The London Séance Society
Books | Fiction / Historical / General
4.2
Sarah Penner
"An atmospheric and evocative whodunnit steeped in suspense, mystery, and illusion." —Nita Prose, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The MaidTHE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERFrom the author of the sensational bestseller The Lost Apothecary comes a spellbinding tale about two daring women who hunt for truth and justice in the perilous art of conjuring the dead.1873. At an abandoned château on the outskirts of Paris, a dark séance is about to take place, led by acclaimed spiritualist Vaudeline D’Allaire. Known worldwide for her talent in conjuring the spirits of murder victims to ascertain the identities of the people who killed them, she is highly sought after by widows and investigators alike.Lenna Wickes has come to Paris to find answers about her sister’s death, but to do so, she must embrace the unknown and overcome her own logic-driven bias against the occult. When Vaudeline is beckoned to England to solve a high-profile murder, Lenna accompanies her as an understudy. With shared determination, the women find companionship that perhaps borders on something more. And as they team up with the powerful men of London’s exclusive Séance Society to solve the mystery, they begin to suspect that they are not merely out to solve a crime, but perhaps entangled in one themselves…Written with intoxicating suspense and sultry prose, The London Séance Society is an entrancing tale that blurs the lines between truth and illusion, and reveals the grave risks women will take to avenge the ones they love."Penner brings history to vivid life in this atmospheric and evocative whodunnit." —Nita Prose, author of The MaidNamed a Most Anticipated book by Good Housekeeping, Washington Post, Bookpage, CrimeReads, Readers Digest, Popsugar, LitHub, E! News, Goodreads, and more
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More Details:
Author
Sarah Penner
Pages
352
Publisher
Harlequin
Published Date
2023-03-07
ISBN
0369726014 9780369726018
Community ReviewsSee all
"Sarah Penner weaves an absolute literary masterpiece of a novel, from beginning to end (each piece of dialogue, each story beat, each moment of lesbian pining and yearning). Each moment of fear and atmospheric writing had my heart racing and me tugging at the collar of my shirt as if it were too tight to breathe correctly. It is clear that an excellent amount of research went into the creation of this novel - apparent in even just the discussions about France and London in the 1870s and the differences in their attitudes towards same sex relationships between women. <br/><br/>The subtlety, the brushing of hands - of lips on the backs of them, was all written so beautifully - almost lyrically but never over the top - in nature. The stressful miscommunications and misunderstandings that come with the drama of a historical relationship were all resolved in just the right amount of time to make me frustrated with whichever character was seemingly being stupid - but also was always resolved satisfyingly. <br/><br/>Despite Evie being dead right at the beginning of the novel, the relationship between her and Lenna is made painfully clear throughout the length of the novel, with the resulting seance tying up all the loose ends, and not tugging, not pulling, but tearing and ripping at the heartstrings of any one that is an older sibling. I nearly forgot that there was a seven year age gap between Lenna and Vaudeline due to how respectfully and beautifully their relationship was written. As someone who doesn't care for **** in any form, the way that the scene of Lenna is written early on was enough that I genuinely found myself enjoying it - the gay yearning of it all. The relationship was well developed - especially for a standalone not even near breaking 400 pages, and a very respectful representation (in my opinion that is, as a lesbian myself) and I adored every minute we got with them. <br/><br/>As far as our dark mystery, it was exceedingly well paced and plotted, and the big bad is "hidden" so well to the point that I may have put the happenings together and was able to guess of the larger evils, I could never have guessed at the identity of the big bad of the story. Overall this was gorgeous, well thought out and researched murder mystery historical fiction, complete with a beautiful side romance. The sibling relationship was heart breaking as an older sister to a younger sister, and the feather and amber scene (I won't say more so I don't genuinely spoil it) was so beautiful I cried. <br/><br/>Bravo Sarah Penner, you did amazing!"
J S
Jillian Selwyn
"Fun Fact… [b:The Lost Apothecary|53288434|The Lost Apothecary|Sarah Penner|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1593013000l/53288434._SY75_.jpg|74516135]by[a:Sarah Penner|19788573|Sarah Penner|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1582667763p2/19788573.jpg] was groundbreaking for my reading, as it was my first audiobook ever that I actually enjoyed! (I laugh thinking at my .75 speed then). <br/><br/>I knew that I couldn’t read this book without getting the audiobook also (2.5 speed nowadays"
J L
Jodie L
"Wow! Wow! Wow! Sarah Penner knocks it out of the park with this one. I couldn’t put this book down, the magic, the suspense and the chapters had me staying up late to keep turning pages. "
H S
Heather Salas
"This was amazing! There were so many twists! 100% recommend! "
L
Levi
"3.5 stars"
A J
Andrea Jaffray
"This was a slow read for me. I actually like the story about Evie. Her character had more personality than her sister Lenna. Lenna’s character has two major focuses. Finding out who killed her sister and her obsessive crush on her boss. I just done see the hype for this book."
T G
Tanya Grayson Andoniadis
"This was so good."
S B
Sarah Bear
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