- Hardcover: 359 pages
- Publisher: Crown Publishers; 1 edition (15 May 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0307352846
- ISBN-13: 978-0307352842
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,222,357 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
London, 1896: Dr. Ambrose Gennett can’t shake the fear that gripped him when he heard her voice. On the train platform in Kensington, he went to the aid of a woman hurt in an accident. He didn’t know her, but she knew him–she saw things he had never revealed to anyone. She spoke prophecy and then disappeared into the crowd.
Gennett is a “mad doctor,” one of the few physicians in London aware of the new Freudian theories of the mind. His confidence shaken by the encounter, Gennett vows to find this young woman again, partly to help her and largely to prove to himself that she is not as supernatural as she seems. She has to be either mistaken or mad.
The truth is much worse.
Lily Embly is a fake medium but a real psychic–or at least she believes she is. Struggling to free herself from a lifetime of poverty and schooled as a charlatan by her mother, Lily works the strings and magnets of trickery at séances that have become wildly popular in Victorian England. Her false spirit messages are guided by the tarot cards and horoscopes she consults in secret. But when her mother falls ill, debt threatens to destroy them both.
Desperate, Lily has teamed up with a dangerous con man, Monsieur St. Aubin, to pull off a risky–and potentially very lucrative–séance. And when Gennett discovers that his own sister has fallen under the sway of the spiritual frenzy that has gripped the city, his sanity depends on exposing Lily as a fraud.
Only one can be right, and only one will survive.
Richly atmospheric, In the Tenth House conjures up a world of obsession and passion; it transports readers to an era that saw science and faith collide. Full of wit, insight, and fascinating historical detail, it is an astonishing debut.
Gennett is a “mad doctor,” one of the few physicians in London aware of the new Freudian theories of the mind. His confidence shaken by the encounter, Gennett vows to find this young woman again, partly to help her and largely to prove to himself that she is not as supernatural as she seems. She has to be either mistaken or mad.
The truth is much worse.
Lily Embly is a fake medium but a real psychic–or at least she believes she is. Struggling to free herself from a lifetime of poverty and schooled as a charlatan by her mother, Lily works the strings and magnets of trickery at séances that have become wildly popular in Victorian England. Her false spirit messages are guided by the tarot cards and horoscopes she consults in secret. But when her mother falls ill, debt threatens to destroy them both.
Desperate, Lily has teamed up with a dangerous con man, Monsieur St. Aubin, to pull off a risky–and potentially very lucrative–séance. And when Gennett discovers that his own sister has fallen under the sway of the spiritual frenzy that has gripped the city, his sanity depends on exposing Lily as a fraud.
Only one can be right, and only one will survive.
Richly atmospheric, In the Tenth House conjures up a world of obsession and passion; it transports readers to an era that saw science and faith collide. Full of wit, insight, and fascinating historical detail, it is an astonishing debut.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book was recommended to me for the science content, but what's really grabbed me is the complex portrait of spiritualism. I'd always thought of Victorian seances as parlour games. This book shows the full sweep of ghost-botherers: dabblers, true believers, scientific investigators, fanatical debunkers, and a truly fantastic set of shameless frauds. The author captures the ambiguity and uncertainty of the time. You'd like to think that, if you were there, you'd see through the fakes. This book will make you wonder if you'd be swept up in ghost-mania just like everyone else. Add to that great atmosphere and cracking, fast-paced plot, and you have a brilliant, if slightly unsettling, read. I'll definitely recommend it to others.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Neo-Victorianism has become increasingly popular - John Fowles, A.S. Byatt and, most recently, Sarah Waters have all gained success in the genre, generally focusing on aspects of sexuality - incest and homosexuality for example - which `real' Victorian novels tended to avoid. Many of these authors seem to take Victorian sensation novels as their models - Sarah Waters' Fingersmith, in particular, recalls Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White and Mary Braddon's Lady Audley's Secret.
Laura Dietz's impressive first novel is rather different - although the topic of spiritualism is potentially sensational this is a subtle and cerebral novel which has clearly been meticulously researched. It reminded me of Henry James far more than Wilkie Collins and needs to be read attentively - probably more than once. In The Tenth House doesn't yield easy answers, and this is part of its power and appeal.
Laura Dietz's impressive first novel is rather different - although the topic of spiritualism is potentially sensational this is a subtle and cerebral novel which has clearly been meticulously researched. It reminded me of Henry James far more than Wilkie Collins and needs to be read attentively - probably more than once. In The Tenth House doesn't yield easy answers, and this is part of its power and appeal.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
6 reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Like being there
27 May 2007
Format:Hardcover
The best novels for me are the ones that create a whole world. I like history, like Sebastian Faulks, for what you learn, and fantasy, like Philip Pullman, for the imagination. This book has both. The research is incredible. Victorian settings can be kind of tired, but the ghost stories and weird happenings made it fresh and surprising for me (is she psychic, or is she crazy?). Altogether, it's like stepping through a door into a different time.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Taut story about obsession in Victorian England
21 Jun 2007
Format:Hardcover
In the Tenth House by Laura Dietz is a literary thriller full of twists and turns. Ambrose Gennett, respected alienist in Victorian London, observes Lily Embley at the Victoria Station as she bumps into a man and is knocked down. He rushes to her aid and her reaction to his help startles and intrigues him. Her ramblings sound like prophesies or do her prophesies sound like rambing? Her words about a threat to his mother's safety causes him to rush to his family home, only to find his mother is perfect, if absent-minded, health. He curses himself for believing Lily's nonsense, but finds that he can't get her out of his head and begins to pursue her. Lily and her mother Carola are mediums, and masters at their game of deception and misleading, but they are behind in the rent and living in fear of a loanshark named Bettering. Lily sees Gennett as the Page of Cups and decides that fate has brought them together, but for what reason she doesn't know. Gennett and Lily justify their fascination and obsession with each other in their own way. Gennett determines to expose her trickery and that of all spiritualists in an attempt to free not only his sister from their sway, but also for the betterment of the world's mental health. Lily sees their relationship as deemed by fate and refuses to aid or deter Gennett. Lily is truly a passive vessel in the story. She is whatever is expected of her and when she finally takes action on her own, it brings about destruction for them both. Gennett won't admit to desiring Lily, so he sabotages his own career and reputation. Working in the background against them both are Bettering and Gennett's sister Ernestine. Each work as puppetmasters manipulating everyone for their own reasons. Dietz gives detail about both the spiritualism movement as well as the beginnings of Freudian psychology with engaging ability. The tension in the story tightens subtly, almost unnoticeably, until the climax between Gennett and Lily. The epilogue is almost a given, but a sad one at that. Victorian mores are present in every scene and the writing is equally restrained. It's not always an easy read, but it's worth the effort.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
An excellent read
2 Jun 2007
Format:Hardcover
"In the Tenth House" is about the conflict between two people's ideas about how the world works. In addition to their different professions-- Ambrose is a scientist, and Lily a psychic-- the main characters represent the divides of male vs. female, wealth vs. poverty, and status vs. infamy. As Lily and Ambrose's lives become intertwined, they begin to question their fixed viewpoints, but not soon enough to avert tragedy. I liked the complex characters and how the historical setting is shown through their eyes. This novel is a bit heavy on the ideas, but it's still a fast-paced and enjoyable read.
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