Evie Woolmore – Cleopatra Loves Books

Historical Fiction 4*'s — Historical Fiction
4*’s

One evening in May 1903 Martha Collett goes down the steps in Wapping into the river. The former servant girl has left the workhouse determined to leave the disappointments of her life behind. This is the start to this historical book by Evie Woolmore.

The historical element centres on the spiritual acts that were popular in the early twentieth century. Martha and her sister, Epiphany initially hone their act in the North before deciding that the time is right to return to London and reclaim the child that Martha left behind. By chance Martha and Epiphany, now in the guise of Mrs Hearn and Miss Fortune, are invited to hold a séance in the very house where Martha used to work, the home of Rafe Lyward. The very Rafe Lyward who is the father of the baby they returned to London to reclaim.

Adelia the lady of the house is an unhappy woman, her brother died in Africa and along with her sister-in-law Flora she longs to know the truth of what happened to him. The question is will Miss Fortune be able to summon his spirit to put the living at peace?

I am not really a believer in the supernatural so I had some reservations about this book which were quickly dispelled. Martha is a believable character a woman who has had to make difficult decisions just as many women did at this time. Poor Adelia does not fit into Edwardian England having an enquiring this intelligent woman is trapped by society’s expectations. As such this is a fascinating study of women at the opposite ends of society at the turn of the twentieth century. This is a well-plotted story which offered so much more than I expected.

I received a free copy of this book in return for my honest opinion.

To read more about this book and others by Evie Woolmore (all currently available for kindle at the bargain price of 99p) visit Allonymbooks.com

Magical Realism, Visionary, Paranormal…? EM Havens and Evie Woolmore in conversation (allonymbooks.com)
Terrific review of Evie Woolmore’s The Salt Factory at Read Dream Relax (allonymbooks.com)
allonymbooks: quality, independent publishing of excellent fiction (allonymbooks.com)

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• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
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I am currently reading Equilibrium by Evie Woolmore

I am about half-way through this book and despite my fear that this wouldn’t be for me. I am really enjoying it. The stage act of the mediums in the early twentieth century is fascinating and I have got caught up in trying to work out what happened to Dacre, Lady Amelia’s brother. This is a fantastic bargain at 99p on Amazon.co.uk

Epiphany and Martha are sisters with a stage mediumship act in Edwardian London. When they are asked to give a private spiritualist reading at the home of Lady Adelia Lyward to find out the truth about her brother’s death, Martha must face up to her past. For two years ago, her affair with Lord Rafe Lyward ended in pregnant disgrace, and her attempted suicide in the River Thames. But there is more at stake than Martha’s anonymous return, for Epiphany bears the burden of restoring the equilibrium, not just to the Lywards but to her sister and ultimately to herself.

The Historical Novel Society review “recommends “Equilibrium” to readers who enjoy historical fiction with spiritualist influences.” Amazon

Find more about the other books Evie Woolmore has written here

I have just finished The Bridesmaid by Jenny Scotti which features the murder of a 16 girl in an English village populated by the worst kind of villagers

Click on the cover to read my review

Next I plan to read The Last Boat by John F. Hanley. This book is based in Jersey at the time of the German Occupation and follows on from his first book Against the Tide.

Read a little bit more about these books and the author by clicking on the book cover