I’m really delighted today to be joining the blog tour for The Fascination by Essie Fox, and sharing my publication day review: published today by Orenda Books, this book is now available for kindle, in hardcover, and as an audiobook. My thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for the invitation and support, and to Karen Sullivan at Orenda for my advance reading e-copy.
Many readers will, I’m sure, be attracted by that glorious cover – or perhaps by the promise of its gothic content, or simply because Orenda Books rarely (never?) produce a book it’s impossible to enjoy. But I was drawn to it by the memory of one of Essie’s earlier books, The Last Days of Leda Grey – I read it way back in 2016, and, with its unique atmosphere and layers of secrets slowly unfurled, it had a tremendous emotional impact and left a profound impression (you can read my full review again here). I’ll admit that Victorian gothic is very far removed from my usual choice of reading these days, but I really couldn’t resist experiencing her wonderful writing once more…
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…
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 dark web of deceits, exposing unthinkable secrets and threatening everything they know…
Gothic, often dark, distinctly disturbing at times – a world so vividly created, and a story that drew me in from the opening pages and kept me enthralled throughout. My goodness, this was a quite wonderful read!
Tilly and Keziah’s father makes his living from selling his cure-all at the country fairgrounds they visit in their vardo – a cruel man, who also sees an opportunity in exploiting Tilly’s stunted growth while encouraging her addiction. After an abortive escape attempt, the twins are sold to the Captain, finding refuge among his entourage of rescued “freaks” and misfits – and where Tilly begins to follow a career on the stage, delighting audiences with her diminutive stature and voice of an angel. Meanwhile, Theo Seabrook – after a sad and lonely childhood – is cast out by his grandfather, a bitter and corrupt man with a taste for the bizarre who has plans to take a new wife, finding a home and employment with Dr Summerwell’s Museum of Anatomy in London. This is where their stories become intertwined, when Theo’s fascination with the sisters – and Keziah’s trust in him as “God’s gift” – leads them all into the path of life-threatening danger.
Everything about this book is absolute perfection – unlike the world it depicts, rife with exploitation and moral corruption, and where life lacks value when an individual is anything less than perfect. There’s an all-pervading darkness, an atmosphere of threat and creeping darkness that chills – and the level of suspense that develops and is sustained throughout the story makes it a particularly compelling read. And yet there are moments of exquisite tenderness too, when differences are set aside – with a particular beauty distinctly at odds with the surrounding miasma of noxiousness.
The story is told in part by Keziah, partly from Theo’s viewpoint – and the author’s writing keeps you right by their sides throughout, present throughout their every experience, horrified at times by some of the twists and turns but entirely unable to look away. The characterisation is simply superb – every individual within its substantial cast entirely real and completely rounded, some of them wholly sympathetic, others believable personifications of pure evil.
The whole story is, of course, the product of the author’s exceptional imagination – but the depth of detailed research that underpins it all breathes life into her creation. Intensely moving throughout, the injustices and prejudice that the book uncovered sometimes made me weep, or moved me to anger – but there was one small nugget of information held back until near the end that filled me with warmth, gave me a feeling of hope, and even left an unexpected smile on my face.
This really was an exceptional read – unforgettable for its imagery and the depth of emotion the story provoked, the writing exquisite in every way, with characters who will live in my heart (and others, perhaps, in my nightmares…) for a very long time. Without question, this will be one of my books of the year.
About the author
Essie Fox was born and raised in rural Herefordshire, which inspires much of her writing. After studying English Literature at Sheffield University, she moved to London where she worked for the Telegraph Sunday Magazine, and then book publishers George Allen & Unwin, before becoming self-employed in the world of art and design. Essie now spends her time writing historical gothic novels. Her debut, The Somnambulist, was shortlisted for the National Book Awards, and featured on Channel 4’s TV Book Club. The Last Days of Leda Grey, set in the early years of silent film, was selected as The Times Historical Book of the Month. Essie is also the creator of the popular blog: The Virtual Victorian. She has lectured on this era at the V&A, and the National Gallery in London.
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Thanks for the blog tour support x