Katherine Harbour's Blog - Posts Tagged "spirits"

We Hear the Dead
Maggie and Kate Fox, in turn-of-the-century New York, become the first celebrity mediums after they stage a prank that soon makes them famous. This fictional account of the true story of two fascinating young women reminded me of Little Women in its depiction of their dramatic lives. Kate soon begins believing she's a channel for the spirits, while Maggie feels guilty about what she's doing and is soon being romanced by the adventurer Elisha Kane. It's a fascinating story for anyone interested in spiritualism or the lives of young women in that time period. Whether or not the two girls really did communicate with a spirit named Splitfoot or not remains a mystery, but human remains were found beneath their house. Yet this is not a supernatural story, but a historical one, and no less interesting because of that.

In the Shadow of Blackbirds
In the year 1918, World War I and an influenza epidemic are raging. Mary Shelley arrives in San Diego, California to live with her Aunt Eva because her father has been arrested for his anti-war opinions. Influenza is a horror, a cross between pneumonia and the Black Plague. Add to that Mary Shelley's loss of Stephen, the boy she loved, in the war, and you've got a damaged heroine, my favorite kind. Then Mary Shelly encounters Julius, Stephen's drug-addicted older brother, who fakes spirit photography. She realizes not all of spirituality is false, however, when Stephen contacts her from beyond the grave. Mary Shelley's courage in the face of the plague and learning how Stephen actually died is fantastic. The mystery of his death is what kept me speeding through the pages. A great historical/supernatural story.