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SeanceBy (author) John Harwood
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US Kirkus Review » The ambience and paraphernalia of the Victorian ghostly tale are knowingly channeled in Australian author Harwood's serpentine second novel (The Ghost Writer, 2004).The book consists of five interconnected narratives, each of which glides assuredly between a mysterious past and a troubled present. Harwood begins with Bloomsbury maiden Constance Langton's account of her misguided attempt to ease the sufferings of her mother (sunk in mourning over the early death of Constance's younger sister Alma) by arranging a seance, which fails - spectacularly - to bring enlightenment or comfort. We will hear further, and much more, from Constance, but not until family lawyer John Montague has (at some length) confided the strange history of Wraxford Hall, the remote Suffolk mansion which Constance has inherited - in which, Montague strongly advises, she must never reside. All this extended exposition leads to the journal of Eleanor Unwin, who married into the star-crossed Wraxford family, reputedly killed her husband and either did away as well with their young daughter or absconded with the child, for neither was ever seen again. The many similarities between Constance's and Eleanor's circumstances excite the heiress's overstimulated imagination, deepen her attorney's fears and attract the attention of the (historical) Society for Psychical Research, whose (presumably fictional) agent Vernon Raphael sets out to solve these interlocking mysteries. Though Harwood has mastered all the particulars of this hardy genre, the decision to swaddle his story in multiple layers of narrative leaves the reader often struggling to remember who intermittently introduced characters are and how they're related to one another. Nevertheless, the dependable tropes of recurring storms, long-held secrets, a villainous mesmerist who also dabbles in alchemy, even a menacing suit of armor, all work their traditional magic, and the reader remains hooked. Further treats lurk for those who spot clear allusions to genre authors Wilkie Collins and M.R. James - not to mention outright appropriation from Shirley Jackson's 20th-century classic The Haunting of Hill House.Perfect fare for a standard dark and stormy night. (Kirkus Reviews)
This crisply written mystery is told in several sections, from three alternating points of view. Constance Langton, a young woman living in London in 1889, opens the narrative with a firstperson description of how she came to be involved in the world of ‘spiritualists’ and séances, in an effort to help her mother who has never got over the death of Constance’s baby sister years before. We then go back in time almost 20 years, to hear the narrative of John Montague, which details the mysterious goings on at the utterly sinister-sounding Wraxford Hall—the site of several unsolved deaths. By the time we reach the narrative of Eleanor Unwin, whose seeming psychic abilities threaten to destroy her life, we begin to have an inkling of how these first two stories are linked. With shades of Jane Eyre, a faint echo of Dickens and a touch of Agatha Christie, this is the perfect novel to curl up with on a wintery night. While the climax does not quite live up to the deftly handled preceding sections, there is much to be enjoyed here. A good recommendation for those who like to be very mildly spooked, enjoy 19th century novels or have a passing interest in the ‘spiritualist’ movement of the 1800s. This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker Author Biography: John Harwood Recent books by John Harwood » View all books by John Harwood » View all books by John Harwood |
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