June 1, 2013
Three Victorian teens in 1901 Cambridge, England, become perilously embroiled in the Society for Metaphysical Research's deadly investigations of paranormal phenomena. After masquerading as a spirit apparition for a charlatan medium, 14-year-old Kate Poole finds herself on the street when society members expose her employer's fraudulent practices. Desperate and pragmatic, Kate arrives at Summerfield College, where society member Oliver Thompson discovers she's the illegitimate daughter of his late friend and offers her a temporary job. Here, Kate meets Thompson's impulsive niece, Elsie Atherton, and skeptical Asher Beale, son of Thompson's American colleague. Elsie suffers from seizures, during which she sees and hears spirits of the recently deceased, while Asher's estranged from his father and at loose ends. When several dead bodies surface on campus, raising disturbing questions, Kate, Elsie and Asher bond as they explore how far society members will go to test their theories of near-death experience. Gensler captures the suspenseful atmosphere of a time when people were obsessed with the paranormal and loosely bases many characters on historical figures prominent in psychical research during this period. Lovers of intrigue should enjoy this lively Victorian mystery whose teen heroes experience danger, romance and ethical dilemmas as they delve into "the dark between." (author's note with references) (Historical fiction. 12 & up)
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October 1, 2013
Gr 8 Up-When Kate Poole loses her job assisting a medium in defrauding grieving Spiritualist believers out of their money at the turn of the 20th century, the orphaned British teen has nowhere to turn. She seeks out lodging at Summerfield College, run by Mr. Thompson, who used to be good friends with the father who could not openly acknowledge her birth. Kate meets Thompson's niece, Elsie, who is suffering a strange condition that has her hooked on the same drug that killed Kate's mother, and Asher Beale, a young man estranged from his American father. The teens have each come to the college to escape the past, but they find their futures entwined as they investigate the death of Kate's friend, Billy. Reality and seemingly impossible phenomena begin to blend as Elsie discovers that without the dampening effects of her medication, she is able to communicate with the dead. Strange visions, photographic clues, and research into the local group of fringe scientists lead the teens to discover a real murderer preying on the dregs of society for his own nefarious purposes. Telepathy, communication with the dead, and electroshock therapy are all explored by the scientists and scholars in Kate Poole's town. The blending of the empirical and the ethereal creates a vivid and intriguing backdrop for this murder mystery. The teens are fully developed characters with well-defined motives for their actions, and the story will evoke empathy from readers.-Jessica Miller, West Springfield Public Library, MA
Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
August 1, 2013
Grades 9-12 Elsie, Kate, and Asher all have secrets to hide. But when they find themselves in the midst of an investigation into a series of unusual deaths at Summerfield College in Cambridge, they need to learn to trust each other as they work together to uncover the truth behind the deaths at the Metaphysical Society, whose members are dedicated to learning about the intricate, enigmatic goings-on of the human brain and its connection to psychic phenomena. As the teens search through the seedy underbelly of early-twentieth-century Cambridge, they discover a corrupt element of the organization whose research into the use of electricity to achieve psychic states has been used on misfortunate street urchins and vagrants. Adding to the paranormal elements are Kate's career as a spirit apparition, their experiments with spirit photography, and Elsie's apoplectic episodes, which allow her to communicate with the dead. Gensler (The Revenant, 2011) imbues her latest with plenty of information on the history of psychic research as well as a healthy dose of romance.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)
January 1, 2014
After losing her job as a corrupt medium's assistant, Kate finds that spiritualism and siances have an even stronger hold on her than she expected. Mysterious disappearances have been occurring, and she enlists the frail psychic Elsie and skeptical Asher to find out the truth. This otherwise engrossing Victorian-era mystery has inconsistent characterization and a dissatisfying and abrupt ending.
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