'Gorgeous, an utter delight' MARIAN KEYES 'A charming debut that sparks with fun and fizz' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING 'A must read!' SOPHIE IRWIN 'Storytelling at its finest' STYLIST A DAILY MAIL 'novel to devour in 2023 Mrs Wood is London's most celebrated medium. She's managed to survive decades in the competitive world of contacting the Other Side, has avoided the dreaded ...
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'Gorgeous, an utter delight' MARIAN KEYES 'A charming debut that sparks with fun and fizz' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING 'A must read!' SOPHIE IRWIN 'Storytelling at its finest' STYLIST A DAILY MAIL 'novel to devour in 2023 Mrs Wood is London's most celebrated medium. She's managed to survive decades in the competitive world of contacting the Other Side, has avoided the dreaded slips that revealed others as frauds and is still hosting packed-out s???ances for Victorian high society. Yet, some of her patrons have recently cancelled their appointments. There are reports of American mediums nearly materialising full spirits and audiences are no longer satisfied with the knocking on tables and candle theatrics of years gone by. And then, at one of Mrs Wood's routine gatherings, she hears something terrifying - faint, but unmistakable: a yawn. Mrs Wood needs to spice up her brand. She decides to take on Emmie, a young prot???g???, to join her show. But is Emmie Finch the na???ve ingenue she seems to be? Or does she pose more of a threat to Mrs Wood's reign and, more horrifyingly, her reputation than Mrs Wood could ever have imagined?
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Add this copy of The Other Side of Mrs. Wood: a Novel to cart. $3.25, good condition, Sold by Goodwill Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hillsboro, OR, UNITED STATES, published 2023 by Harper.
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Add this copy of The Other Side of Mrs. Wood: a Novel to cart. $7.50, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Ruby rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2023 by Harper.
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As someone who works professionally in the backstage theatre industry, I have always been intrigued by the idea of Victorian mediums. Not only is there a sense of showmanship and con artistry but it also links Stage Management and psychology as well (some of my passions!). I therefore was excited to read The Other Side of Mrs Wood, about an aging medium who trains an ingenue and finds she has taken on much more than she bargained for!
I did love the premise of the novel - the idea of taking someone under your wing and trying to coach them on how to scam people without being explicit about it is really interesting. It was also a cautionary tale about who to trust and how someone you have only just met can ruin a really long-held reputation or your livelihood!
The thing that I was most disappointed about with this book is that the actual 'how' of the tricks Mrs Wood uses are kept extremely vague and nothing is really explained. The book is much more focussed on the social side of the trade - with all the gossip and scandals attached. Although this is interesting to a point, I felt the story really dragged and there was a real missed opportunity by not letting the reader in to the inner workings of mediumship. I thought Mrs Wood made some really silly decisions by not confiding in those around her, although we would have had a much shorter book had she done so.
Without any spoilers, I was also really disappointed by the ending, and I really feel that although it was quite 'neat', it actually made the rest of the story obsolete and it all just felt like a bit of a waste of time! Not what you want from the ending of a book!
Overall, The Other Side of Mrs Wood is a great premise, but it felt like it lacked some research into the 'backstage side' of the trade and as a result dragged in pace. Thank you to NetGalley, 4th Estate and William Collins for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
