Textum contributor Faye L. Booth has just published her first novel. Herewith a synopsis and brief review.
Molly was fifteen when she began working with the dead...
It is 1856 and Spiritualism is at the height of its popularity. Molly Pinner has left behind her childhood in the Preston slums and inherited her late aunt Florrie’s mantle as Preston’s most successful medium. It soon becomes clear that her aunt was something far more cunning than a magnet for the spirits of the dead, but Molly puts aside her qualms and takes well to her new trade.
Molly’s relationship with her oldest friend, Jenny, is jeopardized when she begins a passionate affair with local businessman William Hamilton. Before she knows it, Molly finds herself married to a man she cannot love, and pregnant with a child she does not want. In desperation, she makes a decision that will cast her relationship with William in a completely new light.
Trapped and traumatized, and longing to regain her friendship with Jenny, Molly is about to receive a blow that will turn her life upside down. It seems Aunt Florrie lied about more than just her ability to commune with the dead: a truth hidden for years is about to emerge, and it will threaten not only Molly’s livelihood, but her very life.
Cover The Mirrors is a dark and zesty historical novel of distorted truths and suppressed Victorian desires.
... and my thoughts:
Addictive and unique writing, this novel immediately pulls the reader into protagonist Molly's world. It is a Victorian world, and Molly is a `real' Victorian girl, far flung from any stereotype. Molly is at once strong and vulnerable. She makes decisions not all of us would agree with, but even in this Molly remains likable and we understand her motivations right the way through the book.
This novel is unafraid to deal with the unsavoury side of birth and motherhood, life and death. It is a book of contrasts concerning those who are maternal and those who are not, those who are rich and those who are not. It is a human and raw story, fast-paced, evocative, colourful and distinctive. I recommend this book highly, read it and savour it.
Available here
and from your local bookshop.
