Book cover of The Entirely True Story of the Fantastical Mesmerist Nora Grey

Book description

As spiritualism reaches its fevered pitch at the dawn of the 20th century, a Scottish girl crosses the veil to unlock a powerful connection within an infamous asylum in this thrillingly atmospheric, exquisitely evocative exploration of feminine rage and agency for readers of Sarah Penner, Alice Hoffman, and Hester Fox.…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Entirely True Story of the Fantastical Mesmerist Nora Grey as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I loved the complexity of this novel, which grapples with so many themes—poverty, family ties, women’s hardships in a male-dominated society, and the tension between falsehood and sincerity.

Nairna, a young Scottish girl, travels the countryside with her father, who is basically a conman. But Nairna has real talent, and when she comes to the attention of Edinburgh Spiritualists, she is drawn into a dangerous circle.

But the novel brings in another thread, that of a widow who lost her husband in the coal mines. I had empathy for both of these characters, who are united by their experience with…

From Maryka's list on mediums, seances, and ghosts, oh my!.

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December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

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Trapped in our world, the fae are dying from drugs, contaminants, and hopelessness. Kicked out of the dark fae court for tainting his body and magic, Riasg only wants one thing: to die a bit faster. It’s already the end of his world, after all.

But while scoring his last…

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