The London Seance Society
The London Seance Society
Author: Sarah Penner
Genre: Historical Fiction
Format: Digital ARC
Publish Date: March 2023
Read: October 2022
Story Synopsis: Thank you to the publishers & NetGalley for this Advanced Reader Copy (ARC)!
Great for fans of historical fiction, mystery, and LGBTQ romance novels, The London Seance Society weaves a tale of mystery, heartache, love, and murder in 1800s London. Lenna, a young Englishwoman, lives in Paris under the tutelage of Vaudeline D’Allaire - a powerful medium who contacts murder victims to discover the identity of their killers. Vaudeline receives a request to visit London and identify the killer of a friend and longtime leader of The London Seance Society, Mr. Volkman. Lenna travels with Vaudeline under the guise of continued mediumship training but plans to secretly investigate her sister Evie’s murder.
Thoughts & Feelings: I had high, high hopes for The London Seance Society after Penner’s debut novel, The Lost Apothecary was one of my favorite books read in 2021. he London Seance Society started strong. In the late 1800s, women could be friends but not lovers, and I always enjoy seeing LGBTQ representation in historical fiction. However, as the book progressed, I was disappointed there was not more in the way of mediumship and seances, and the book was more like a mystery. The end also felt extremely rushed. I also hated that Lenna’s part was written in the third person, while another character was written in the first person. It felt disjointed. And there are massive issues and implications with it for the story, but I won’t say more to avoid spoilers.
Rating: 3.5/5 Stars