The Fascination: The INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER … This year’s most bewitching, beguiling Victorian gothic novel
£5.70
The estranged grandson of a wealthy collector of human curiosities becomes fascinated with teenaged twin sisters, leading them into a web of dark obsessions. A dazzlingly dark gothic novel from the bestselling author of The Somnambulist.
`Makes skilful use of the tropes of Victorian gothic fiction… a story of society’s outsiders seeking acceptance and redemption´ Sunday Times Book of the Month
`Mysterious, sometimes shocking, full of surprises and twists … brimming with Victorian wonders!´ Sean Lusk
`A magical, macabre masterpiece´ A.J. West
`Fascinating and immersive´ Anna Mazzola
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Victorian England. A world of rural fairgrounds and glamorous London theatres. A world of dark secrets and deadly obsessions…
Twin sisters Keziah and Tilly Lovell are identical in every way, except that Tilly hasn’t grown a single inch since she was five. Coerced into promoting their father’s quack elixir as they tour the country fairgrounds, at the age of fifteen the girls are sold to a mysterious Italian known as `Captain´.
Theo is an orphan, raised by his grandfather, Lord Seabrook, a man who has a dark interest in anatomical freaks and other curiosities … particularly the human kind. Resenting his grandson for his mother’s death in childbirth, when Seabrook remarries and a new heir is produced, Theo is forced to leave home without a penny to his name.
Theo finds employment in Dr Summerwell’s Museum of Anatomy in London, and here he meets Captain and his theatrical ‘family’ of performers, freaks and outcasts.
But it is Theo’s fascination with Tilly and Keziah that will lead all of them into a web of deceits, exposing the darkest secrets and threatening everything they know…
Exploring universal themes of love and loss, the power of redemption and what it means to be unique, The Fascination is an evocative, glittering and bewitching gothic novel that brings alive Victorian London – and darkness and deception that lies beneath…
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`An opium trance of a novel, a vivid fantasmagoria´ Noel O’Reilly
`Deliciously dark, full of twists and surprises´ Liz Hyder
`Filled with gothic darkness and glorious hope´ Liz Fenwick
`Rich, dark and heady … a glorious gothic carnival´ Kate Griffin
`Truly unexpected and original´ Kate Forsyth
`Beautifully researched, full of horrors and delights´ Bridget Walsh
`A cast of characters Dickens would be proud of´ Frances Quinn
`A dizzying potion of a novel´ Polly Crosby
`A twisty, gothic´ Rebecca John
`Rich in peril, tempered with strange, theatrical beauty´ Kate Mascarenhas
`Haunting and emotive´ Gill Paul
`A gorgeously gothic slice of Victoriana´ Katherine Clements
`Very fine historical fiction´ Emma Carroll
`So inventive and surprising´ Juliet West
`A sumptuous, gothic treat´ Caroline Green
`A wonderful, captivating carnival of a novel´ Elizabeth Fremantle
`Wonderfully vivid and touching´ Adele Geras
`I loved this story of a group of wonderful others´ Marika Cobbold
`Atmospheric, gripping and ultimately uplifting´ Karen Coles
`Richly detailed, beautifully written´ Michael J Malone
`The very best kind of gothic´ Lianne Dillsworth
`Masterful´ Louise Swanson
`A kaleidoscopic, twisting, devilish novel´ Dan Bassett, Bookseller
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Additional information
| Publisher | ORENDA BOOKS (22 Jun. 2023) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| File size | 3678 KB |
| Text-to-Speech | Enabled |
| Screen Reader | Supported |
| Enhanced typesetting | Enabled |
| X-Ray | Not Enabled |
| Word Wise | Enabled |
| Sticky notes | On Kindle Scribe |
| Print length | 353 pages |
by Spilly
This book will be a disappointment to any Victorianists. It is over written, quite unpleasant and predictable.
by Amazon Customer
I loved this book all the great character so beautifully written that I was able to pictures it all in my mind.
It was a beautiful book, that I wanted to just keep reading..
by J. Wilson
From the very first page I knew I was going to love this book. The writing is superb and the twisting plot is truly ingenious. The novel is set in late Victorian England and takes us from country fairgrounds to London back streets, each setting so vividly drawn I felt I was there, breathing in the smell of dewy grass on Windsor fields or the greasepaint and gas flames of Drury Lane theatres. Add to this an unusual – but totally believable – cast of characters and you have all the ingredients for a brilliant page turner. I devoured The Fascination and look forward to reading more by this author.
by Spicewalker
As you probably know, I don’t read a lot of historical fiction, but I do love a touch of the gothic and a good atmospheric read and, reading the blurb for The Fascination, I knew I was going to get a touch of exactly that. With her latest novel, Essie Fox transports us to Victorian England, a time where being different marked you out as a curiosity, an oddity that was considered both fascinating and grotesque. Our first taste of this comes at the very start of the book, when we meet Theo, one of our key protagonists whose point of view we follow for a good part of the novel, as he is introduced to his Grandfather’s ‘collection’. A dark room full of malformed skeletons and other strange items which come to have a very profound effect on Theo’s very young and impressionable mind. It sets up the story perfectly, for the blend of mystery and misdirection that is to come. It’s a beautiful study in prejudice, forcing us as readers to think long and hard about who the real freaks and monsters are.
I liked Theo as a character. As an orphan under his Grandfather’s less than loving care it is hard to see how he could grow up with even a hint of compassion, and yet there is something about him, a kindness that belies the treatment and lack of love he experienced in his formative years. But there is also a kind of quirk about him that is hard to put your finger on but which Essie Fox exposes quite carefully, choosing the right moments to inform readers of elements of his personality that mark him out as different to his Grandfather, and to those about him. Whether those differences are rooted in darkness or just curiosity, we have to wait to find out.
Alongside Theo’s story, we are told the story of twin sisters Keziah and Tilly Lovell. They too are brought up in a less than loving household, with a father who would rather exploit their differences for his own gain than show them the care they deserve. Their story is told more from Keziah’s point of view and we are privy to her thoughts, her judgements and assessments when it comes to understanding Tilly as a character. Keziah is the more dominant character of the two but Tilly perhaps the most precious. Tilly is the girl who never grew up. The girl who is blessed with the talents Keziah can only dream of, but also someone she is fiercely protective of. I liked her tough spirit, but also the way that the author explores her insecurities and her natural distrust of others. It felt authentic and added to the need to race through the story, wanting to see both sisters safely through whatever was to come.
This is actually quite a powerful story, packed with as much emotion as it is suspense and mystery. When you look at the various characters, from Theo to Keziah and Tilly, and to the people around them who inform their lives in various ways, it is so easy to feel anger at the injustices they suffer. Essie Fox has made them sympathetic without them appearing weak. There is a strength in each of them, a defiance that makes them compelling characters to read about. When it comes to the enigmatic Captain and his family, the ‘bear’ Aleski, and Martha, a woman whose cleft palate has seen her abused and mistreated, they are beautifully portrayed, capturing that sense of existing on the fringes of society, but still forging their own path to acceptance through the theatre. Their individual stories are told in a way that invokes anger, and shows a far greater display of humanity in those that society would shun as monsters and freaks.
There is tension that runs throughout the book, one which draws us slowly and carefully to a very powerful and dramatic conclusion. There are so many scenes where I felt the hackles go up, that knowledge that something bad, perhaps even evil, was about to happen. Those moments where the injustices are really brought to the fore and the entitlement of certain characters made the skin crawl and the blood boil. So many scenes that had me holding my breath and powering through the pages, both unsettled, but sadly not surprised by the actions of the antagonists in this particular drama. The language and imagery is so evocative, I felt as though I was there in the heart of the action, willing on our protagonists towards a hopefully positive conclusion. And just when I thought that every secret had been unveiled Essie Fox still had the capacity to surprise, dropping one final bombshell that was both unexpected and fitting. One that left me with a perfect smile on my face.
If you like a novel that has a gothic feel, one which is filled with colourful and enthralling characters and underpinned with dark deeds and fetishistic desires, that will and force you to think about power, family, compassion, obsession and will move you in unexpected ways, this is definitely a book you’ll want to read. It speaks to the very essence of humanity, and how love and friendships starts with acceptance of differences, not exploitation. The Fascination is the perfect title, both for the subject matter and for how I felt when reading. Highly recommended.
by Julie-Ann
An intoxicating story, filled with suspense, a myriad of emotions and intriguing mysteries.
With a cast of characters to love, Theo, Tilly and Keziah and the enigmatic ‘Captain,’ this is a Victorian gothic tale not to be missed. Fox at her very best. Highly recommended.
by Gabriela Dustour
Very nice book, I enjoyed it.
Quick shipping too.
by Philippa
After seeing the great reviews for this I was really keen to read this, as it’s definitely my style of book, but found this very disappointing. Most of the characters are unengaging and the storylines unbelievable. I got to the end and thought ‘is that it’.
by Sally Zigmond
… and “the acceptance of others.”
Historical novelist, Elsie Fox’s knowledge of the dark side of 19th and early 20th century England is profound. From The Somnambulist, The Goddess and The Thief and The Last Days of Leda Grey to The Fascination, her novels bring us the underbelly of Pantomimes, Fairy Takes, Freak Shows and entertainment from The Music Hall to the cinema and reveals, the cruelty and exploitation of those born to illness or growth impairment, such as dwarfism, Cleft palate and tumours. In the past, such people were either laughed at or caged and gawped at to fill their pockets of those who exploit them, most of whom are cruel tricksters.
Today, doctors and scientists can cure or mend such things due to advances in medicine and the understanding of genetics. With this has come knowledge, understanding and acceptance.
I have loved all of this author’s novels. To me, The Fascination is the best so far.