Cover the Mirrors
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Product Description
Product Description
Molly was fifteen when she began working with the dead . . .
Book Description
It is 1856 and Spiritualism is at the height of its popularity. Molly Pinner has left behind her childhood in the Preston slums and inherited her late aunt Florrie’s mantle as Preston’s most successful medium. It soon becomes clear that her aunt was something far more cunning than a magnet for the spirits of the dead, but Molly puts aside her qualms and takes well to her new trade. Molly’s relationship with her oldest friend, Jenny, is jeopardized when she begins a passionate affair with local businessman William Hamilton. Before she knows it, Molly finds herself married to a man she cannot love, and pregnant with a child she does not want. In desperation, she makes a decision that will cast her relationship with William in a completely new light. Trapped and traumatized, and longing to regain her friendship with Jenny, Molly is about to receive a blow that will turn her life upside down. It seems Aunt Florrie lied about more than just her ability to commune with the dead: a truth hidden for years is about to emerge, and it will threaten not only Molly’s livelihood, but her very life. Cover The Mirrors is a dark and zesty historical novel of distorted truths and suppressed Victorian desires.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I saw this book in my local bookshop and was intrigued enough to pick it up and read a couple of pages, it's wonderfully well written and clearly well researched. I've been a resident of Preston (where it is mostly set) for many years and it's quite clear that the author has spent a considerable amount of time walking the streets and doing her research to really give an insight into Victorian life. Even the most clued up Victorian era buff will learn new things and I enjoyed learning about techniques employed by early clarvoyants.
Although the story is historically accurate don't let that put you off if you are interested primarily in a good story as this book provides a real page turner. It's not a page turner in the sense that there is a cliffhanger after every 2 page chapter but you'll definitely want to read to the end as you are drawn into the story and feel empathy for the characters and you'll just want to find out what happens.
I don't write many reviews on Amazon, I do them mostly to draw attention to issues with products that would be of interest to buyers. This is the first time I've been compelled to write a review based purely on a book I have enjoyed and I hope it makes a few people consider purchasing this novel. It deserves to be selling a lot more copies!
Although the story is historically accurate don't let that put you off if you are interested primarily in a good story as this book provides a real page turner. It's not a page turner in the sense that there is a cliffhanger after every 2 page chapter but you'll definitely want to read to the end as you are drawn into the story and feel empathy for the characters and you'll just want to find out what happens.
I don't write many reviews on Amazon, I do them mostly to draw attention to issues with products that would be of interest to buyers. This is the first time I've been compelled to write a review based purely on a book I have enjoyed and I hope it makes a few people consider purchasing this novel. It deserves to be selling a lot more copies!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I loved this book and found the characters to be human and believable - a very welcome change from the stereotypical inhibited Victorians that are generally portrayed in fiction. Another reviewer has doubted the validity of Molly's passionate nature but if he/she were to do his/her research as well as (as he/she acknowledges) Booth has done, he/she would learn that the Victorians were not always as "Victorian" in their morals as we are generally led to believe!
I found the thread of the book easy to follow and and the descriptions of Victorian Preston consistent with the poverty and squallor that existed at that time for the lower class here in the North West of England. Maybe it is because I know the history of Preston (as well as the modern day city) that I can see Booth's uncanny affinity with life in Preston in the 19th century, whereas the other reviewer appears to be in New York.
No matter what personal views are held on the ethical issues surrounding abortion, Molly's (successful) abortion highlights the life threatening danger women placed themselves in at that time if they preferred not to become mothers.
This book is not about spiritualism - it is about Molly - who happens to earn her living through the kind of "spiritualism" that was prevalent at that time. I found this book to be a very welcome departure from the sweetly moralistic depictions of life in what was a very harsh and tough period of history and I for one can't wait until Booth's second book Trades of the Flesh is published in the summer.
I found the thread of the book easy to follow and and the descriptions of Victorian Preston consistent with the poverty and squallor that existed at that time for the lower class here in the North West of England. Maybe it is because I know the history of Preston (as well as the modern day city) that I can see Booth's uncanny affinity with life in Preston in the 19th century, whereas the other reviewer appears to be in New York.
No matter what personal views are held on the ethical issues surrounding abortion, Molly's (successful) abortion highlights the life threatening danger women placed themselves in at that time if they preferred not to become mothers.
This book is not about spiritualism - it is about Molly - who happens to earn her living through the kind of "spiritualism" that was prevalent at that time. I found this book to be a very welcome departure from the sweetly moralistic depictions of life in what was a very harsh and tough period of history and I for one can't wait until Booth's second book Trades of the Flesh is published in the summer.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I really wanted to like this book. Victorian Spiritualism has long been a fascination of mine and have a weakness for anything that's set locally (I'm a Lancastrian by adoption). The blurb seemed to set the stage for simmering passions and secrets of the trade, so how could I resist?
I wasn't far into the novel before realising I had made a mistake. As another reviewer has remarked, the chief problem with this story is Molly. She never comes fully to life as a character, her sole preoccupations being sex (continually) and her business (only when she has nothing better to do). It was particularly aggravating how every other character commented on how strong willed she was, when to my mind she lets herself be buffeted around by fate. She is extremely unsympathetic, especially when she lets William think he's responsible for her 'miscarriage'. I too found it very hard to accept she would have sex with a stranger in a public place. Not only is this outrageous behaviour for a Victorian, she originally hails from poverty and should know what such antics lead to (her friend Jenny being a case in point).
My other main complaint is the way spiritualism is handled. Yes, I'm glad it acknowledges most (if not all) mediums were fakes, but I felt it was poorly researched and generally unconvincing. At one point she's worried she's about to be exposed as a fraud and, to be frank, I wish she had; this would have been far more interesting than the melodramatic turn the plot took.
In short: disappointing, even for a debut. If you want to read a book about a Victorian medium, try Sarah Water's Affinity. I'm thankful this was a library book or I would have felt cheated.
I wasn't far into the novel before realising I had made a mistake. As another reviewer has remarked, the chief problem with this story is Molly. She never comes fully to life as a character, her sole preoccupations being sex (continually) and her business (only when she has nothing better to do). It was particularly aggravating how every other character commented on how strong willed she was, when to my mind she lets herself be buffeted around by fate. She is extremely unsympathetic, especially when she lets William think he's responsible for her 'miscarriage'. I too found it very hard to accept she would have sex with a stranger in a public place. Not only is this outrageous behaviour for a Victorian, she originally hails from poverty and should know what such antics lead to (her friend Jenny being a case in point).
My other main complaint is the way spiritualism is handled. Yes, I'm glad it acknowledges most (if not all) mediums were fakes, but I felt it was poorly researched and generally unconvincing. At one point she's worried she's about to be exposed as a fraud and, to be frank, I wish she had; this would have been far more interesting than the melodramatic turn the plot took.
In short: disappointing, even for a debut. If you want to read a book about a Victorian medium, try Sarah Water's Affinity. I'm thankful this was a library book or I would have felt cheated.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Poor Mills and Boon type rubblish '
Sorry Faye, I hate to ber so mean about your book - but it really is just a trumped up Mills and Boon - nice cover, blurb that grabs etc... Read more
Published on 2 Mar 2010 by Crazy Betty
A good read
I found this book a good average read. Nothing amazing, not a book i would rave about but i did enjoy it. Read more
Published on 17 Dec 2009 by Jessica Green
A gripping read
I could not put this book down, it captured my imagination from the first page and continued right until the end. Read more
Published on 15 Mar 2009 by S. D. Williams
Compelling and satisfying
I really loved this book. I was so gripped by it that I actually read it all in one go despite the fact it was late and I had work in the morning. Read more
Published on 15 Feb 2009 by R
dull
found this book very dissapointing and spent the whole novel waiting for the story to start to become interesting which in my opinion it never did. Just a waste of money
Published on 15 Feb 2009 by soukie
A different opinion here, I'm afraid
Molly Pinner is the only spiritualist in the town of Preston. After her aunt dies and leaves her the family business, Molly begins an affair with a local businessman named William... Read more
Published on 12 Nov 2008 by K. Huff
Delicious
A perfect book to read curled up by the fire. Booth creates a mid-Victorian world so convincing and detailed I'm wondering whether she experienced a previous incarnation in that... Read more
Published on 10 Dec 2007 by E. A. Graham
Looking forward to more from this author
Offering a glimpse behind the world of Victorian privilege, the world of calling cards and carriages, into the darker underbelly of desire and its consequences, "Cover the Mirrors"... Read more
Published on 22 Nov 2007 by Gillian
A very promising debut
This sparkling and dark debut novel is a tale of desires and dreams in Victorian Lancashire. Written with a delicate touch, the main character Molly and her travels from mere... Read more
Published on 13 Nov 2007 by doktorbuk
Addictive & Unique
Addictive and unique writing, this novel immediately pulls the reader into protagonist Molly's world. Read more
Published on 8 Nov 2007 by A. J. Kelly
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