- Hardcover: 352 pages
- Publisher: Orion (9 July 2020)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1409179877
- ISBN-13: 978-1409179870
Synopsis
Viola has an impossible talent. Searching for meaning in her grief, she uses her photography to feel closer to her late father, taking solace from the skills he taught her – and to keep her distance from her husband. But her pictures seem to capture things invisible to the eye . . .
Henriette is a celebrated spirit medium, carrying nothing but her secrets with her as she travels the country. When she meets Viola, a powerful connection is sparked between them – but Victorian society is no place for reckless women.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, invisible threads join Viola and Henriette to another woman who lives in secrecy, hiding her dangerous act of rebellion in plain sight.
Review
Spirited has a split time line taking the reader for 1843 to 1861, but with the main plot taking place in 1858. In 1848 the plot centers on the the lives of Viola, Henriette and Jonah. Viola and Jonah have been promised to each other since they were children, but both are changed by grief and loss. Jonah has spent the last few years in Delhi where he was caught up in the siege, and hailed a hero after saving the life of his friends daughter, but this was at the cost of the death of a person he loved. Henriette enters their lives, her spirit guide with a message for Jonah from Delhi throwing him into turmoil, and feelings of guilt towards Viola. As Viola starts up her photography again, strange shadows appear in her photos who resemble lost loved ones of those sitting for the photograph. The second plot line is Jonah’s story of his time in Delhi and beign involved in the rebellion that saw many killed on both sides. Whilst there he becomes entangled in forbidden love affair, that ends in tragedy and fuels his guilt of being a bad husband to Viola. The third plot line is the story of Hattie, a maid at Upcross Hall, who becomes Henriette Blackthorne. These three threads knit together to reveal a story of love, loss, betrayal and faith in Victorian England.
Spirited grabbed me from the first page that cleverly opens with the arrest warrant for Viola for fraud after selling a photo pertaining to show an image of a ghost. With this intriguing opener I just had to find out how she ended up in this frighteneing situation. As a character Viola is the last person you would expect to be arrested. She is a vicar’s daughter recently married to her childhood friend, and her father’s ward Jonah, and a respectable young woman. She is caught up in her grief for her father and also for her marriage to Jonah, who is a changed man since his return from India, and there is a distance between them. It is her friendship with Henriette that brings her out of her shell, giving her the courage to try new experiences and ultimately take up her photography again, the thing that strengthens her ties to Henriette. Neither Viola of Jonah are believers of speaking to the spirits, but it is Jonah the spirit guide talks to, taking him back to the horrors of the siege in Delhi, and ultimately to the loss of someone he loved. It is this lost love that has changed him and makes him feel guilt about Viola, as if he has betrayed her. Jonah’s story is heartbreaking, he is in turmoil and mentally scarred by his experiences and loss, and can’t help but secretly visit Henriette to help his guilt. Henriette herself is the most intriguing character. She started life as a maid who became obsessed with the the French governess at Upcross Hall, listening in to the lessons and teaching herself French. Circumstances take her to London, and after meeting her husband changes her name and more importantly her life. As a medium, she is renound, has been in some of the grandest salons in Europe plying her trade. She always seems to keep her distance from people, incase she has to leave in a hurry, until she meets Viola. Henriette and Viola are both lonely, there is a void in their lives that the other can fill. Julie Cohen’s character development of all three central characters is brilliant, slowly we learn more and more about them, their lives and their fears as they are caught in a web of lies, love and betrayal.
Julie Cohen’s writing is haunting and atmosheric becoming of the story line of this book. I really loved her juxtaposition of the different cultures and place of Delhi and Dorset. Her prose captures the bright colours, the heady scent of Jasmine and sandalwood and the exoticism of India which is the complete opposite to Viola and Jonah’s lives in England, both wearing black for mourning and the cold grey of the landscape. Julie Cohen deals with some serious issues including colonialism and the attitudes to the native residents, rape, murder, class, gender and faith which are all handled with understanding and honesty. The social and cultural attitudes of Victorian England are well researched and give an informative backdrop for the plot. The Victorian’s seemed to have an obsession with death, and contacting the dead with seances becoming a social event, making mediums into celebrities; people took comfort in contacting those they have lost.
Spirited is my favourite book by Julie Cohen so far. The evocative prose captures the atmosphere of the seance, and the belief of those needing to find comfort from those they have lost. The three plot lines weave together seamlessly making this such a rich and compelling read with well developed and rounded characters. Told with warmth and understanding this is an emotive read about the power of love in all its guises that will stay with me for a long time; poignant and powerful.
I would like to thank Orion Books and Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for the blog tour invite in return for my honest review.
