Hazardous Spirits

by Anbara Salam

Hazardous Spirits brilliantly captures a young woman’s world unsettled by mediums and spirits, revealing the devastating secrets that ghosts from the past can tell when given the voice to do so.

In 1920s Edinburgh, Scotland, Evelyn Hazard is a young, middle-class housewife living the life she’s always expected―until her husband Robert upends everything with a startling announcement: he can communicate with the dead.

As the couple is pulled into the spiritualist movement―an underground, occult society of ritual and magic that emerged following the mass deaths of the Spanish Flu and First World War―Evelyn’s carefully composed world begins to unravel. And when long-held secrets from her past threaten to come to the surface, presenting her with the prospect of losing all she holds dear, Evelyn finds herself unable to avoid the question: is the man she loves a fraud, a madman or―most frighteningly―is he telling the truth?

Cloaked in a moody, beguiling backdrop of twentieth-century Scotland, Anbara Salam’s Hazardous Spirits brings a sparkling sense of period detail and dry humor to the life of a young woman calibrating her place in a changing world, and her shifting relationship with a man she thought she knew.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Horror, Gothic, Fiction, Fantasy, Historical, Paranormal

368 pages, Paperback

First published October 17, 2023

About the author

Anbara Salam is half-Palestinian and half-Scottish, and grew up in London. She has a PhD in Theology and now lives in Oxford.

Reviews

[K.J. Charles]

A terrific, deeply unnerving book. It's post WW1, post flu, and as the heroine says, everyone is dead. This terrifically conveys the desperation both for cheer and normality and for some sort of communication with all the lost, in a ravaged world of the dead and damaged, where good hosts tie nailbrushes to the sink for the convenience of the many one-handed men.

Evelyn is a youngish wife; Robert her husband announces he is getting messages from spirits. It's really a character piece as we see Evelyn's distress and fear, her greed for the wealth and connections Robert's new life offers, her desperate need for it all to be true. The self-delusion is particularly well done, with mediums and sitters alike persuading themselves of non-existent miracles. But we can also really see it's not just driven by greed and stupidity: Robert, who wasn't fit to fight, is desperate to make some sort of contribution; Evelyn is easily seduced by grief into spiritualism because she wants it to be true.

There isn't a huge amount of plot, but I didn't mind that at all, since the milieu and character work are so compelling, and the ending is a terrific punch in the face.

Highly recommended. Will look for more by this author.

[Alwynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anbara Salam got the idea for her historical novel from an unexpected encounter, a blind date with a woman who claimed to be a medium. Set in 1920s Edinburgh the story’s rooted in the phenomenal surge of interest in the Spiritualist movement that grew up after the end of WW1, spurred on even further by the huge numbers who died from Spanish Flu. Bereaved people flocked to rallies, seances and spirit readings in the hope of contacting their beloved dead. Salam’s psychological mystery is also inspired by a particular brand of uniquely Scottish gothic and the real-life figures like Conan Doyle who helped popularise belief in the supernatural and the possibility of talking with the dead. Salam’s narrative centres on Evie married to stolid, conventional accountant Robert who suddenly announces he can commune with dead people, and soon becomes a fixture in local spiritualist circles.

Salam’s novel boasts a satisfyingly diverse cast of characters that partly reflects her own background as Palestinian-Lebanese-Scottish. Her narrative features a well-researched, meticulously detailed representation of Edinburgh in the years following WW1: the displaced veterans, social inequalities, and the frenzied partying of the wealthy relieved to have survived. Salam’s style can be a little inelegant, uneven, and clunky at times but I found her novel totally gripping. There are some great set pieces like the lavish Egyptian-themed party building on the King Tut craze of that era. In addition, Evie is an intriguing creation caught between her innate scepticism and her desperate need to believe in her husband or really to believe in anything at all. She’s not particularly likeable, prickly, snobbish, and sometimes a bit too hand wringing. But it’s gradually clear that much of her behaviour relates to her own, intense, unresolved grief: at the death of her sister Dolly from flu and another loss she’s unable to voice to anyone. I also found Robert’s character quite unsettling and hard to work out, I’m not sure if that was deliberate or not but it worked well to shore up Evie’s conflict about his motives: whether or not he genuinely believes in the spirit world or is deluded or simply a self-serving fraud. The conclusion leaves some elements dangling, in some ways I’d have preferred a definite resolution to Evie’s dilemma, but still I think it was probably the right ending. Think this would appeal to fans of writers like Emma Donoghue looking for an entertaining but thoughtful seasonal read.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Baskerville for an ARC

[Alix · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

There were aspects of this novel I was intrigued by but as a whole I felt it was entirely too long. It’s more of a character study and there isn’t much of a plot. By the end of it I was quite sick of Evelyn’s husband, Robert. The book never explicitly tells us whether Robert is insane, a fraud, or telling the truth but there is enough evidence to draw a conclusion. There were a lot of themes this book touched on such as grief, relationships, and society’s expectations of women.

Throughout the book, Evelyn tries to be a supportive wife despite her skepticism of spiritualism. At the same time, she’s dealing with her own grief and secrets that are threatening to destroy her. I personally thought she was a better wife to Robert than he was as a husband to her. His hobby was slowly consuming his life and everyone around him. The ending was a bit abrupt and I’m not sure how I really feel about it. Overall, Hazardous Spirits has some interesting elements that will definitely provoke discussion but I found the story too slow-paced to hold my interest.

[Tracey Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another cracking “something’s not quite right” novel for 2023. Set in 1920s Edinburgh, Evelyn’s husband, Robert, has decided he can talk to the dead, and pivots from a career in accountancy to become a spiritualist medium. Evelyn and Robert become society darlings, but Evelyn is shunned by her family due to them being embarrassed by Robert’s questionable career choice. With one divorce already against the family name, they are actively avoiding any potential scandals.

But Evelyn, oh Evelyn. She’s carrying so many secrets, as well as grief for her recently departed sister, Dolores. She also has reservations about Robert’s strangeness, but quickly falls in love with the social standing it brings. But as the cracks in their marriage widen, Evelyn has to make an impossible choice.

I bashed through Hazardous Spirits in a matter of days. It was engaging, easy to read, and held some genuine surprises. But the things merely hinted at, the matters left unspoken, were the real key to this novel’s success. There was no huge event that turned everything on its head; there was just an on-going sense of unease, even after the book had ended.

Hazardous Spirits joins my best of 2023 list. For fans of spooky, uncanny, feminist novels set in early 20th century UK. It checked all my boxes and then some.

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway.

While I'm generally pretty intrigued by the Victorian spiritualism era, I did not enjoy this book at all. I felt like I jumped into a story that was half finished from the very beginning. There was no proper introduction to the characters, very little backstory, and the reader gets no time to form attachments to the characters before they're expected to just... care about them for no particular reason. The prose felt awkward and clunky. I made it about 75 pages into this and gave up.

[charlotte, · Rating 4 out of 5]

On my blog.

Rep: Indian Scottish side character, Malaysian side characters

Galley provided by publisher

There isn’t one single aspect of Hazardous Spirits that I could point to as the reason for why I enjoyed it so much. That, I think, is testament to Anbara Salam’s skill with historical fiction — every part of it is just so good, so there’s no one thing to single out.

The story follows Evelyn, whose husband finds himself getting drawn into spiritualism, after confessing to her that he can communicate with the dead. Evelyn has doubts, obviously, but she reluctantly lets herself be led along. At the forefront of her mind is the question: is her husband going mad, a fraud, or is he, just perhaps, telling the truth?

Much of the story is about Evelyn’s relationship with her husband, and the trust she has in him, and how that starts to fracture under the weight of his activities. For all the people she meets through the spiritualism circuit, through all the social currency she gains amongst some groups, she’s always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

In addition to this, there are things that Evelyn hasn’t told even her sister, let alone Robert. The only one who knew was her other sister, who passed away a few years before the story takes place. Really, then, this is a book about truth. Evelyn keeps it from her family, forbids Robert from speaking with her dead sister for fear of what she might reveal, all the while unsure if Robert is, after all, telling the truth. The book itself leaves you at an impasse on that front: Robert certainly believes he can truly talk to the dead, and the events of the final act don’t affect his beliefs. This is in contrast to Evelyn — it feels as though a lot of the book is a push and pull between cold, verifiable facts (Evelyn) and what is felt to be true (Robert). Is something any less true for being someone’s lived experience?

Part of what makes that all so effective, though, is how real it all seems to the reader. Perhaps it’s an overdone compliment, but reading this really does feel as though you’re in 1920s Edinburgh, that these characters are standing right next to you. That their developments and journeys throughout the book are almost like your own.

I really don’t think I can recommend Anbara Salam’s books enough, in all this. Between Hazardous Spirits and Belladonna, I think it’s safe to say she’s comfortably an author I’ll always be looking forward to more works from.

[Liz Milner · Rating 2 out of 5]

If the Dead Could talk…

Evelyn is a dyspeptic Edinburgh matron in the early 1920s. She is obsessed with reclaiming the upper-class status that her family lost in a financial scandal. Her marriage to Robert, a sweet, stable, successful and staid accountant, seems to be her ticket back to respectability, but then Robert starts talking to the Dead, which is hardly respectable at all. Now, Evelyn is doubly threatened. Not only does she fear a loss of status through her husband’s new vocation, but she fears that during one of Robert’s seances, a dead relative will reveal a secret that could destroy her.

Initially I didn’t like this novel. The protagonist, Evelyn, is irritating. She’s catastrophizing all over the place, seemingly without cause. I describe her as dyspeptic because throughout the novel her stomach turns, flips, and flops so much it’s like there’s an Olympic event happening in there. She’s constantly behaving in an irrational manner. She also has the annoying habit of doing flashbacks without warning, so the reader suffers from confusion and temporal whiplash.

“Aren’t there already enough hysterical, irrational and annoying women in popular literature,” I asked myself. “Do we really need another?”

As the novel progressed, however, I became increasingly curious about Evelyn’s often alluded to but never revealed Secret. Promising supporting characters with tantalizing, hinted backstories also began to show up. I read on, hoping to discover Evelyn’s elusive Secret or at least find out more about the deliciously twisted lives of Lily, Walter, and Clarence.

Alas, those roads weren’t followed. The ending of the book is flat and disappointing. It felt like a prolonged tease. Like spiritualism, the book promises a blockbuster revelation that never materializes.

[Zoë · Rating 4 out of 5]

someone just let this woman take a nap, and eat some good food, and relax. let her live and leave her alone goddamn it. men ruin everything

[Kim McGee · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the British Isles in the 20's spiritualism is all the rage but Evelyn is not prepared when her mild mannered husband announces that he feels connected to the spirit world and has decided to become a medium. At first she hopes this is just an unfortunate hobby. Her family is appalled and even Evelyn's sister turns her back but as Robert's fame and success "helping" people grows Evelyn is pulled into the open doors and invitations from high society and influential people. She is a woman searching for answers - afraid of what she will learn as much as she is of not getting any answers at all. Evelyn struggles with insecurity and her new found freedom. This is historical fiction with shades of gothic mystery and an examination of a nation dealing with mass grief from war and disease coupled with a ghost of dry humor. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

[Chloe Amelse · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a pretty hard time reading this book. I loved the premise, the author’s writing is beautiful and descriptive, but I found the whole book to be quite boring and the ending to be quite a letdown. The main character is quite static and essentially clutches her pearls for the entirety of the book, which gets to be a bit much after a while. I really wish that we would have gotten more. I would have loved to see a more dynamic Evelyn and plot.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me an early copy of this book.

[Jennifer Pullen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will be thinking about this book for a long time. A gothic novel, a turn of the century spiritualist period piece, as well as a domestic thriller, this novel takes twists and turns that surprised me, all through the lens of an unreliable narrator whose trauma shapes her every actions. Fascinating.

[Daniella · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the ending in my head she slammed the door in that man's face.

[Hana Jabr · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best endings I've read in a while

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hazardous Spirits by Anbara Salam is an atmospheric, thought-provoking gem of a novel.

This book feels like something I would have read and analyzed in my high school honors English class, and I mean that in the best way possible. There's just so much to chew on here - it brings to mind literary fiction of a bygone era. It's not ruled by predictable tropes of the genre, and I found myself surprised and bewildered at the way the plot unfolded as I raced toward the end.

Salam's setting work is flawless, derivative of The Great Gatsby but with her own unique presentation. Like Gatsby, this book does a fantastic job at capturing the manic, post-war, exuberant excess of the early 1920s, and the dark undercurrent that slithered underneath it all. The imagery is stunning, the parties both grand and devastating in their splendor and ruin.

I didn't particularly like the main characters, but I think that's very much done on purpose. Loving the characters is usually pretty important to me when I read, but it's more of a personal preference I can overlook if other things are done really well. And man, is this book done well. Salam entertains not by making you love and root for the main characters, but by drawing you in by your burning desire to learn the truth.

All in all, I was invested, I was entertained, I was dazzled and horrified. I love a book that keeps me thinking and puzzling well after I've put it down. Such a genuinely well-crafted book. 4 stars from me!

[CLM · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unusual and gripping historical novel set in 1923 Edinburgh -

My review: https://perfectretort.blogspot.com/20...

[Devon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hazardous Spirits by Anbara Salam puts the reader in the years just after the first World War, after the population has been battered by both the war as well as influenza. So many people have been lost, instantly, healthy and young people taken in the very prime of their lives. This, naturally, led to an uptick of Spiritualism, where the survivors were left to grapple with their grief and seek answers pertaining to the Unknowable.

Robert Hazard, an accountant who sat out the war due to his health, startles his wife Evelyn one day in late autumn by announcing that he can speak to and hear spirits. She is horrified, and seeks out a doctor, who assures her everything is fine and that if it continues, he may be going crazy, a fraud, or it could all be real.

Evelyn is deeply concerned with her husband picking up spiritualism, as she frets about what other people will say or think almost as much as she worries that her deceased sister will bring forth a message that will ruin Evelyn's life. Evelyn has to choose whether to encourage her husband or forbid him from what brings him happiness, and as the days progress, she finds herself torn between believing it nonsense and hoping that it may be true for the comfort it could offer to those who have lost loved ones.

This sort of book is right up my alley--spiritualism, historical fiction (I generally prefer 19th century, but this is close enough)--yet I didn't love it as much as I could have. I found Evelyn to be a grating character in many instances, vacillating back and forth, crying and running about. It also seemed a little hollow to me, like I was waiting on a precipice of something huge that never came. It's an enjoyable enough book, though, and would be perfect to read during October for Halloween.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Chelle - FlowerChildReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set 1920’s Scotland during the spiritualism revival, Hazardous Spirits by Anbara Salam is the story of Evelyn, a young woman whose life is upended when her husband, Robert, announces he can communicate with the dead. The First World War and flu epidemic have left people looking for meaning, connection, and desperate to know lost loved ones are safe and content after death. Evelyn finds herself struggling to support her husband’s new interest while the gap with her family grows wider. As Robert’s profile rises the company they keep becomes more prominent, and more bizarre. The question remains, does Evelyn really believe in his powers?

This is a story of what we do to support those we love even at extreme personal cost to ourselves. What can we rationalize, what can become normal? It’s a look at no matter how outrageous, irrational, or unstable a man acts often a woman’s sanity is questioned, she should be meditated, her interpretation must be flawed. Salam does a fantastic job using both location and time as its own character to set the mood. The information on spiritualism was enough for readers to clearly understand the context, but not take over the story. (I was off on a deep dive reading about the era because I found it fascinating!) I loved the backstory created for Evelyn that added so much depth and helped inform her actions. I also loved the character of Flossie, the evolution of how Evelyn sees her friendship. I’m not usually one for ambiguous endings but I think it works very well here, allowing resolution without a neat bow.

I recommend for those that love atmospheric books for spooky season, love stories that delve into seances, fortune tellers, and appreciate morally grey characters. Thank you to my friends at Tin House Publishing for the advanced review copy.

[Ellie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did zone out of the audiobook a lot, maybe I missed something, I imagine if I were reading in another format I would have DNFed. Really not much happens, except Evelyn constantly worrying about what people will think. I thought spiritualism was very fashionable and I felt it was lacking context to why she was the way she was. It's just "oh well everyone died in the war" and leaves it at that. It also follows a character who doesn't want anything to do with spiritualism, so doesn't explore it in any sort of depth. Robert was a bit of a wet blanket, just because someone didn't go to war for health reasons (which I'm assuming were legitimate) doesn't mean they're useless.

[Ali G · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a bit mismarketed and feels unfinished. It feels like nothing really happens and every thing you want answers to goes unanswered

[Reading Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's the 1920s and Evelyn is a housewife married to a sweet man named Robert. They live a very normal life . Robert suddenly comes out to Evelyn with the news that he can communicate with the dead. Evelyn is horrified about this news. She wonders if it's real and if it is what secrets might be revealed about herself.
You see Evelyn's sister Dolores has died from the flu and she knows things Evelyn doesn't want revealed. Evelyn tries to control Robert and make him normal but in the end he tells her he is going to go on this spiritual journey with or without her .
Robert and Evelyn get hooked up with a spiritual circuit and start booking parties with aristocrats. Evelyn knows she was meant to hob nob with these people and loves the parties at first. Always in the back of her head she is wondering if it's real and will her sister reveal herself.
I liked this book and the view of what life was like after the war and the Spanish flu epidemic. This book has a bit of a gothic vibe which is nice. I do wish it had a bit more of the lingo I would have imagined was used. This book is definitely about the spiritualist movement .

[Holly Fairall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I simply adored this book. I had no major expectations and picked it up kind of on a whim, and was immediately hooked from page one and never lost interest for a second. This is such a perfect balance of slightly eerie and spooky, but also exploring themes of grief and haunting and belonging and how well we can ever really know someone—all against a super relevant to the plot historical context of post World War I and flu epidemic devastation, where everyone has lost someone and would love to contact them again. The writing was so good—on a sentence level, making me laugh at moments, capturing the most pathetically vulnerable moments of being human that you rarely see put on the page. This would be an excellent spooky season book club selection. It was so specifically perfect for me—and the ending was STRONG and I’m sure controversial for some readers. Everything I love in a book!

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really struggled to get into this book, it felt so slow for a good hundred pages or more. Also Evelyn just felt like an insufferable snob and prude. However, Salam really skillfully illustrates the social and emotional chaos in the wake of the Great War, the increasingly anachronistic moral outrage over Victorian transgressions, the survivor guilt, the inability to acknowledge incredible trauma, the gender divide related to war and home and their concomitant traumas. And the juxtaposition of the aftermath of the Great War with the excesses of the surviving bohemian rich displays the careless disregard of the wealthy for the lives and labor of those tasked with doing their bidding, whether that is dying in the wars they make, or subjecting their bodies to the toil of cleaning up the messes they make as they rampage through houses playing drunken games and shooting guns.

[Liv · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW. GENIUS. INCREDIBLE AMAZING SOOOOO DEFTLY CRAFTED N WELL WRITTEN. WOW.

[Annelise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Evelyn Hazard is a housewife whose husband, Robert, has opened up to her about his 'gift'--he can sense spirits and speak to the dead. The Hazards have had enough issues with their social standing--Evelyn can't afford to have a full-time servant, her now-deceased older sister, Dolores, has already brought shame to their family with her divorce, and her mother and sister are putting pressure on her to have children, despite her blatant discomfort with babies. If her family found out about Robert's newfound obsession with the occult, they'd most likely disown them.

As Evelyn attends more of Robert's shows, she gets pulled into the world of mediums and spirits. Robert and his tutor, a ten-year-old boy named Clarence, are making accurate observations about the souls with which they're communing. Evelyn fears that a secret only Dolores knows will be unearthed if Robert or Clarence can communicate with her beyond the veil, and the threat of this reveal sends her spiraling.

I don't know what I was expecting when I read 'Hazardous Spirits', but I ended up enjoying it way more than I anticipated. Anbara Salam's observations of upper-middle class society and rich people living in excess hearkens to 'The Importance of Being Earnest', with loving descriptions of unappealing food and the secrets held by every character. I can see some readers being turned off by the shallowness of the characters, Salam's writing proves that there's more going on under the surface than meets the eye. As an adult woman who never wants children, I found Evelyn's distance whenever the subject was brought up relatable.

I'll definitely seek out Anbara Salam's other books now--her writing voice is intuitive and funny, and I really want to read the other things she's written!

[B · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really hoping by the book description that I would like this book, but unfortunately that was not the case. I found the elements to be lacking something that I can not quite put my finger on. I found it hard to enjoy this and hard to get into the story.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

[Dan Bassett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edinburgh, 1923.
Evelyn Hazard is a young woman living a rather comfortable and happy, yet also unremarkable and often overlooked middle-class life, which she would never admit to, but even she thinks it would be nice to have something happen to shake up such a peaceful existence but maybe she will regret such a wild thought.
One day, her quiet and numbed existence is broken apart and shattered when her steady, level-headed, and always reliable husband Robert announces unceremoniously that he can communicate with the dead. Surely he jests at such a notion.
As the couple are swiftly pulled into the growing fad of the spiritualist movement that came to be after the mass deaths caused by the First World War and the Spanish Flu, Evelyn’s life becomes more and more unsettled as dark secrets swathed in her past threaten to spill out and rise to the surface.
Faced with the very real prospect of losing everything she holds dear, Evelyn finds herself asking: is Robert, the man she devotes her life to, a fraud, madman, or unspeakably- or most frighteningly - telling the truth?
Logic cannot always bring light into the darkness, and Evelyn has to hold a mirror up to herself to uncover just how much she can believe before madness consumes her whole world.
Laced with a dark unease throughout, Hazardous Spirits is a must-read for the spooky season!

[Rosie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard to classify this one - it was surprisingly subtle. If you want all your questions answered, this probably isn't the book for you. If you want to get lost in 300+ pages of lush descriptions, atmosphere, and understated secrets, then you're in the right place. Perhaps they were red herrings, or maybe I didn't catch the metaphor, but some elements felt roughly inserted into the story (like the maid Marty, for example). The perspective of Evelyn was also weird - she's sort of an unsympathetic prim/judgmental personality type. In any case, I enjoyed being carried along in the exploration of trauma, truth and mystery, and I think the author achieves something special with this book. For that reason, I'm rating it high, plus it has an excellent cover and I think the Goodreads overall rating is too low.

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Engagingly written, but too long for the incomplete plot. Plot includes how some rich people in the 1920s were sucked in to spiritualism. Unsatisfying as not enough explanation about the back story of the protagonist. Too much showing and not enough telling. I would have liked more to be revealed about Evelyn's secrets which she was trying to prevent being revealed. Also I wanted to know more about how Dorothy (Dolly) fitted in to Evelyn's secrets. It would have been a better book if the plot had revealed more, maybe the author herself wasn't sure of the plot backstory details. Well drawn nuanced characters and the well researched sense of the period, time, place and location were enjoyable

[Shelbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little long with no reward for sticking it through. It just ends on a question which doesn't work in this particular story.

[Thebooktrail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Discover the locations in the novel here


This book was right up my street. You know when a book not only draws you in but keeps you there in suspended animation? This is an example of when a book and its setting merge for maximum effect. The gothic, dark, twisty overtones of Edinburgh just suit this story down to the ground.

It’s about the spiritualist movement of the early 20th century. Is there a world beyond ours? What other realms exist outside of our own reality?

Evelyn’s husband tells her he can speak to the dead. They can’t tell anyone otherwise they would be disowned and shunned from society and they’re already down on their luck as it is. Evelyn supports him however and becomes deeply involved in his world of spirits. When her husband starts communicating with her dead sister however, her world spirals out of control.

This book had the atmosphere, the jeopardy and the chills by the bucketload. There was so much to enjoy and I carried on reading even when I felt a bit nervous that something was going to happen. No chapter breaks for me! This dark, murky world of Edinburgh mixed with the shadowy world of spiritualism was magic on the page. The world building, the scenes, the filmic nature of it all was wonderful.

I loved the way the author wove in commentary and social awareness into the novel. The 1920s were a very different time and spiritualism was almost an obsession. It was the subjects and visions just out of reach that were the real catch for me however. You know when sometimes you turn your head too quick and think you’ve seen something out of the corner of your eye? This book gives you LOTS of those moments and it chilled me and excited me in equal measure.

It’s what you don’t see, what isn’t mentioned, that floats around your vision as you read that is the real star of this already amazing show.