The Seance

"The Séance" is a wonderfully mysterious novel set in Victorian England. It is an utterly enchanting read that draws the reader into its magic and then takes them on a ride of apparitions and spooky encounters.

The most striking thing about the book is its voice. Very restrained and personable, the first-person narrative puts one right in the head of the man characters. Told in part through diary entries - much the same way Bram Stoker fashioned his classic "Dracula" - the story unfolds over various generations and through varying viewpoints as we learn about a strange family curse. Stylistically, this is the most delicately written book I have read in a long time, yet at the same time it is exactly this delicacy that makes you shudder at times, as evil perspires through the narrative and the characters slowly dive into the mysterious unknown that lies before them.

I have loved every minute of "The Séance" and cannot stop but shower it in praise. This is heartfelt, atmospheric gothic horror at its best with fine nuances and cool plot twists.

John Harwood's second novel, The Seance, has obvious general similarities to The Ghost Writer, his debut, but is also profoundly different. Instead of the present-day setting and single narrator of that novel, The Seance is set entirely in the Victorian era, and features a series of linked narratives. It begins with Constance Langton, whose grief-stricken mother and indifferent father make her home life a miserable one. Desperate to ease her mother's pain at the loss of younger daughter Alma, Constance becomes involved in the spiritualist movement. A reader might suspect the set-up for a novel of spiritualism and skepticism, not dissimilar to Sarah Waters' Affinity or a number of other works exploring the connections among grief, nineteenth-century rationalism, and gender roles. But events quickly take a startling turn, and before long Constance finds herself in possession of an unexpected inheritance and an unusual collection of documents. The first of those documents, an account by solicitor John Montague, is the second narrative strand; its opening will suggest what sort of novel The Seance really is, and provide an example of Harwood's mastery of Victorian prose:

"I have at last resolved to set down everything I know of the strange and terrible events at Wraxford Hall, in the hope of appeasing my conscience, which has never ceased to trouble me. A fitting enough night for such a decision, for it is bitter cold, and the wind howls about the house as if it will never cease. I shrink from what I must reveal of my own history, but if anyone is ever to understand why I acted as I did-- and why else attempt this?-- I must not withhold anything of relevance, no matter how painful. I shall feel easier in my mind, I trust, knowing that if the case is ever reopened after I am gone, this account may help uncover the truth about the Wraxford Mystery."

This, then, is at once a haunted house story and a sensation novel, and intimations of murder, blackmail, child-switching, and fraud will run parallel to accounts of events yet more bizarre. Montague's narrative, with the suggestion of shadowy research into ancient texts, plays out as an antiquarian ghost story written with scholarly distance, after the manner of M. R. James or the more stylistically subtle works of H. P. Lovecraft. A third narrator returns to some of the characters from Montague's account, but the events detailed this time offer another spin on spiritualism. Eventually Constance Langton comes back to the fore in a lengthy section that integrates the varied elements in a satisfying and largely surprising manner. Unreliable narration of an especially tricky kind is involved here, but there are enough hints that the device doesn't feel cheap.

Although the novel's primary focus is not on seances of the type that have captured the popular imagination, its thematic concerns are not far removed from what the opening might have led one to suspect. He goes about it subtly enough that readers caught up in the story may not notice, but Harwood is at pains to capture the precarious state of women in upper-class Victorian society, dependent on male relatives-- fathers, brothers, husbands-- for their financial security and ever susceptible to the threat of poverty or forced institutionalization. Acknowledging both the hope that spiritualism could give to a society riven by premature death and rationalist skepticism, and the frauds that were often perpetrated to create that hope, the novel refuses to offer a simple verdict on the question of the supernatural. Anything might exist, and the existence of common trickery cannot rule out real cases of the inexplicable. As with The Ghost Writer, this is a novel whose ambiguities are irrelevant to its remarkable atmosphere: haunted or human, its settings and characters are unsettling. The resolution is rather too abrupt, and a certain twist on the traditional formula of such novels doesn't have enough impact, but these are quibbles: The Seance is another masterpiece from one of the finest 21st century practitioners of the ghostly novel. One can only hope that a third John Harwood novel will not be long in appearing.

After reading, "The Ghost Writer" which I loved and thought was so scary, I wanted to read, "The Seance" too. The reviews were all good and the comments were saying how scary it was so I thought it would be. But I didn't think it was at all. I was so disappointed in this book. Well written, but in my opinion, not at all scary.

Much ado about nothing. I like the verbiage of victorian novels - this one was full of it - in so many ways. Not just the language but the touting of "electrifing, horror, creepy" --- NOT SO. My basement has more scare than this novel. At best it is a bad murder mystery - at worst --- it is boring. You will decipher the plot halfway through the book but read on because it cost so much. Don't bother - find another!

I love Victorian settings in books, I love gothic mysteries and I love a good ghost story, therefore I should have loved The Séance, unfortunately I didn't love this book. It started out well but fell apart by the end, a similar complaint I had for The Ghost writer, Harwood's first book. Once again I felt that the author didn't know how to close out the story and started throwing in way too many surprises and twists, making the ending more complicated than necessary.

The story is told in three alternating narratives, Eleanor Unwin, Mistress of Wraxford Hall; John Montague, solicitor for Eleanor's husband Magnus; Constance Langton, a young woman who has recently become the new owner of Wraxford hall, through an inheritance from a distant relative. Told by Montague to burn the house down and never live in it Constance is drawn to the mystery of the manor and the tragedies that seem to surround it.

All the elements of a good Victorian Gothic are here, a brooding manor house, ghostly apparitions, dark woods, a marriage that isn't what it seems, a young woman estranged from her family and trying to make her way in the world, doomed lovers, mesmerism and secrets galore. Yet it somehow fails to all come together in the end. There are several plot threads that are dropped or never resolved and while the title of the book and the appearance of a few ghosts seem to indicate a paranormal story, there isn't a lot of séance in the book and although a bit of a creepy story it wasn't a very scary one. The ending was anticlimactic, although Harwood does score points for wrapping up one of the mysteries in a very believable way.

Although this book was very atmospheric and I liked the style of the writing, in the end it was a disappointing read.

THE SEANCE, by John Harwood is a gothic, Victorian-style mystery. I have to say that I really enjoyed the author's writing style, and will be searching out other books by him in the near future. Using the technique of telling the tale with a series of narratives written by various people, we are taken further back in time to the legends and stigma surrounding Wraxford Hall. This decaying manor is somehow traced back through the lineage and left to a young woman, Constance Langton--recently orphaned by parents that she never really felt "bonded" to.

Through the various diaries and narratives, we are given pieces of a puzzle going back decades, entwining many lives through its mysterious pages.

The menacing air hits immediately, and we are mere witnesses as Constance delves in deeper, determined to get at the root of what happened in that manor to make its reputation so bleak.

A great, slow-burning story for those who like to build upon the atmosphere and characters while leading to the ultimate conclusion of a tale that has never been known before.

Recommended!

I found this story rambled on disjointedly. It starts about being about one character, then another, then another, jumping around in time, jumping around in direction. There was so little focus on the main character, that I just didn't care about her. And spooky is good if there is a ghost payoff, but when there isn't, it is disappointing.

Following in the tradition of the classic Gothic horror with the story within a story approach, The Seance starts out with a woman named Constance attending séances in an attempt to pull her mother out of her depression over the loss of her other daughter. Though a non-believer herself, Constance hopes that a faked message from her deceased sister assuring their mother that she is fine and the mother should move on will help snap her mother into living again. Unfortunately, the complete opposite occurs. This part is a little slow, but once you get to the part where Constance inherits a house, the story really picks up!

The house comes with the warning to salt the earth and never under any circumstances set foot on the accursed property. Of course, Constance, and we the reader, are absolutely dying to know the story behind this dreadful warning, and so we happily disregard the warning. What follows are journals that delve into the house's past and the eccentric and cursed generations of the family that inhabited it followed by a loop back to the present where we finally get to explore the dreaded house and unravel its secrets.

Mystery, death, and strange occurrences ensue, and the reader is kept guessing until the end whether the deaths were murders and, if so, who committed them, and were supernatural or natural means the cause? Clues are peppered throughout, some obviously and some so subtly slipped in that you only realize their importance much later. False conclusions abound, leading the reader to think they've got it figured out earlier on only to realize they've been led down a garden path. Everything comes together in a stunning and satisfying end. Highly recommended, especially to fans of The Thirteenth Tale.

I enjoyed readfing this very much.
I enjoy Victorian stories, & this fit the bill.
Right combination of intrigue, and fright.
Very well written, a page turner.

The story is told through the eyes of three characters, all building on the mystery that is Wraxford Hall. The first account is related by Constance Langton who is left home alone with a grieving mother and upon her death goes to live with an uncle. She finds out that she has inherited Wraxford Hall from John Montague who strongly warns her to stay away from the Hall and just burn it to the ground. The story continues with many twists and turns, dark secrets, mystical happenings...everything you would want from a great Victorian/gothic story. One of the reviews on the back of the book says "Wilkie Collins would be proud" and they are right, however this is no copy of Collins. It is extremely well written, and quite the page turner. I am amazed how well Harwood writes through the eyes of women (a trait he shares with Collins by the way). If you like spooky mysteries, this is for you! I will certainly seek out other work by Harwood.