measure.
August 20, 2019
I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!!
The subject matter is utterly fascinating, but what I find especially strong about this novel is the way it blends the author’s experiences with those of the women at Camp Etna. Ptacin’s experiences with these women gave me as a reader a way into their lives along with her. I absolutely love the way it reads both as a memoir and as a piece of literary journalism.
Not only that, but the legends of Camp Etna themselves are soooo interesting. I found the characters to be full, multidimensional and relatable. Ditto with the setting. I felt like I was pulled along into Ptacin’s journey and also immersed in a piece of American history that I’m so glad found its way into a book. And it’s feminist AF!
The subject matter is utterly fascinating, but what I find especially strong about this novel is the way it blends the author’s experiences with those of the women at Camp Etna. Ptacin’s experiences with these women gave me as a reader a way into their lives along with her. I absolutely love the way it reads both as a memoir and as a piece of literary journalism.
Not only that, but the legends of Camp Etna themselves are soooo interesting. I found the characters to be full, multidimensional and relatable. Ditto with the setting. I felt like I was pulled along into Ptacin’s journey and also immersed in a piece of American history that I’m so glad found its way into a book. And it’s feminist AF!
September 4, 2020
Mira Ptacin describes the Spiritualist Movement through her research and visits to Camp Etna in Maine. She covers the foundations of the beliefs, the history of how Spiritualism developed in the US, how it attained legal standing as a religion and how it built organizations to support it. She shows how Spiritualists differ from mediums, clairvoyants and psychics and how Spiritualism had begun with a feminist ethos and today is dominated by women.
For me, the highlights of the book were the interviews with the people who practice these arts and descriptions of the evolution of Camp Etna.
There are interesting stories that pertain to Spiritualism such as the story of Houdini’s interest in it (and his attempts to destroy it) and descriptions of events that are loosely related such as a dowsing (searching for water) class and a contemporary Native American Pow Wow.
There is a lot of filler in this book. The noun-verb or adjective agreement can be jarring: p. 204 “With my one and three year old fighting for space….”; p. 224 “…my family was still members of the Catholic Church.”
There are B & W photos, but not always what I’d have liked to have seen such as those of the interviewees and the rods used in “water witching”. There is no index.
If you are interested in this topic, this is a place to start.
For me, the highlights of the book were the interviews with the people who practice these arts and descriptions of the evolution of Camp Etna.
There are interesting stories that pertain to Spiritualism such as the story of Houdini’s interest in it (and his attempts to destroy it) and descriptions of events that are loosely related such as a dowsing (searching for water) class and a contemporary Native American Pow Wow.
There is a lot of filler in this book. The noun-verb or adjective agreement can be jarring: p. 204 “With my one and three year old fighting for space….”; p. 224 “…my family was still members of the Catholic Church.”
There are B & W photos, but not always what I’d have liked to have seen such as those of the interviewees and the rods used in “water witching”. There is no index.
If you are interested in this topic, this is a place to start.
July 18, 2024
Absolutely wonderful. Will share more detailed thoughts later...
December 13, 2019
I found it interesting to read a non fiction book after reading a bunch of fiction books. This author took a look at Camp Etna, a spiritual community that started in the early 1900s in Maine. I enjoyed all the historical data about the churches, the town, and the people involved in this spirituality movement. It was interesting to note how presidential wives, politicians and others in the USA capital were into psychics and mediums. Houdini became a historical figure during the spiritual movement too. In fact it was interesting to note he was a proselytizer for the new Mother’s Day holiday that was established in 1914. This book was written in the form of interviews that took place over many different visits at camp Etna. At times there was too much information about each person that was interviewed. What I also enjoyed were the questions the author left us with.
#1 what if power really was gained by loosening up our beliefs?
#2 what if wisdom was attained not by knowing but by being able to sit with the unknown? I found each chapter interesting in its historical data and I learned something from each chapter. I even learned what type of medium I was and how my own set of gifts and abilities are different than others. This book left me with the understanding that:
“Some of us seek out cultures that are like-minded to find what is missing. This can be a lifelong search. But that’s what we are all searching for; our own tribe”
#1 what if power really was gained by loosening up our beliefs?
#2 what if wisdom was attained not by knowing but by being able to sit with the unknown? I found each chapter interesting in its historical data and I learned something from each chapter. I even learned what type of medium I was and how my own set of gifts and abilities are different than others. This book left me with the understanding that:
“Some of us seek out cultures that are like-minded to find what is missing. This can be a lifelong search. But that’s what we are all searching for; our own tribe”
June 5, 2020
I won a copy of this book.
This book was really cool! I didn't know there is a whole camp in Maine for Spiritualists. Mira Ptacin does an awesome job of making me feel like I'm there with her - touring the camp and talking to the people who call it home. The history is interesting and kept me reading till the end.
Side note: Growing up, my mom would read tarot cards and rune stones for my friends and I. It was always fun for us, as we all attended a Christian school. Whilst at Girl Scout camp one time, some girls from another school had a Ouija board and a bunch of my friends were scared of it. That was about my experience with Spiritualism.
This book was really cool! I didn't know there is a whole camp in Maine for Spiritualists. Mira Ptacin does an awesome job of making me feel like I'm there with her - touring the camp and talking to the people who call it home. The history is interesting and kept me reading till the end.
Side note: Growing up, my mom would read tarot cards and rune stones for my friends and I. It was always fun for us, as we all attended a Christian school. Whilst at Girl Scout camp one time, some girls from another school had a Ouija board and a bunch of my friends were scared of it. That was about my experience with Spiritualism.
July 6, 2021
I've always been drawn to Maine and metaphysical topics so when I read the description for this book I was all in. Having gone to a few astrology retreats, I can somewhat relate to Camp Etna. The people sound similar to the folks I've met in the astrology retreats and Camp Etna sounds like an amazing experience. I really enjoyed this book and it has only increased my desire to visit Maine one day.
July 18, 2020
The good of this book is that it positions Spiritualism as a largely woman-led religion that has persisted quietly for more than one hundred years. It gives a history of the movement and ties it loosely to historical context.
There’s an argument to made that having a journalist within the story they are reporting demonstrates their subjectivity more clearly. But truthfully, I feel it muddled this book a bit for me as a reader. Was it a book about a woman-led movement that has got little credit and attention in the past 50-ish years because of that? Was it a book about squabbles within the current movement between new and old members? Was it a book about the author’s interactions with members at Camp Etna? It was all of these things, but as a result it didn’t feel entirely cohesive. I wish the book had been a collection of essays, connected through the subject of Camp Etna, rather than trying to exist as one cohesive story.
Overall, it was interesting and I particularly liked the chapter on Houdini, as I'd never read anything that positioned him as a bit of a mysogynist before, and this being part of his motivation for going after mediums made sense to me.
There’s an argument to made that having a journalist within the story they are reporting demonstrates their subjectivity more clearly. But truthfully, I feel it muddled this book a bit for me as a reader. Was it a book about a woman-led movement that has got little credit and attention in the past 50-ish years because of that? Was it a book about squabbles within the current movement between new and old members? Was it a book about the author’s interactions with members at Camp Etna? It was all of these things, but as a result it didn’t feel entirely cohesive. I wish the book had been a collection of essays, connected through the subject of Camp Etna, rather than trying to exist as one cohesive story.
Overall, it was interesting and I particularly liked the chapter on Houdini, as I'd never read anything that positioned him as a bit of a mysogynist before, and this being part of his motivation for going after mediums made sense to me.
December 18, 2022
Rounded up to 3.5
September 13, 2019
I was fortunate to receive an Advance Reading Copy of this volume through goodreads.com. The topics discussed were totally new to me and proved quite fascinating. The author, Mira Ptacin, did an excellent job providing an historic overview of Spiritualism in general as well as detailing her research experiences at Camp Etna in Maine. XOXOXOs to Mira for presenting information about a little known spiritualist enclave that still exists:)
September 24, 2021
Borrowed this because Camp Etna is nearby and I had only heard a few things about it and thought it might be an interesting local read. It wasn't.
This book is:
1: Boring. Part of this is my fault. I hate memoirs, but I especially hate memoirs snuck into books that are supposed to be about some other non-fiction topic but the author either A: doesn't have enough to write about and needs filler or B: thinks their life/perspective is very interesting and that I really wanna read about it rather than about the actual topic of the book. I probably should have put this book down when, in the first chapter, the author describes leaving her Portland adjacent island home on a ferry to drive up to Etna. So she wants us to know she lives on peaks without saying she lives on peaks. cool.
The book flips between kind of boring, poorly formatted telling of the history of spirituality and the author's personal experiences at etna. Neither of these was interesting and the switching back and forth made it harder to follow. This is a common way of writing this kind of NF, but it was not executed well in this case at all.
2: Poorly written: The author interacts with the current spritualists at etna and has a very colorful and honestly, gross way of describing the people she met. There were a lot of overly floral details about people's appearances that were just so tedious to read, felt very romance novel (which is totally fine in a romance novel) and added absolutely nothing to the story. Also some racist undertones here. Some of that isn't the author's fault, as it seems spiritualism just kinda stole a bunch of stories/religious practices/mythologies/beliefs from other religions, most specifically Native American/First Nations spiritual beliefs. Since the author decided to tell me a bunch of her opinions about the people she met there, I wouldn't have minded if she had had some reaction to the weird racists shit people said, but whenever that might have come up it was back to neutral observer.
3: Just wasn't the story/book I expected. I read the title and the description, and having read many non-fiction books, thought I knew what this was going to be. It just didn't meet my expectations. That's not to say that a book that doesn't follow the formula of its genre is bad, far from it, but a reader has some going into a new book that it is gonna follow through with its proposal, and when it doesn't that's a huge let down. This book was very superficial, both historically and informationally. I did learn some things about spiritualism, but that's mostly because I knew zero things about it to start. I def learned the PRECISE hair color and texture of all the people the author met at etna, though.
4: Is full of cringe. Having a whole spiritualism camp in Maine, that basically hosts a bunch of weird white people to come up and get a white-washed version of Indigenous spiritualism mixed with all the other weird ghost communication shit they've have smashed into this belief system with no criticism of it from the author made me very uncomfy. People can do what they want, but don't tell me how much of a crush you had on one of the spiritualism ladies while then not giving me your opinion about how whack all this shit is.
TLDR: Boring, fake feeling garbage. Extremely hard to get through.
This book is:
1: Boring. Part of this is my fault. I hate memoirs, but I especially hate memoirs snuck into books that are supposed to be about some other non-fiction topic but the author either A: doesn't have enough to write about and needs filler or B: thinks their life/perspective is very interesting and that I really wanna read about it rather than about the actual topic of the book. I probably should have put this book down when, in the first chapter, the author describes leaving her Portland adjacent island home on a ferry to drive up to Etna. So she wants us to know she lives on peaks without saying she lives on peaks. cool.
The book flips between kind of boring, poorly formatted telling of the history of spirituality and the author's personal experiences at etna. Neither of these was interesting and the switching back and forth made it harder to follow. This is a common way of writing this kind of NF, but it was not executed well in this case at all.
2: Poorly written: The author interacts with the current spritualists at etna and has a very colorful and honestly, gross way of describing the people she met. There were a lot of overly floral details about people's appearances that were just so tedious to read, felt very romance novel (which is totally fine in a romance novel) and added absolutely nothing to the story. Also some racist undertones here. Some of that isn't the author's fault, as it seems spiritualism just kinda stole a bunch of stories/religious practices/mythologies/beliefs from other religions, most specifically Native American/First Nations spiritual beliefs. Since the author decided to tell me a bunch of her opinions about the people she met there, I wouldn't have minded if she had had some reaction to the weird racists shit people said, but whenever that might have come up it was back to neutral observer.
3: Just wasn't the story/book I expected. I read the title and the description, and having read many non-fiction books, thought I knew what this was going to be. It just didn't meet my expectations. That's not to say that a book that doesn't follow the formula of its genre is bad, far from it, but a reader has some going into a new book that it is gonna follow through with its proposal, and when it doesn't that's a huge let down. This book was very superficial, both historically and informationally. I did learn some things about spiritualism, but that's mostly because I knew zero things about it to start. I def learned the PRECISE hair color and texture of all the people the author met at etna, though.
4: Is full of cringe. Having a whole spiritualism camp in Maine, that basically hosts a bunch of weird white people to come up and get a white-washed version of Indigenous spiritualism mixed with all the other weird ghost communication shit they've have smashed into this belief system with no criticism of it from the author made me very uncomfy. People can do what they want, but don't tell me how much of a crush you had on one of the spiritualism ladies while then not giving me your opinion about how whack all this shit is.
TLDR: Boring, fake feeling garbage. Extremely hard to get through.
July 14, 2021
I really wanted to love this book, especially based upon all the glowing reviews, as well as the topic matter, which is of interest to me. But I struggled just to get through the first three chapters. The author's writing style is somewhat incongruous at best. She is attempting to write a non-fiction novel about a fairly serious and (hopefully) scientific subject, yet she throws in so many uneccessary, distracting metaphors and similes, and gratuitous verbiage, that it reads like a second rate romantic fiction novel. In between talk of clairvoyance, seances and table tapping, you get this: "Janice had soft, feathered hair that smelled like it had just been shampooed", "a dab of makeup here and there with just a bit of shimmer to it, a spritz of perfume", "she flicked her fingers like dropping rain", "a low breeze brushed my cheek then swept Arlene's short silver hair over her left eyebrow", and this doozey, "Her hair was the color of sterling, and streaked with natural blond and caramel that cascaded down her back, barely reaching her bum." And this entire waste of a paragraph: "Steve, a man of few words, sneezed. We blessed him as he brushed the thighs of his denim jeans, stood up from his chair, and went into the kitchen. Angel yipped." Really??? There are countless more, but there's no point in going on. Among other transgressions, the author is obsessed with hair color. You get the picture.
This style of writing is hackneyed and cliche. Shame on the editor for not being more liberal with the red pen! And I personally feel cheated, because while there is definitely some compelling storytelling in here about the history and events surrounding Camp Etna and the onset of spiritualism, it wasn't enough to overcome the book's shortfalls. I was so put off that I put it down.
This style of writing is hackneyed and cliche. Shame on the editor for not being more liberal with the red pen! And I personally feel cheated, because while there is definitely some compelling storytelling in here about the history and events surrounding Camp Etna and the onset of spiritualism, it wasn't enough to overcome the book's shortfalls. I was so put off that I put it down.
August 3, 2019
Such promise, but poorly executed. I didn't mind the blend of the author's experience with the people in Camp Etna and this history of Spiritualism because it did bring to life what the people who attend or work at the Camp believe and practice. But more was needed to flesh out those beliefs and practices, perhaps tying it more fully to the history. For example, when she's having her house cleansed, adding the history of cleansing and more about the herbs and current practices would have been helpful.
And then there's the problems with the timeline. It could have just been an editing issue and will be corrected but there's a whole paragraph that just threw me and I couldn't get over it. We're talking about 1926 and placing the Spiritualist movement in context. But then there's a claim that Disney World opened then. Ummm.... Disney LAND opened in 1955, while Disney WORLD opened in 1971. Mickey Mouse, however, was "born" in 1928. Perhaps that's what was meant? Later the author makes the claim that color television came in that year (late 40s).
Here's my problem: if I can spot easily corrected mistakes, what mistakes am I missing elsewhere?
ARC provided by publisher.
And then there's the problems with the timeline. It could have just been an editing issue and will be corrected but there's a whole paragraph that just threw me and I couldn't get over it. We're talking about 1926 and placing the Spiritualist movement in context. But then there's a claim that Disney World opened then. Ummm.... Disney LAND opened in 1955, while Disney WORLD opened in 1971. Mickey Mouse, however, was "born" in 1928. Perhaps that's what was meant? Later the author makes the claim that color television came in that year (late 40s).
Here's my problem: if I can spot easily corrected mistakes, what mistakes am I missing elsewhere?
ARC provided by publisher.
July 31, 2019
I won an Advance Reading Copy of The In-Betweens: The Spiritualists, Mediums, and Legends of Camp Etna by Mira Ptacin from Goodreads.
In her book, The In-Betweens: The Spiritualists, Mediums,and Legends of Camp Etna, Mira Ptacin presents the history of Spiritualism and Camp Etna through the stories of the people who, in the past as well as the present, practice the faith in its many forms. The individuals Ptacin interviews at Camp Etna are as diverse as any population, and their stories are interesting. While there are several photographs scattered throughout the book, readers develop a better understanding and are able to envision the camp through the author's descriptions.
The In-Betweens is a wonderful resource for true believers and a worthy informative history for the doubters. Ptacin's book will inspire readers to reflect on their believe and to respect those who choose a different path.
In her book, The In-Betweens: The Spiritualists, Mediums,and Legends of Camp Etna, Mira Ptacin presents the history of Spiritualism and Camp Etna through the stories of the people who, in the past as well as the present, practice the faith in its many forms. The individuals Ptacin interviews at Camp Etna are as diverse as any population, and their stories are interesting. While there are several photographs scattered throughout the book, readers develop a better understanding and are able to envision the camp through the author's descriptions.
The In-Betweens is a wonderful resource for true believers and a worthy informative history for the doubters. Ptacin's book will inspire readers to reflect on their believe and to respect those who choose a different path.
September 24, 2019
Ptacin writes with a warmth and personal touch that made the book feel confessional and intimate. Based on the description, I was expecting a more straight-on history of American Spiritualism, but I was pleased with the personal narrative aspects as well as the fact-based sections. Sometimes the shift from historical retelling to personal experience felt a little abrupt, but overall the flow was smooth and kept me reading. I appreciate how the book has a distinct point of view without insisting that a reader draw the same conclusions that the author has reached. I will be recommending this book to the people who browse the 133s and similar areas. Netgalley provided me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
February 15, 2020
Well this was vaguely racist, intensely gullible, and not at all the unbiased look at modern spiritualists it purported to be. While I appreciated the the focus on the feminist aspect of spiritualism then as well as now, it discarded the bad to embrace the good, and that gave me the big sad. While it's okay to admit that all your faves are problematic, it's not okay to pretend like the problems aren't there.
October 8, 2019
I received an ARC from the publisher; this did not influence my review.
Three and a half stars.
I live less than two and a half hours from Camp Etna and had never heard of the community or the religion of Spiritualism before this book. Ptacin alternates between explaining the tenets of the religion, discussing the history, and sharing her encounters with current Spiritualists. I found her experiences at camp and with current Spiritualists immersive and fascinating. Ptacin engages in such activities as table tipping, aura reading, mediumship, ghost "hunting," and dowsing, and maintains an openness and willingness to engage that is refreshing. While the history of the religion, and its critics/opponents through the years, are certainly pertinent and valuable to the overall story, I wish that these sections had been pared down in favor of more current encounters. For example, there are classes offered in mediumship and it would have been fascinating to read about Ptacin's experiences with more classes as a participant rather than as a journalist (while she participated as a client, she never attempted to learn any skills outside of dowsing). Overall, this is a unique and illuminating look at a little known, and lesser understood, religion and its proponents.
Three and a half stars.
I live less than two and a half hours from Camp Etna and had never heard of the community or the religion of Spiritualism before this book. Ptacin alternates between explaining the tenets of the religion, discussing the history, and sharing her encounters with current Spiritualists. I found her experiences at camp and with current Spiritualists immersive and fascinating. Ptacin engages in such activities as table tipping, aura reading, mediumship, ghost "hunting," and dowsing, and maintains an openness and willingness to engage that is refreshing. While the history of the religion, and its critics/opponents through the years, are certainly pertinent and valuable to the overall story, I wish that these sections had been pared down in favor of more current encounters. For example, there are classes offered in mediumship and it would have been fascinating to read about Ptacin's experiences with more classes as a participant rather than as a journalist (while she participated as a client, she never attempted to learn any skills outside of dowsing). Overall, this is a unique and illuminating look at a little known, and lesser understood, religion and its proponents.
sampled-not-interested
May 29, 2021Made it through the sample, but only barely.
The content looked promising since I've always been curious why the number of spiritualist groups exploded in the 19th century and how they influenced more modern groups. If this were a true journalistic or research effort, I might have stuck with it. If the writing was better, I might have stuck with it. But this is yet another non-fic where the author writes more about themself than about the topic. It's the "I'm writing a book about me writing a book" trend that I've come to detest.
The content looked promising since I've always been curious why the number of spiritualist groups exploded in the 19th century and how they influenced more modern groups. If this were a true journalistic or research effort, I might have stuck with it. If the writing was better, I might have stuck with it. But this is yet another non-fic where the author writes more about themself than about the topic. It's the "I'm writing a book about me writing a book" trend that I've come to detest.
October 20, 2021
I really wanted to like this audiobook. I have had readings with one of the mediums mentioned within and had wonderful experiences each time. However, I found myself trying to determine if this book was about the author and her journey towards Spiritualism, the history of Spiritualism, the founding of Camp Etna, or if it was about the residents there. It didn't feel, to me, like it flowed well and felt very disjointed. This could have been more to do with my own preferences in writing styles, so others may not have the same experience.
February 9, 2020
I never thought to consider Spiritualism as a feminist movement. Lots of fascinating history and context. The content could easily veer into hippie woo woo but this book was more cerebral and experiential.
May 1, 2020
Learned a lot about a topic I know nothing about!
September 17, 2020
I think that my fellow Portlander and I have very different perspectives on MSPV and Spiritualism in general... but overall an entertaining read.
September 30, 2021
I don't think I've ever given a non-fiction book 5 stars before. I like reading non-fiction, and I like the knowledge gained, but I've never really been engrossed in one before this. This was just absolutely fascinating, as well as really well-written, and I stayed up way too late several nights in a row reading this.
April 23, 2025
This was definitely a right-time-right-book for me, but beyond that and my potential bias given I have friends that live on the same island Mira Ptacin lives on in Maine, what I loved about this was the curious approach and questions posed. She is not trying to prove or disprove anything, but merely learn about the meaning and rise of Spiritualism, what is believed, and frankly, get across what it feels like at Camp Etna. Mira Ptacin's writing is so accessible and 'easy' in the best way possible that I was eager to pick this book up an could sink in immediately, and that is a subtle skill that makes a world of difference. This was interesting, thought-provoking, and made me miss Maine terribly.
May 15, 2020
Well, I loved this book more than I expected to. Set at a spiritualist camp in Etna, ME (16 miles from where I lived the first 40 years of my life), this book traces a history of spiritualism in the U.S., connects it to antislavery and feminist movements, and at the same time, shows us a living, breathing, working spiritualist community in our times.
I loved it.
I loved it.
August 5, 2019
Fascinating
November 2, 2019
Such a terrific book! THE IN-BETWEENS walks the reader through the history of American Spiritualism and mediums (which is not the same thing as a psychic) through the history of Camp Etna, a place in Maine that’s home to spiritualists and mediums which was once a bustling site for the faithful, curious, and skeptical. @miramptacin is both curious and skeptical for reasons that unfold throughout the course of her terrifically engaging and empathetic book. The blend of history and reporting is so well done; I can’t wait to see what Mira chooses to study next. Ultimately, though, for me, this was a book about listening to yourself and finding faith there—regardless of whether or not you believe the dead can visit us, with or without religion. How do you choose to live with the challenges in life? More soon. So happy to curl up in bed and read this in one sitting tonight.
April 16, 2020
Not until after I bought The In-Betweens did I say to myself, “Holy cow! I lived just down the road from this place for three months.” I lived in Maine, in three different towns, for a little over a year as a Mormon missionary fresh out of high school. There is so much about the state I never saw or learned because I was too preoccupied with spreading my own religion.
Mira Ptacin’s book made me aware of the history of spiritualism in general, but especially as it has been practiced at Camp Etna in Maine. This is a work of journalism. Mira embeds with the religious community and does in-depth interviews, seeking and detailing facts. This book is also a personal journey, with Mira exploring her own sense of faith. She gives the benefit of the doubt to a group many of us would be tempted to dismiss as phony. Doubtless to me, some of them are just that. Others may be what are sometimes called pious frauds. Regardless, the author gives their approach to belief an honest try, granting its sincerity and profound effects on practitioners. She avoids the temptation to chalk it all up to mere superstition.
Lastly, The In-Betweens focuses on women, who have generally been the leaders of spiritualism. As a religious study, that books stands in sharp and refreshing contrast to studies of the rigidly patriarchal religions so many of us were raised in. I definitely recommend The In-Betweens to people studying spiritualism, whatever their motive. I also recommend it for people wanting to explore Maine.
Mira Ptacin’s book made me aware of the history of spiritualism in general, but especially as it has been practiced at Camp Etna in Maine. This is a work of journalism. Mira embeds with the religious community and does in-depth interviews, seeking and detailing facts. This book is also a personal journey, with Mira exploring her own sense of faith. She gives the benefit of the doubt to a group many of us would be tempted to dismiss as phony. Doubtless to me, some of them are just that. Others may be what are sometimes called pious frauds. Regardless, the author gives their approach to belief an honest try, granting its sincerity and profound effects on practitioners. She avoids the temptation to chalk it all up to mere superstition.
Lastly, The In-Betweens focuses on women, who have generally been the leaders of spiritualism. As a religious study, that books stands in sharp and refreshing contrast to studies of the rigidly patriarchal religions so many of us were raised in. I definitely recommend The In-Betweens to people studying spiritualism, whatever their motive. I also recommend it for people wanting to explore Maine.
October 2, 2019
I received this book as part of a giveaway, and was excited to read it. As I started reading it, I was a bit disappointed. I was hoping to find more of a historical documentation and investigation into the Spiritual Movement in American and how Camp Etna perhaps related to this movement. Instead, it focuses more on the author's relationship and journey with the current people of Camp Etna. Although she does explore a variety of different ideas among the people at Camp Etna and the classes offered there, which is an interesting form of documentation on its own. I was always wanting more of the tiny snippets of history, especially when it came to the processes she explores at the camp.
However, that being said it is an interesting piece from a memoir stance. I would stress this memoir stance, as I would definitely not suggest it to someone wishing to learn more of the history of Spiritualism and it’s context in American history and culture. Also of note, which could be due to the copy I received being an advanced reading copy, a number of historical facts she splashes in for color are off.
However, that being said it is an interesting piece from a memoir stance. I would stress this memoir stance, as I would definitely not suggest it to someone wishing to learn more of the history of Spiritualism and it’s context in American history and culture. Also of note, which could be due to the copy I received being an advanced reading copy, a number of historical facts she splashes in for color are off.
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