sunsetxcocktail

I've picked this book up a few times in bookstores but never actually brought myself to buy it. While I love my paranormal in fictions, mediums just don't sit well with me. On the subject of mediums I'm a complete cynic. But when I renewed my library card the other weekend I saw this book and thought, why not. 

I was expecting from the blurb to get a book about a girl who is caught up in the glamorous Victorian world of mediums and spirit speakers and find out its all a scam and she's the one with the real power to speak to the dead. Which wasn't what I got at all. What I got was a very clever novel. 

While I may be a total cynic regarding mediums, I got so absorbed in this story I read it in two sittings. I could not put it down. It completely captivated my attention, and I can easily understand how back in Victorian times and settings its so easy to be ensured by the glamour and mysteriousness of the medium's world. As was our heroine, Velvet.

I really liked Velvet. Velvet, recently orphaned, a smart sensible girl desperately trying to make her way in the world with an awful job at a laundry she can barely cope with due to the terrible conditions when her fortune takes a turn for the better and she's taken in by a beautiful medium and her handsome assistant George. Reading about how the mediums pulled off their seances and speaking to the dead was fascinating.  I quite enjoyed the chapters of private sittings from the very rich (though not too bright) clients. But as the novel progressed Velvet starts to become suspicious, and when she's guilt tripped into doing something horrible for her employer whom she has come to love and respect greatly, things take a dark turning.  

I thought it was a very good read, a compelling plot, well written with great characters. 

Also crosses off the first square for my Spring 2015 Bookish Bingo challenge - Historical.