My only wish is that there had been more regarding the supernatural elements in the story.The late 19th century was, like our own time, preoccupied with the dividing line between the scientific and the paranormal. There were 4 different narrators, one for each section, and they were all great, albeit the final one had a tenancy to shout a little too much when trying to build suspense and it became rather annoying. For what it was, it was well done, both written and performed. I feel like it could have been better if there were a little more action, but perhaps that would have ruined the style. Unfortunately, they weren't too thrilling and they culminated in a rather anticlimactic ending. At times, this felt more like an Austen or Bronte novel about old-timey England than anything spooky, but it did eventually build elements of mystery in the latter half. I had been hoping for something with a bit of horror and a bit of supernatural mystery and, while this had elements of that, they were very minute and scarce. I don't know why, but I didn't go into this audio book expecting it to be anything like it was (I had barely read the blurb and couldn't remember much about it by the time I started listening to it).

Not what I was expecting, very old-fashioned. I would recommend this book for its grasp of the era, the intricate story that beseeches being pieced together along with it skillful narration. The story does take its time to build, but is worth the wait. There is one scene in particular where I felt the narration was too loud (even though shouting was taking place), but overall the multiple narrators introduced in separate parts worked quite well. I listened to the audio version of the book and I felt the narration was good although it did take me a bit to warm up to one of the narrators. The twists and turns of the mysteries surrounding the mansion and Constance’s life bind into a clever, believable conclusion. The author, John Harwood, does an excellent job of portraying the female character in this Victorian setting, which makes it easy to identify with the characters and follow the storyline with eager interest. Constance becomes obsessed with disentangling the web of peculiar and eerie happenings the mansion has held for several generations and in doing so, finds her mind on the precipice of insanity and her life in mortal peril. An unexpected inheritance befalls her in the form of an old, dilapidated and crumbling mansion with an ominous history. Forlorn, Constance makes a desperate attempt to bring her mother peace by arranging a séance’ which leads to Constance finding herself all alone in the world. Her mother is in an everlasting state of mourning over the loss of her youngest daughter Alma and her father is as detached, cold and indifferent as a wet fish. It was a little slow to build, but got better as it went on.įor a girl, growing up in the Victorian era has its own difficulties, but for Constance Langton things are far more ghastly than properly worn bustles and guarded reputations. It did keep me wanting to listen to more once the story got going. Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting? I really liked the narration of the male characters, but felt the author has a wonderful grasp of the female characters. Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favorite?

What other book might you compare The Séance to and why? I think that the multiple narration, broken into sections worked well and added to the books overall appeal. What made the experience of listening to The Séance the most enjoyable? Now the Hall belongs to Constance, and she must descend into the darkness at the heart of the Wraxford mystery to find the truth - even at the cost of her life. Years before, a family disappeared at Wraxford Hall, a decaying mansion in the English countryside with a sinister reputation. Constance's bequest comes in two parts: a house and a mystery. It is a world of apparitions, of disappearances and unnatural phenomena, of betrayal and blackmail and black-hearted villains - and of murder.

So begins this brilliant and gripping novel, a dark mystery set in late-Victorian England. Constance is left alone, her only legacy a mysterious bequest that will blight her life. Desperate to coax her mother back to health, Constance takes her to a séance perhaps she will find comfort from beyond the grave. Sell the Hall unseen burn it to the ground and plow the earth with salt, if you will but never live there…Ĭonstance Langton grows up in a household marked by death, her father distant, her mother in perpetual mourning for Constance's sister, the child she lost. A haunting tale of apparitions, a cursed manor house, and two generations of women determined to discover the truth, by the author of The Ghost Writer.

The seance by john harwood